The Week

Dave Sprague, Berkeley Firefighter: A Berkeley firefighter battles the flames from a roof adjoining the Berkeley Rep’s set workshop at Fifth and Gilman streets Wednesday night.
Dave Sprague, Berkeley Firefighter: A Berkeley firefighter battles the flames from a roof adjoining the Berkeley Rep’s set workshop at Fifth and Gilman streets Wednesday night.
 

News

$2 Million Blaze Destroys Berkeley Rep’s Workshop By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Friday July 01, 2005

A $2 million major alarm fire gutted the Berkeley Repertory Theater’s 1230 Fifth St. workshop Thursday night despite the best efforts of Berkeley and Albany firefighters. -more-


BUSD Passes Scaled-Down Plan For West Campus By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR

Friday July 01, 2005

After Board President Nancy Riddle recused herself because of a potential financial conflict, the Berkeley Unified School District unanimously approved a scaled-down version of the West Campus development plan at the board’s Wednesday night meeting. -more-


BART Strike Still Looms For Wednesday By MATTHEW ARTZ

Friday July 01, 2005

BART’s two biggest unions responded angrily Thursday to management’s latest offer, which union officials said BART gave to the press before they submitted it to union negotiators. -more-


Landmarks Commission Requests Outside Expert for Law Revisions By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Friday July 01, 2005

In a rare display of unanimity, Berkeley’s Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) Monday rejected both its own and the Planning Commission’s revisions to the city’s landmarks ordinance, calling instead for an outside expert to aid in drafting a new proposal. -more-


Odds on East Bay Casinos Starting to Look Longer By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Friday July 01, 2005

With Sen. Diane Feinstein’s bill to rescind the special legal status granted on Casino San Pablo and the abandonment of a second casino project in Oakland, the East Bay casino gamble is looking riskier by the day. -more-


Drayage Tenants Hit With Eviction Notices By MATTHEW ARTZ

Friday July 01, 2005

Now into its fourth month, the tenant-landlord standoff at an illegal West Berkeley warehouse appears to be heading for court. -more-


Smile: You’re On Red-Light Camera! By MATTHEW ARTZ

Friday July 01, 2005

Red light runners beware. Drivers now face a minimum $331 citation when caught on camera running a red light at the three intersections where Berkeley recently installed cameras. -more-


Fourth of July Events By CASSIE NORTON

Friday July 01, 2005

Sunday, July 3 -more-


Peralta Board OKs Assessment of Information Technology By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR

Friday July 01, 2005

With Trustee Nicky Gonzalez Yuen providing the lone but spirited dissent, Peralta Trustees agreed Tuesday night to a modified Hewlett-Packard study and assessment of the community college district’s information technology operations. -more-


Budget Department Honored By MATTHEW ARTZ

Friday July 01, 2005

The City Council proclaimed Tuesday Tracy Vesely Day in Berkeley in honor of the city’s budget director. -more-


Norine Smith: A Happy Warrior for Causes Big and Small By BECKY O’MALLEY

Friday July 01, 2005

“If I can’t dance, it’s not my revolution,” Emma Goldman famously said. Norine Smith danced her way through many of the revolutions of the last 50 years and had a fine time of it. She came from a quintessential San Francisco Irish background, born in 1938 as number four of six kids of Cornelius (Connie) and Nora Smith, both immigrants from Ireland, and raised in the outer Sunset District. She went to all-girl Mercy High School in the late ‘50s, then on to UC Berkeley where she majored in mathematics, which few women did in those days. She always said she chose math because she noticed that she was the only woman in her math classes, and she wanted to do things that women weren’t allowed to do. A tall, striking redhead, she worked a bit as a model while she was in school. After graduation in 1960 she entered the new field of computer programming, where she worked throughout her professional life. Norine was very proud of having run her own business as a computer contractor for major corporations in a period when few women ran their own businesses, even fewer of them in the high tech world. -more-


