The City of Richmond and the National Park Service are looking for people who lived in Richmond’s 11 World War II-era housing projects in the 1940s and 1950s. 

The history project—which is being coordinated by Berkeley resident Donna Graves—is part of an ongoing national-local effort to document the story of the effects of the massive war effort on mid-20th Century Richmond. 

One community session was held earlier this summer. A second one has been planned for 2 p.m. Saturday at the Booker T. Anderson Co mmunity Center, 960 S. 47th St. in Richmond. Participants are asked to bring any photographs or other documentary evidence of their stay in the Richmond housing projects, as well as to tell stories that will be videotaped. 

Richmond’s Kaiser Shipyards wer e a major portion of the enormous American military buildup that followed the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 and America’s entry into the war. 

Tens of thousands of new workers poured into Richmond for employment at the shipyards, many o f them directly from the South. Most were white, with as many as 23 percent African-American, and an unknown number of Mexican Americans and Chinese Americans. The sudden influx transformed overnight what had been a small, country town—72,000 people, more than half of Richmond’s population, were poured into 25,000 housing units by 1943. It has been called the largest public housing project in the nation. 

Graves says that the wartime housing project boom had some of its greatest effect on the city’s black workers, as well as on Richmond as it is known today. 

“Housing was strictly segregated in Richmond at the time,” she said. “And that got reflected in the wartime housing projects. Some of them were all-black, and some of them were set up as segregated u nits where African-Americans were confined to only one portion of the project. The Housing Authority had a quota of 20 percent of the units set aside for African-Americans, but they didn’t take into account the fact that housing wasn’t available for blacks anywhere else in Richmond.” 

Graves said that as far as she could determine, Mexican Americans did not face housing discrimination in Richmond during the war, and most of the Chinese American workers lived in San Francisco and took the ferry across the bay to Richmond. 

With the housing projects overflowing and nowhere else to live in the city limits, Graves said, African-Americans went across the city line to build homes in unincorporated North Richmond, which continues to be heavily black. 

Another ca rryover from the wartime housing was that in order to gain city approval for the projects, the federal government had to agree that most of it would be temporary and would be torn down after the war. 

“At least 90 percent of the projects were built out of flimsy materials and they were, indeed, destroyed as soon as the war ended,” Graves said. “The idea was that with the projects torn down, the workers would go back South after the war, or wherever else they came from. But most of them stayed.” 

Only thre e of the projects were built as permanent structures, she said. Two still remain and one of them, Atchison Village, is now part of Richmond’s Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park. 

Graves says that the loss of most of the Wor ld War II housing structures makes oral histories and collection of memorabilia all the more important. 

“We heard wonderful stories at the first session,” she said. “One black woman told of coming up on the train from Texas and having to stand for four d ays straight because troops were occupying most of the train. When she got to Richmond she had to borrow somebody’s baby so that she and her husband could qualify for a one-bedroom apartment. She said she was in fear that somebody would ask her the baby’s name, because she had no idea what it was.” 

Graves said that the woman and her husband ended up having five children, but kept the one-bedroom apartment. 

For now, there are no definite plans for presenting the material once it is compiled. Graves said that between three and four professionally videotaped full oral histories are planned and they, along with a report on the history project, will be turned over this fall to both the Richmond Public Library and the Park Service. 

“We’re hoping that this will be used in presentations on the World War II period,” she said. “For now, it’s just important that we gather the information before the residents pass on.”i

A packed house loaded with questions about UC Berkeley’s new role in the downtown planning process greeted City Planner Dan Marks and Tom Lollini, his university counterpart, at the Planning Commission Wednesday. 

The occasion was the commission’s first discussion of the implications of the May 25 accord between the city and the university, reached as a settlement of the city’s suit challenging the legality of the school’s 2020 Long Range Development Plan (LRDP). 

By the time the discussion finished more than 90 minutes later, the only firm decision reached had been to continue the issue at the commission’s next meeting on July 27. 

The audience, which included members of the School and Zoning Adjustments Boards, the Landmarks Preservation, Housing Advisory and Peace and Justice Commissions and a host of well-known activists, made their skepticism clear from the onset. 

Because their comments were limited to the outset of the meeting, they weren’t able to address the duo directly—reluctantly leaving that job to the commissioners themselves. 

The two principal sources of alarm involved the city’s surrender of autonomy in the downtown planning process, and the creation of a greatly enlarged “downtown planning area” formed to include the university’s area of potential interest. 

While the maximum north/south reach of the current irregular downtown plan is a seven block stretch along Shattuck Avenue and Oxford/Fulton Street, the new rectangular planning area extends from Hearst Avenue on the north to Dwight Way on the South. 

The current east/west maximum is a three-and-a-half block stretch from Oxford Street to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, while the new western boundary extends for the entire 11-block north-south dimension. 

Landmarks Preservation Commission Chair Jill Korte, who said she had been stunned to find that the new planning area came within two blocks of her home, said she was concerned about the potential impact on the historic character of the city center. 