Editorial Cartoon By JUSTIN DEFREITAS

Friday July 01, 2005

http://www.jfdefreitas.com/index.php?path=/00_Latest%20WorksŒ -more-


Letters to the Editor

Friday July 01, 2005

PARTNER? -more-


Letters to the Editor: Readers Respond to Story of KPFA Turmoil

Friday July 01, 2005

Mary Berg, programmer and member of the KPFA Local Station Board, has informed the Daily Planet that she believes KPFA’s program council is a decision-making body. She told the Planet that she is strongly opposed to the idea that it should be advisory only. She said she agrees with the People’s Radio Group on that point. “Programming decisions should be made by the Program Council working with a program director, if there is one. They should not be left to the station manager,” Berg said, adding that she disagreed with a Program Council decision to move “Democracy Now!” to 7 a.m. “because in my opinion it was poorly thought out and poorly planned, not because the Program Council didn’t have the right to make it. That’s why people who were friends have ostracized me.” -more-


Column: The View From Here: Imprisoned in the Heart of Richmond By P.M. PRICE

Friday July 01, 2005

This past June 18, I participated in “Healing in the Heart of Richmond,” a day-long event held at the New Faith Cathedral, sponsored in part by Contra Costa Health Services, Survivors of Murder Victims, Inc. and Stand! Against Domestic Violence. We gathered in downtown Richmond to provide a forum for families who had lost members to violence and for individuals who had been violently abused. We listened as they shared their stories, ate healthy food together and then broke up into various healing workshops including poetry, drumming, massage, art and lamentations. At the end of the day, we all came together in the church sanctuary to light candles and say a prayer for peace in the city. The following day, two more young men were shot down and killed. Two more have died of gunshot wounds since then. As of this writing, 19 people have been murdered in Richmond this year. -more-


Column: Undercurrents: Jefferson Flap Points to Need for Serious Slavery Study By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR

Friday July 01, 2005

We began last week’s column discussing Berkeley resident Michael Larrick’s opposition to the petition to change the name of Berkeley’s Jefferson Elementary School, outlined in Mr. Larrick’s April 19 Berkeley Daily Planet commentary in which he wrote that “Black Americans and their leaders would be far better served if they would address the real problems in black education instead of the superficial and misleading issue of the name of a school.” (Advocates of the Jefferson name change—who were black, white, Native American, and other variations, by the way—said they didn’t want the school named after Thomas Jefferson because of Jefferson’s lifelong status as a man who personally kept Africans in slavery.) -more-


Police Blotter By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Friday July 01, 2005

Sore Losers, Deadly Attack -more-


Commentary: Decriminalization of Drugs is the Answer By RIO BAUCE

Friday July 01, 2005

Wouldn’t it be great if the government could close the budget deficit while reducing crime rates? What could be the solution to making America safer? Believe it or not, the decriminalization of illegal drugs could do this and more. When drugs became outlawed, an illegal drug market was set up. There are many very dangerous drugs that are legal, such as alcohol and tobacco, while other drugs are not. As a result of making drugs illegal, much money is spent annually on drug law enforcement. Drug-related crime is a pressing issue that needs to be looked at seriously and decriminalization of drugs should be considered a possible solution. -more-


Commentary: Landmarks Commission Tagged as Terrorists By ALAN TOBEY

Friday July 01, 2005

On Monday night, June 27, at least for a brief and shining hour, Berkeley’s Landmarks Preservation Commission became an anarchist organization. -more-


‘Thousandth Night’ Brought Energetically to Life By KEN BULLOCK Special to the Planet

Friday July 01, 2005

“Monsieurs, pardon me; if I may have a word with an officer in charge? There’s been a mistake.” -more-


Arts Calendar

Friday July 01, 2005

FRIDAY, JULY 1 -more-


Elkhorn Slough: Restored and Brimming with Life By MARTA YAMAMOTO Special to the Planet

Friday July 01, 2005

From the Elkhorn Slough Overlook I watch the sunlight reflecting off the estuary waters, the glistening mudflats and the steep, corrugated roof of the open barn. To the north is the North Marsh rookery, home to nesting egrets and herons. Surrounding me are tall, multicolored native grasses amid the colors of wildflowers. Most distinct are the sounds—a soft cacophony of birdcalls and songs, almost joyful. A vision of nature. -more-