School Board member John Selawsky began by declaring that while he couldn’t speak for the board itself, many members agreed with him that “the City Council seems to have abrogated its authority, so it’s important that this commission (planning) exerts its own.”  

He singled out clause L of the city/UC agreement, which states that the Downtown Area Plan authorized in the pact “shall be comprehensive, and shall encompass the entire scope of future downtown development, including all public and private landowners and developers. . .” 

“On the face of it, it’s unenforceable,” said Selawsky, noting the presence in the planning area of institutions like Vista College, the property of another governmental agency which would answer only to the state, not to either the city or the university. 

“This settlement has basically eliminated you and the rest of us from what’s happening in Berkeley,” said Zoning Adjustments Board member Dean Metzger. 

“(City) staff and the University of California will try to bully you into doing whatever they want to do,” he said. “You are representatives of us as citizens of Berkeley and we’re here to get you to act that way. It’s up to you to decide what’s right or wrong.” 

Clifford Fred, a longtime Berkeley activist who has served on both the planning and landmarks commissions, denied that the current Downtown Plan was out of date. 

When the City Council adopted the current General Plan in December 2002, he said, “they pointedly reaffirmed the height limits and boundaries of the Downtown Plan, despite the recommendations of the city manager to increase the height limits.” 

Fred said he saw the new city/UCB accord as “a deal to get high-rises built throughout Central Berkeley and destroy the character of the downtown.” 

Jesse Arreguin, a member of the Housing Advisory Commission, spoke in his role as civic affairs director of the Associated Students of the University of California. 

“This agreement does not represent the interests of the students and the community,” he said, urging planning commissioners “to be very cautious and deliberate.” 

Several speakers specifically called for a public participation forum modeled on the UC Hotel Task Force, a panel formed by the planning commission to make recommendations to the university on their as-yet-unrealized plans to build a 12-story hotel and accompanying conference center at the northeast corner of the Shattuck Avenue/Center Street intersection. 

Actor Gregory Pedemonte, play in the role of a planning bureaucrat, offered a moment of comic relief as he read from a script about the agreement which used planners’ characteristic upbeat language, with various audience members tossing back equally scripted cynical quips about their concerns. 

It took Chair Harry Pollack a moment to catch on to the joke and stop telling the interrupters to play by the rules.  

Marks and Lollini 

Once the public had their say, Planning Commission Pollack handed the floor over to Marks and Lollini.  

Marks said he was there to offer “some very preliminary thoughts,” adding that he and Lollini have had little time to address the implications of the pact. 

“We are just getting started, and there is no agenda here, at least on the staff’s part,” he said. 

Marks said the expanded area was created because the newly included properties are affected by what happens in the downtown. 

When he added that “the university’s interest extends beyond downtown,” he drew a burst of applause from the audience, which in turn earned another admonition from Pollack. 

Marks noted that the agreement calls for creation of still-to-be-defined “development envelopes and design guidelines,” which several members of the public had questioned earlier in the evening. 

Noting that the LRDP calls for creation of 1200 parking spaces, Marks said the “vast majority” would be created in downtown Berkeley, though just where has yet to be determined. 

The plans also calls for 1.2 million square feet of new construction in Berkeley itself. (A second plan calls for nearly double that at the UCB Richmond Field Station.) 

Marks said the planning process is scheduled within a four-year framework, with the first six months spent on a work plan that will require approvals both from the City Council and the office of UC Chancellor Robert Berdahl. 

“There will be a three-and-a-half year group work program with some kind of community participation,” Marks added, noting that Mayor Tom Bates favors something modeled on the current city Creeks Task Force that would include one member appointed by each city councilmember as well as various stakeholders. 

Besides the council appointees, that task force includes members from several city commissions and one member each appointed by property owners and by creeks advocates. 

Helen Burke, a creeks advocate on the planning commission, said she favored the UC Hotel Task Force model. 

Marks said planning commissioners would probably have their own ideas as well, which they could forward on to the City Council. 

“There’s clearly a spirit of cooperation,” said Lollini, calling himself and Marks “collaborators”. 

Then it was time for the commissioners to ask questions. 

Gene Poschman, the panel’s acknowledged policy wonk, told the pair “I appreciate your mentioning ‘public participation’ 14 times.” 

Asked how the preliminary work will occur, Marks said city and university staff would meet privately. “Secretly” was the word Poschman applied. 

Poschman noted that the public couldn’t be informed of the shape of any draft agreement unless the city and UC both agreed to its release. 

“It sounds like a gag order,” said Commissioner David Stoloff. 

Planning commissioner Sara Shumer suggested that the group promptly appoint its own subcommittee to study the implications of the agreement, but colleague Rob Wrenn said that should be done in September, after the vacation season and August recess ended. 

But Marks noted that plans called for assembling the draft work program by September, something he said was essential to accomplish the planning process in the mandatory four-year framework. 

“The consensus is that the stakeholders need to be involved,” said Commissioner David Tabb. “If we wait until September, are we limiting the nature of the framework” for involvement?  

Pollack announced he’d scheduled the continued discussion for July 27, despite Poschman’s observation that several commissioners won’t be able to attend. 

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State regulators Tuesday backed a recommendation by Berkeley preservationists in the raging battle over a city ordinance designed to preserve historic buildings. 

In a July 12 letter, the State Office of Historic Preservation recommended that Berkeley hire an impartial consultant to prepare a single draft of Landmarks Preservation Ordinance revisions for public review—a recommendation that mirrors that of the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission. OHP Supervisor Lucinda Woodward added that the state would assist the city with the process.  

The letter was made public at Tuesday’s Berkeley City Council meeting that was dominated by a two-hour public hearing over proposed changes to the city’s landmarks ordinance. The council declined to vote or comment on the ordinance and will take it up again on Tuesday. 

Woodward, citing specific provisions of the state’s Environmental Quality Act, wrote that a competing proposal from the city’s Planning Commission, although acceptable under state and federal law, would “reduce the level of protection currently afforded historical resources in Berkeley” and would appear to require an environmental review. 

In 2000, the city asked the Landmarks Preservation Commission to revise the ordinance to conform with state law requiring speedy decisions for applicants. The LPC completed and approved a new ordinance draft in 2004, which was forwarded to the Planning Commission for comment and passage of implementing Zoning Ordinance language. But the Planning Commission entered the fray with its own draft LPO, which preservationists say would weaken protection for historic buildings. 

The existence of dueling recommendations, Woodward continued, “brings into question the healthiness of the city’s historic preservation program. I find it unusual for one city commission to prepare an ordinance that would be administered by another city agency if adopted.” 

Berkeley is not required to follow the OHP’s recommendation to hire a third-party consultant and Planning Director Dan Marks advised the council against it. 

“After five years ... of intense effort, no outside party will be able to unilaterally resolve all these issues,” he said. 

Marks added that Woodward “provided no basis for her assertion and had not contacted city officials to discuss the matter.” 

Proposed changes to the city’s 31-year-old Landmarks Preservation Ordinance have garnered attention because developers say the LPC uses the ordinance as a tool for delaying and derailing projects while preservationists insist the ordinance is necessary protection for structures they say are esthetically and historically significant.  

“The LPC is all that stands between historic resources and their destruction,” said Laurie Bright, a former LPC member and the president of the Council of Neighborhood Associations. 

Stephanie Manning, a resident of the Oceanview Historic District, said the commission’s regulations helped revive the neighborhood. “Many of the buildings were saved through the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance,” she said. 

Lise Blumenfeld, a West Berkeley resident, credited the LPC for establishing the Sisterna Tract Historic District in West Berkeley, which she said would preserve the integrity of her residential neighborhood. 

Preservationists take issue with the Planning Commission’s recommendation that would allow property owners and developers to get a binding decision their site’s historical significance before having to introduce any new development plans. Also they oppose a provision transferring authority for minor alterations of structures of merit from the LPC to a zoning officer.  

Proponents of the change contend that under the current ordinance there is little difference between landmarks and structures of merit, which are buildings considered historically or culturally significant because of their context but are not landmarks in their own right. 

Such critics called on the council to go beyond the Planning Commission’s recommendation and outlaw structures of merit altogether.  

“It’s not about preservation anymore. It has now been hijacked to be obstruction,” said Oakland land use attorney Rina Rickles, who frequently represents developers. 

“The problem with a structure of merit is that it reaches all the way down to a tin shack,” said Michael Brodsky, the co-owner of a West Berkeley tile store, who said the LPC delayed the expansion of his shop by declaring his building a structure of merit. However he said the council eventually overturned the LPC’s ruling.  

While the Downtown Berkeley Association came out in favor of the LPC recommendation, some West Berkeley businesses strongly endorsed the Planning Commission version. Builder Darrell de Tienne, representing Wareham Development, warned the council that further landmarking in West Berkeley would stall economic development. 

“I’m not talking about saving houses, I’m talking about jobs,” he said. 

Tim Rempel, a West Berkeley architect and developer, said, “The LPC has been used as an instrument to prevent development in industrialized areas.” 

West Berkeley property owner Scott Christensen said, “After five years it seems unnecessary for the city to hire someone to go over the same stuff.” 

J. Michael Edwards, who initiated the landmarking of a home in his neighborhood, called on the council to bring in a consultant to put an end to the dispute. 

“The first thing the arbitrator should say to these warring parties,” he said, “‘It’s not about you, it’s about Berkeley.’" 

Berkeley High sophomore Rio Bauce, 15, has assigned himself a daunting task: winning the right for 17-year-olds in the city to vote in school board elections. 

On Tuesday, Bauce and four fellow Berkeley members of the National Youth Rights Association announced they were starting a ballot drive to lower the voting age for school board. 

“Seventeen-year-olds know the schools as well as anyone and they have the biggest stake in them,” Bauce said. Currently students elect a non-voting representative to the board. 

The NYRA is hoping to convince five city councilmembers to place the issue on the ballot in November 2006. If the council declines, the students could still take their initiative to the voters by collecting approximately 3,000 signatures from registered voters. Signature gatherers must be registered voters, and thus over 18, meaning that the students proposing the initiative couldn’t collect signatures. 