Berkeley This Week

Friday July 01, 2005

FRIDAY, JULY 1 -more-


Iranian Americans Target Elections in Downtown Protest By CASSIE NORTON

Tuesday June 28, 2005

On Friday, June 24, a group of Iranian-born Berkeley citizens gathered at the corner of Center and Shattuck in protest of the second round of “so-called elections” taking place that day in Iran. Protest organizer Ali Mirab said “I call them ‘so-called elections’ because it’s really a selection, not an election.” -more-


Turmoil Again at KPFA After Six Years of Peace By JUDITH SCHERR Special to the Planet

Tuesday June 28, 2005

Six years ago hundreds of KPFA-FM listeners poured into the streets surrounding the downtown Berkeley studios minutes after drive-time programmer Dennis Bernstein cried for help on the air. The popular host was being arrested, hauled out of the listener-sponsored radio station on the orders of his bosses, the Pacifica Foundation Board of Directors. -more-


Berkeley Man Slain in North Oakland By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Tuesday June 28, 2005

An 18-year-old Berkeley auto detailer was gunned down at 60th Street and San Pablo Avenue just across the Oakland border Saturday afternoon. -more-


Waterfront Commissioner Norine Smith Dies By MATTHEW ARTZ

Tuesday June 28, 2005

Norine Smith, a champion of progressive causes and two-time former candidate for City Council, died Sunday after a long bout with cancer. She was 67. -more-


Activist Files Motion Calling UC Deal ‘Extrinsic Fraud’ By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Tuesday June 28, 2005

Berkeley activist Peter Mutnick has escalated the battle over the settlement of the city’s suit over UC Berkeley’s controversial Long Range Development Plan 2020 by filing papers asking the court to issue an order ruling that the lawsuit was dismissed by an act of extrinsic fraud. -more-


City Council Set to Pass Budget By MATTHEW ARTZ

Tuesday June 28, 2005

On Tuesday the City Council will have one last chance to “Save the Safety Net”. -more-



Disputed Council Votes Will Stand, Says City Attorney By MATTHEW ARTZ

Tuesday June 28, 2005

Berkeley will not turn back the clock on last week’s disputed City Council meeting, according to City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque. -more-


West Berkeley Carries City’s Sales Tax Load By MATTHEW ARTZ

Tuesday June 28, 2005

Berkeley’s economic engine is located West of Sacramento Street, according to a report released last week tracking sales tax revenue among City Council districts. -more-


Correction

Tuesday June 28, 2005

The June 24 story, “Council Declines to Save Drayage Amid Late-Night Confusion,” incorrectly reported that library workers who spoke before the City Council were requesting that the council reject a 4.8 percent increase to the library tax unless the library halted its implementation of radio devices to track materials. Although community members in Berkleyans Organizing For Library Defense have taken that position, the library employees supported the tax increase.› -more-


Berkeley Liberation Radio Signs Off in Monday Show By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Tuesday June 28, 2005

The collective that brought Berkeley Liberation Radio to the airwaves signed off the air at one minute after 4 Monday afternoon, the casualty of a terminated lease and impending federal action. -more-


Reddy Victims Sue Their Own Lawyers By MATTHEW ARTZ

Tuesday June 28, 2005

The family of a teenage girl who died in an apartment owned by Berkeley real estate magnate Lakireddy Bali Reddy has sued the attorneys who won them an $8.9 million settlement last year. -more-


Stolen Traffic Circle Tree Returned By MATTHEW ARTZ

Tuesday June 28, 2005

The tree yanked out of a Berkeley traffic circle two months ago has been returned to its rightful owner and will soon be back in the middle of a Berkeley intersection, its owner said. -more-


BUSD Board Saves Teams, But Cuts Athletic Costs By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR

Tuesday June 28, 2005

The Board of Directors of the Berkeley Unified School District has voted to cut $25,000 from the Berkeley High School athletic program for fiscal year 2005-06 and, over the objections of its bus driver union, has agreed to allow non-staff members to drive some school teams to athletic events under limited circumstances. -more-


County Office of Education Calls For End to Charter School Conflict By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR

Tuesday June 28, 2005

Describing relationships between charter and district schools as an “ongoing hostility” that “benefits no one,” Alameda County Superintendent of Schools Sheila Jordan released a report last week calling for a “truce” to “resolve the conflict” between the two public school institutions. In addition, Jordan is calling for an ambitious legislative and lobbying campaign to implement task force recommendations. -more-


Staff Recommends Scaled-Down West Campus By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR

Tuesday June 28, 2005

Officially acknowledging the growing controversy over the proposed West Campus renovation, the Berkeley Unified Facilities director is recommending that the BUSD board of directors reject the West Campus facilities plan developed by Design Community & Environment (DCE) planners and adopt in its place a scaled-down plan written by district staff. -more-


School Board Gets Look at Budget By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR

Tuesday June 28, 2005

The Berkeley School Board got its first public look last Wednesday night at the district’s proposed 231-page, $51.5 million 2005-06 budget that anticipates spending some $4 million more than last year, runs a preliminary projected surplus of $1.4 million, sets aside the state-mandated $2.1 million 3 percent reserve fund, took long staff hours to prepare, and will almost certainly have to be significantly changed. -more-


ZAB Rejects Third Try at Choyce’s Condo Project By RICHARD BRENNEMAN By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Tuesday June 28, 2005

The newest plans for a condo complex at 2701 Shattuck Ave. have risen to five floors and nearly twice the size allowed without a host of specialized use permits attached. -more-


ZAB OKs Otis Street Popup, Derby Street Renovation By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Tuesday June 28, 2005

With only member Carrie Sprague voting in dissent, ZAB members Thursday gave the go-ahead to the popup conversion of a single floor Victorian cottage at 2901 Otis St. into a three-story condo. -more-


Gay Pride Parade By CASSIE NORTON

Tuesday June 28, 2005

Dozens of people with balloon tentacles jutting four feet behind them strutted, danced, and strolled their way down Market St. with the aptly named group Balloon Magic. Some were on foot, some on rollerskates, and they were altogether a sight to behold. -more-


Editorial Cartoon By JUSTIN DEFREITAS

Tuesday June 28, 2005

http://www.jfdefreitas.com/index.php?path=/00_Latest%20Works? -more-


Letter to the Editor

Tuesday June 28, 2005

RAILROAD WARNING -more-


Letters to the Editor: Jefferson Name-Change

Tuesday June 28, 2005

“WE SHALL OVERCOME” -more-


Column: The Public Eye: When Down Looks Like Up: Bush’s Rhetorical Deceit By BOB BURNETT

Tuesday June 28, 2005

Richard Fariña’s first and only novel was the classic, Been Down So Long, It Looks Like Up To Me. If Fariña had not died tragically in a 1963 motorcycle accident, he would have appreciated the irony that the title of his book, which chronicled the meande rings of a free-spirited, 20-something now provides an apt caption for the reign of George W. Bush. -more-


Column: Little Hustla’s Transformation into Suga’ Baby at Emeryville Rec By SUSAN PARKER

Staff
Tuesday June 28, 2005

I guess my 15-year-old friend Jernae is spending the summer at our house. I say “I guess” because there was never any formal agreement between her mother and me that Jernae would be hanging out here. But just after her eighth grade classes in San Francis co ended last week, she arrived at our front door hauling an alarmingly large suitcase that contained enough clothes for an army (an army consisting of skinny girls dressed in very tight pants and midriff-baring shirts). -more-


Police Blotter By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Tuesday June 28, 2005

Youth dies in crash -more-


News Analysis: U.S. Attack on Iran May Be in the Cards By WILLIAM O. BEEMAN Pacific News Service

Tuesday June 28, 2005

TEHRAN, Iran—The United States may still attack Iran, and for all the wrong reasons. -more-


Commentary: Historical Preservation: It Takes a Community By SHARON HUDSON

Tuesday June 28, 2005

New buildings are popping up like Pop Tarts in Berkeley, and if you live in the flatlands, there is a good chance one will be popping up near you. You had better hope it is not on a site currently occupied by a home, shop, church, or other building important to the historical or architectural character of your neighborhood. Because if it is, your ability to influence that development is soon to be severely curtailed. -more-