Laura Menard, the parent of a high school sophomore, said she didn’t want her son voting as a 17-year-old. 

“High school is still primarily a popularity contest,” she said. “I don’t think high school students have any idea of what goes into a proper education and how to administer it.” 

The school board is divided on the issue. Bauce said the two most left-leaning members, John Selawsky and Terry Doran, have come out in support of the ballot measure, while Shirley Issel is opposed.  

School Board Director Joaquin Rivera didn’t take a stand on the initiative, but expressed some doubts. 

“It might sound really nice,” he said, “but there are a lot of implications that need to be looked at like the legality and cost issues.” 

State law defines an eligible voter as a U.S. citizen age 18 or older. Andrew Lachman, a Los Angeles-based attorney specializing in youth voting issues, predicted that if voters approved the initiative the issue would quickly end up in court. 

“Either the city would enforce the will of the voters and an opponent would sue, or the city would declare it illegal under state law and a supporter would sue,” he said. 

It would be up to the court to rule whether a Berkeley school board election was considered a state election, subject to state laws, or a municipal election, he said. 

While the cost of allowing 17-year-olds to vote in school board races is unknown, earlier this year the city projected that giving 16-year-olds the vote for all city elections would cost around $38,000 for extra ballots, new voting rolls and more poll workers. 

For students, the drive to lower the voting age to 17 for school board is just a baby step. 

“Our goal is still for 16-year-olds to be able to vote in every election,” said Berkeley High junior Zach Hobesh. “But there is no way we are going to get that unless we start with a smaller victory.” 

Last month the group suffered a stinging defeat, when the City Council voted 5-4 against asking the state to let cities lower the voting age to 16. 

“After that we decided to be a little be more practical,” said Robert Reynolds, an 18-year-old Berkeley High graduate who last year founded the local NYRA chapter. 

Reynolds said the current board largely ignored student concerns, especially about class sizes in the high school. “I’ve had to sit on the floor in government class because there were not enough desks.”  

Private school students would also be given the vote under the initiative. 

Bauce contended that 17 is an appropriate age to get students in the habit of voting since they are still in high school and their lives are reasonably stable. 

“At 18 a lot of students are leaving town,” he said. 

One downside to the ballot initiative the students acknowledged is that since school board elections are held in even years, not every seventeen-year-old will get a chance to vote. Those who turn 17 before Election Day in odd years when there are no school board elections would not be eligible to vote. 

Although NYRA could only muster five students for Tuesday’s announcement, Berkeley High junior Chris Howell insisted that if given the vote students would pack polling stations. 

“They would feel so empowered, of course they would vote,” he said. 

Although young voters are still the least likely to cast a ballot, the percentage of 18-24-year-olds voting jumped from 36 to 47 percent in 2004, according to a report from the University of Maryland’s Center For Information and Research on Civil Learning and Engagement. 

Berkeley students are hardly alone in lobbying for suffrage. On Tuesday the City Council voted to support a bill in the state legislature making California the 14th state to allow 17-year-olds to vote in primaries if they turn 18 by the time of the general election. Last year, a bill in the state legislature giving 14- and 15-year-olds one-quarter of a full vote and 16 and 17 year olds one-half of a full vote died in committee. 

In 2002, Cambridge, Mass., city leaders voted to lower the local voting age to 17. But the state legislature, which has the final say, has not approved the change. 

While minors have failed to win the right to vote, a few cities, including Chicago and Takoma Park, Md., have enfranchised non-citizen parents for school board elections. San Francisco voters narrowly defeated a similar measure last year.›

Plans to demolish a West Berkeley landmark and replace it with a manufacturing plant came to an abrupt halt Wednesday morning after the building’s owner intervened. 

But when the physical dust had settled, the fate of the Garr Building at 740 Heinz Ave. remained uncertain. 

The structure is part of the Durkee’s Famous Foods complex, which was landmarked in 1985. It was used as a warehouse for copra, dried coconut flesh from which coconut oil was extracted for use in food products. 

The building boasts a vast four-story high interior space with no pillars except at either end and no floors, forming a cathedral-like space upheld by an Art Nouveau-like system of braces. 

Darrell De Tienne, a San Francisco developer who is frequently involved in Berkeley projects, teamed with Wareham Development to propose demolition of the structure. 

The cleared land would be consolidated with adjoining property Wareham already owns to create the site for a 105,800-square-foot laboratory and/or manufacturing building. 

But owner Kathleen Garr, a Lafayette woman whose late husband once ran a plastics recycling business out of the warehouse, said Tuesday that she derailed the deal following a Landmarks Preservation Commission meeting the night before. 

During the meeting, which included a hearing on the structural alteration permit that would allow demolition, former planning commissioner and preservationist Zelda Bronstein introduced Garr to artisans who live in the nearby former Durkee Building at 800 Heinz that Wareham restored as low rent live/work spaces. 

As a result of that meeting, Garr said Wednesday she decided to call a halt to the project. 

She installed new locks on the gates of the property, but Wareham workers cut the locks so they could retrieve construction materials stored in the structure and on the adjoining parking lot. 

A massive scoop loader and two smaller front end loaders were busily at work when Garr arrived at the site Tuesday morning.  

Garr would offer little on the record. “I’m afraid of what they might do,” she said. 

But De Tienne said Thursday afternoon that he was moving ahead on the project. “We were paying for using the site as a construction staging area, so I called and told them to clean it out,” he said. 

While Garr said Tuesday that she loved the building and didn’t want to see it demolished, the mass of the structure is constructed from unreinforced masonry and would require an expensive seismic retrofit before it can be used. 

Wareham is one of Berkeley’s major industrial and research site developers, and their largest project is the 15-acre Aquatic Park business and research center. They own the buildings on either side of Garr’s building, including offices that house the state Departments of Health Services and Toxics Substances Control. 

Other Berkeley tenants include a Bayer research unit, Xoma pharmaceuticals, Sybase software and the California State Automobile Association. 

While Garr was unavailable for comment Thursday, De Tienne said that project was continuing. 

“It’s still deemed incomplete” by the city, he said. “I’m meeting with the Transportation Department Monday, and there are some toxics issues still to be resolved, but I’m moving ahead. 

As far as I’m concerned, it’s not over till the fat lady sings.” 

The construction materials and heavy equipment were gone Thursday and the gates secured by new locks. 

Garr herself has said she was leaving for a week’s stay in British Columbia Friday.›

With newcomer Councilmember Pat Kerninghan urging fellow members to “just pass this and move on to more constructive things; I’m tired of the negative press Oakland is getting on this,” Oakland City Council passed a slightly modified version on first reading of Mayor Jerry Brown’s sideshow ordinance Tuesday in a rare morning meeting. 

The ordinance makes spectating at sideshows a criminal activity for the first time, as well as allows forfeiture of vehicles involved in the events. 

A final vote on the measure is scheduled for July 19. 

Mayor Brown did not attend the council meeting, but spoke with reporters outside City Hall immediately following the meeting. 

The term “sideshow” is most often used in Oakland to describe street or parking lot congregations of young African-Americans or Latinos in cars. The events often involve intricate car maneuvers, including one called “spinning donuts,” in which drivers spin their cars in a circle, leaving black, donut-shaped tire tracks in the street while spectators cheer them on. The gatherings are considered illegal, and Oakland police have spent the last several years trying to shut them down. 

The vote at Tuesday morning’s meeting was 6-0-1 with Vice Mayor Jane Brunner abstaining. Two candidates for mayor in next year’s election—Council President Ignacio De La Fuente and Councilmember Nancy Nadel—both voted for the ordinance. Councilmember Desley Brooks, who had argued against the proposed ordinance when it first came to council last month, was not present at the meeting. 

Oakland City Council goes on an eight-week vacation following the July 19 meeting, and with two separate readings needed for passage of an ordinance, council representatives said that without the 11 a.m. special meeting, the sideshow ordinance could not be passed to go into effect this summer. 

City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente set the tone for the meeting when he announced, even before councilmembers began to deliberate, that he would “not support any changes to this ordinance if there are any reductions in fines.” 

That prompted a reply from Brunner, who said that she was “disappointed that you started the dialogue saying you wouldn’t support any changes. If that’s the case, I’m not sure why I am here today. I’m not a member of the Public Safety Committee [where the compromise provisions were worked out]. I thought we were here to deliberate.” 

Councilmember Jean Quan, who crafted some of the modified portions of the measure, called it “a fair compromise.” 

Councilmember Larry Reid, who has long opposed what he called Tuesday “the insanity that is the sideshow,” said that passage of the ordinance “will help us attract retailers to the MacArthur corridor.” The area of MacArthur Boulevard between High Street and the San Leandro border has been the scene of much of the sideshow activity. 

In announcing why she abstained on the measure, Brunner said, “I absolutely support the arrest of any driver in a sideshow who causes damage with their car, and I support giving tickets to sideshow spectators.” 

But Brunner said that the ordinance needed a “mandatory warning provision” that required police to give spectators the chance to disperse. In addition, Brunner said that the ordinance’s “$500 ticket is too much money for the first offense. I would support $150 for the first offense and $500 for the second offense, and I’d even be willing to support an arrest for the third offense. But with a fee this high, I can’t support it.” 

Under the modified ordinance, fines will escalate from $500 to $750 to $1,000 for the first three offenses. The first two offenses will constitute an infraction—comparable to a parking ticket—while the third and all subsequent offenses will constitute a misdemeanor, a criminal offense that subjects the offender to a possible jail time of six months. Under the mayor’s original ordinance, all of the offenses were misdemeanors. 

In answer to a question, Deputy City Attorney Rocio Fierro said that including a provision in the law that made it necessary for police to issue a warning to disperse before ticketing or arresting sideshow spectators could be a conflict with state law. 

And Interim Oakland Police Chief Wayne Tucker said that his officers “have every intention to do outreach first before beginning to enforce this law. We will attempt to notify people and admonish them that spectating at sideshows is illegal.” 