Opinion

Editorials

Fire Company Closed, Library Open in Final Budget By MATTHEW ARTZ

Friday July 01, 2005

With onlookers clapping in approval, the City Council passed a budget Tuesday that slashed city jobs and services, but provided enough money for the library to reopen its doors on Sundays. -more-


City Hall Critic Sacked From HAC By MATTHEW ARTZ

Tuesday June 28, 2005

A sharp critic of the controversial settlement agreement between the city and UC Berkeley was dismissed from the Housing Advisory Commission Friday, the same day a page-long commentary bashing the deal which she signed appeared in the Berkeley Daily Planet. -more-


Columns

Commentary: Jerry Brown’s Wedding Highlights The Need for Marriage Equality By MOLLY McKAY

Tuesday June 28, 2005

On February 12, 2004, my wife Davina and I were married in San Francisco. It was one of the best moments of my life when we were declared “spouses for life” after publicly committing to care, honor and support each other through thick and thin in the City Hall rotunda. We had already carried this commitment in our hearts for nine years, we already owned a house together in Oakland, shared one bank account, and are as in love with each other today as the day we met. -more-


Commentary: A Lesson for the Religion of Peace By CHRISTIAN HARTSOCK

Tuesday June 28, 2005

If liberals refuse to get over Watergate and Abu Ghraib, then no, we are not over Newsweek. -more-


Commentary: A Few for the Right Wing By PAUL GLUSMAN

Tuesday June 28, 2005

Once in a while, the right—at least in the judiciary—gets it right. Many of my friends who follow the United States Supreme Court are used to rooting for the “progressives” (actually a coalition of moderates and mildly liberal judges—the ones who endeared themselves to us by not signing on to the Bush coup in 2000—Justices John Paul Stevens, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, David Souter and Stephen Breyer) against the conservatives—Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia. The two swing votes, pretty conservative themselves, are Justices Anthony Kennedy and Sandra Day O’Connor. -more-


Commentary: Physician Correct on Campus Bay By DWIGHT STENSETH and DOUG MOSTELLER

Tuesday June 28, 2005

We applaud Dr. Jeff Ritterman’s thoughtful comments in his May 27 commentary on Campus Bay and look forward to working with people in Richmond as we strive to make Campus Bay a safe, vibrant part of the community. -more-


Shotgun Lab Mimes Love and Life on a Chess Board By KEN BULLOCKSpecial to the Planet

Tuesday June 28, 2005

The subtitle of The Pawn, the latest entry in the Shotgun Theatre Lab collaborative series, now playing at the Ashby Stage, is “A Mimed Play About The Games Of Life, Love And Chess.” Mimed it is, but not silent. Eric Klein plays excellently in accompanim ent, mostly on accordion (what often sounds like carny music), sometimes on guitar. The bittersweet comic action plays out on the black and white of a big chessboard (smaller ones are placed here and there), and, except for an offstage belch and a well-pl aced slap, the story’s told without a human sound, though with much expression. -more-


Arts Calendar

Tuesday June 28, 2005

TUESDAY, JUNE 28 -more-


Books: Boucher Mysteries Mirrored Berkeley Scene By PHIL McARDLE Special to the Planet

Tuesday June 28, 2005

Anthony Boucher (1911-1968) was a mystery writer and editor of immense prestige in his field. A long-time resident, he wrote two remarkable stories set here in Berkeley: The Seven of Calvary and The Compleat Werewolf. -more-


Loudmouth Grackles are Moving In By JOE EATON Special to the Planet

Tuesday June 28, 2005

There are no great-tailed grackles in Berkeley yet, but I suspect it’s only a matter of time. They’ve made it at least as far as Hayward, where I saw a quartet—three males and a female—a couple of weeks ago in the marshes north of the San Mateo Bridge. The birds have been nesting at McNabney Marsh near Martinez for at least five years, and there’s been at least one successful breeding attempt in Alameda County. -more-


Berkeley This Week

Tuesday June 28, 2005

TUESDAY, JUNE 28 -more-