Tucker said that one form of notification would be leaflets passed out in the community. Tucker said that the notification by police of unlawful assembly and warning to disperse generally precedes a mass arrest, and said that Oakland police do not intend to initiate mass arrests through the new ordinance, if it is eventually passed. 

“We will surgically apply this ordinance,” he said. 

Other modifications to the mayor’s original ordinance gave a more detailed definition of spectators under the law, and required the police to return to the Public Safety Committee in six months and to the entire City Council in a year with a report on the enforcement of the ordinance. 

With several of the council members scheduled to attend a noon Public Works Committee meeting, public and staff testimony, council debate, and the vote were all rushed through in an hour for the far-reaching measure. 

One indication of that rush was uncertainty over whether violators of the proposed ordinance could work out their fines or sentences in public works activities. Questioned closely by Vice Mayor Brunner, Deputy City Attorney Fierro said such provisions “need to be worked out with the courts,” and that talks were ongoing with the Alameda County District Attorney’s office on the subject. 

The ordinance had drawn large crowds—mostly in opposition to the measure—when it was introduced to council June 7 and debated by the Public Safety Committee on June 29. But public attendance at Tuesday’s council meeting was sparse and only a handful of people spoke on the ordinance, all but one of them in favor of passage. 

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Because of an editing error, an article in the July 12 issue incorrectly stated that the Albany councilmember who charged St. Mary’s College High School representatives with reneging on an agreement was not the same councilmember who charged that city staff encouraged the school to break their deal with the city. In both cases, the councilmember was Robert Lieber, the only councilmember quoted in the article. 

Berkeley’s Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) added two new properties to the city’s list of official historic resources, one over the owners’ wishes and the other with the owner’s blessings. 

The contested decision ended with a 5-3 vote in favor of a “structure of merit” designation for a single-story Victorian cottage at 2901 Otis St. which the Zoning Adjustments Board has already approved for conversion into a three-story triplex condominium. 

The unchallenged unanimous vote ended with “landmark” protection awarded to the building at 2375-77 Shattuck Ave., which houses La Note restaurant. 

Otis Street cottage 

The Otis Street cottage designation was the result of a petition circulated by area neighbors after the structure’s owners filed for a permit to transform that building into a “popup” condominium project. 

In designating the building a structure of merit, one of the city’s two historic resource classifications, the commission called for specific features of the existing building to be preserved. The decision would still allow the three-story conversion, though the LPC now must approve the designs to ensure preservation of the protected elements. 

Monday night’s vote was the LPC’s third on the project. The initial designation failed at a short-handed commission June 6, where it won over a majority of members on hand but failed to capture the five votes needed for passage. The commission had initially voted to take a pass on the project when the current owners bought the property. 

Project contractor and co-owner Xin Jin said the building failed to qualify for designation because it failed to pass the “you know one when you see one” test. “Is this a landmark?” he asked before providing his own answer, “No.” 

Co-owner Eric Geleynse said the conversion fit the character of a neighborhood where 43 percent of the structures have three or more units. He also said that 62 percent of the signers of the landmarking petition lived in such buildings. 

Mel Weitsman, abbott of the Berkeley Zen Monastery, one of two Buddhist centers in the neighborhood, spoke in favor of the landmarking, saying it contributes to the history and integrity of a neighborhood that has the feel of a “well-blended stew.” 

Neighborhood resident Shari Ser read the neighbor’s landmarking petition, which cited the roles played by the houses built and inhabited by Frank R. Hull at 2901 Otis and Harry H. Webb at 2935 Otis in “providing a binding to the neighborhood fabric.” Both houses remain largely intact, she noted. 

Webb was the builder of the recently landmarked curved front Victorian commercial building at the northwest corner of Ashby Avenue and Adeline Street. 

Giselle Sorensen, the city planning staff member assigned to the LPC, cautioned the panel that the triplex conversion project had already passed the deadline imposed by the state Permit Streamlining Act—the law that sparked the current controversy over proposed revisions to the city Landmarks Preservation Ordinance (LPO), the enabling legislation for the LPC. 

LPC member Carrie Olson moved to approve the structure of merit designation, citing additional features to preserve in addition to those included in the neighbors’ application. Patricia Dacey seconded the motion. 

LPC member Fran Packard took exception, declaring that “the present owners have been jerked around by this commission and the city inexcusably,” earning applause from Geleynse. 

“I want to reiterate my opposition to landmarking against the owners’ wishes,” added LPC member James Samuels. 

Dacey said she generally agrees with Samuels, “but when the entire neighborhood has come out, I have to think something’s gone wrong.” 

“It’s a classic opposition of the wishes of a neighborhood with individual rights,” replied Samuels. 

LPC chair Jill Korte, who was reelected to her post earlier in the meeting, read the definition of a “structure of merit” from the landmarks ordinance, noting that the Hull house fit the criteria. 

When it came time to vote, Commissioner Steven Winkel joined Packard and Samuels in opposition, while Ted Gartner and Leslie Emmington joined Olson, Dacey and Korte in support, ensuring passage by the requisite five votes. 

Shattuck Avenue Victorian 

In contrast, no one spoke in opposition to LPC member Robert Johnson’s initiative to landmark the 1894 La Note restaurant building on Shattuck Avenue, the last remaining unaltered false-front Victorian business building left on the central city thoroughfare. 

“It’s not the product of a famous architect or the scene of historic events, but it’s the city’s best example of an historic building type and the only one downtown,” Johnson said. 

Gorman Building 

The restoration of another Berkeley landmark, the J. Gorman building at 2599 Telegraph Ave., drew high praise from audience members and commissioners, though commission members had some suggestions for tweaking revisions to make them more consistent with the structure’s historical character. 

Owner David Clahan is restoring the structure, built in two phases in 1877 and 1906, removing a facade added later and restoring the “witch’s hat” that once topped the cupola over the southeastern entrance to the building. 

“The work is really great,” said retired planner John English. “An important building is coming back into its own.” 

Commissioners gave Clahan’s plans their unanimous approval, contingent on minor revisions to be worked out with an LPC subcommittee. 

The Gorman furniture business began in Berkeley at the site in 1876, and left the city two years ago for a new location in Oakland. The structure has been vacant ever since.›

Downtown Berkeley has snagged a new business—albeit one that was already operating in the city. 

Half-Price Books, which now sells new and used books, videotapes, DVDs and software at 1849 Solano Ave., is relocating to the landmark Samuel H. Kress & Co. Building at 2036 Shattuck Ave. 

Store manager Tom Carter, who was supervising the packing of some of his 100,000-plus inventory Thursday, said he expects to open in the new location by Sept. 15, though the Solano store will remain open through the annual Solano Stroll on Sept. 11. 

The store, one of more than 80 in a family-owned chain, was originally located on Telegraph Avenue before also opening on Solano Avenue. 

Chain Vice President Matt Dalton told city Landmarks Preservation Commissioners Monday he was thrilled with the move into the old Kress store. 

“It’s a wonderful building, a dream,” he said. 

Built in 1933 and designed by architect Edward F. Sibbert, the building occupies a key position in the downtown at the end of the most heavily walked stretch of pavement in the city and across from the downtown BART station. 

Building owner John Gordon said the bookstore will add a major attraction to the city center. 

“When you do retail, you try to get a good mix of tenants,” Gordon said, “and they’re a good fit.” 

The bookseller will occupy all of the 8,000-square-foot first-floor retail space, Gordon said, and will be stay open until late in the evening. 

“It’s a good addition to the Arts District, and it fits in well with the new comics store and the Other Change of Hobbit, as well as the gelato store,” he said. 

Dalton appeared at the Landmarks Preservation Commission Monday to seek approval of the an illuminated vertical “blade” sign for the corner of the building facing the intersection of Shattuck Avenue and Addison Street. 

Because the structure is a Berkeley landmark, the commission has approval over exterior signage. 

Commissioners said they were pleased to see the building get a new tenant, and appointed a subcommittee to work with Dalton to come up with a sign that would fit the character of the building. 

“The store needs all the announcement it can get,” said Commissioner Leslie Emmington. 

Half-Price currently has two other stores in California, one in Fremont and the other in Concord, Carter said. 

“I like the idea of moving downtown both because of the increased traffic and because we like to be in the center of things,” Carter said. “It’s a nice historic building, and it’s the first time the company has been able to move into a building like this.” 

Unlike many other stores, Half-Price buys all its used books from readers in the community, Carter said. “We buy from our neighborhood customers, not from the outside.” 

Technically, he said, that makes Half-Price a book recycling business. 

The new facility will include all new shelving, and Carter said the fixtures in the Solano Avenue store will be offered free to nonprofit organizations. If any are left after that they’ll be offered to the public at $5 apiece or less. 

The new location offers about the same amount of retail space as the Solano Avenue store, but it’s all on one floor. 

“It will be great getting back into the center of things,” Carter said. “We’re really looking forward to it.” 

The announcement of the Half-Price move makes the second major new addition to downtown Berkeley announced in recent days. 

Berkeley developer Roy Nee recently told the Daily Planet that he has partnered with Starwood Hotels to transform the ailing Shattuck Hotel, another landmark, into the Berkeley Westin. 

›

The City Council unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday urging residents to boycott Berkeley Honda, which they accused of union busting. 

“I have a ‘94 Honda Accord and I’m not going back there again until they treat their people honorably,” said Councilmember Linda Maio. 

Machinists and mechanics have been picketing the dealership at 2600 Shattuck Ave. for the past month after the new ownership refused to rehire about half of the unionized autoshop staff and honor the union contract that expired at the end of June.  

The new owners took over the shop that was previously Jim Doten Honda on June 1. They let 15 union workers go and retained 13, said Machinist union representative Donald Crosatto. The average seniority at Jim Doten Honda was 15 years, according to the council report. 

In a letter to the council, Berkeley Honda General Manager Steve Haworth wrote that the dealership was “willing to negotiate with the union” and that its stance was “motivated purely by its desire to operate a successful business in Berkeley.”  

At the suggestion of Councilmember Gordon Wozniak, Mayor Tom Bates offered to mediate the dispute if both sides were open to his participation. 

Crosatto accepted the mayor’s offer, but contended that the dealership wasn’t interested in keeping the union. 

At the first bargaining session held Monday, the dealership offered a one-year deal that would give the union workers their jobs back, but at less pay and with poorer benefits. 

Top level mechanics would go from making $28.59 an hour to $25 an hour. A senior parts technician would go from making $24.09 an hour to $15. The offer also reduced recognized holidays from 10 to 6, required employees to pay more for their family’s medical benefits, and would allow non-union employees to work in the auto shop. 

“Any shop in the area, union or not, offers a better deal than that,” Crosatto said. The union mechanics rehired in June were offered $31 an hour as part of a deal that would have replaced their employer pension contributions with a 401K retirement fund. 

The union proposed allowing the rehired workers to return to work under the dealership’s original offer along with a pledge to continue negotiating with the union for the next year. 

Berkeley Honda has retained the law firm Littler Mendelson, which UC’s Coalition of university employees called in 2002, “The most infamous union-busters in the land.” 

Noting that the dealership is one of the city’s top sales tax generators Councilmember Wozniak recommended that the council resolution should not bash the dealership and drive it out of town. 

“I’d like to see this be a little more than just posturing,” he said. 

“No one is trying to run them out of town,” replied Councilmember Darryl Moore. “Some money is good money, but to turn a profit on the backs of the people there, I don’t think it’s right.” 

The new ownership group, led by Danville businessman Stephen Beinke, was under no obligation to rehire the workers. However, since the auto shop at this point is still comprised of a majority of union workers, management is required to deal with the union for a certain period. But if more non-union workers are brought in and make up a majority of the auto shop employees, the workers can call to decertify the union. 

The union workers fear that they have been retained to train the new non-union employees, and that eventually the owners will replace them with non-union staff and get a decertification petition passed. 

›

Berkeley Minicar  

2498 San Pablo Ave.  

841-1221 

Berkeley Minicar is a Honda-only independent car repair shop that’s really good. How good? Well, together with a similar independent Honda shop in Southern California, they’ve kept my beloved 1976 Honda station wagon running happily for 20 years. 

Because parts are getting scarce, I’ve finally accepted the Air Quality District’s offer to retire my wagon to the Smithsonian. Sorry, I mean Pick-n-Pull. I’ll miss it dearly.  

But I’ve bought another Honda so I can keep going to Minicar. 

Minicar does first-rate work, and they insist on using top-quality Honda (or other Japanese) parts whenever available. These folks really know Hondas. But they charge less than dealers, they’re friendlier, and they’ve always come in under their estimate. 

In fact, Mark, Nancy, Jim and company are fanatical about saving their customers money. When they have had any doubt about whether a repair was necessary, they’ve always told me, “Just keep an eye on it, and call us back if it gets worse.” They have laughed at some of the jobs that radiator or tire shops have tried to talk me into. 

Minicar works by advance appointment. You check in your car between 8:30 and 9 a.m., or drop it off the night before. They run an informal shuttle service back to downtown Berkeley or BART. Or if you prefer to wait, Caffe Trieste is across the street. (Other diversions on that holistic block include Good Vibrations and the Ecology Center/Sierra Club storefront, but you’ll probably be out before they open.) 

How many Japanese city councilmembers can fit in a Berkeley City Hall elevator? 

Apparently, more than the elevator is able to handle. 

Approximately 15 members of a friendship delegation from city councils in Japan crowded into one of the Civic Center elevators on their way to a meeting with Mayor Bates and other city representatives Thursday—and promptly became trapped, as the elevator refused to budge and the doors would not open. 

Fire Department personnel and an elevator maintenance technician were called to the scene and freed the councilmembers after several minutes. 

A smaller group of about 10, who had ridden the other elevator without incident, exchanged greetings and gifts with Mayor Bates and asked questions about Berkeley’s municipal government and city services, unaware that their colleagues were trapped. 

Several members of the mayor’s office searched City Hall for the missing councilors without success. After about 15 minutes, Vicky Liu, an assistant to the mayor who was with the group in the stuck elevator, used a Japanese delegate’s cellphone to place a call from inside the elevator, via Japan, to the Civic Center front desk, where she spoke with Mayor Bates. 

Upon being freed, the councilors were welcomed to a conference room by city personnel, where they were provided drinking water and a moment to collect themselves before being whisked off by bus to San Francisco International Airport for departure to Japan in less than an hour. It was not known at press time whether the group made the flight. 

An elevator maintenance technician at the scene said the likely cause of the problem was excess weight from too many passengers. 

Steve Freedkin is chairperson of the Berkeley Peace and Justice Commission, and has offered to visit the Japanese councilmembers’ cities next month and reciprocate by riding in their worst elevators.›

Last Thursday morning in London, my wife Lisa and I left our three children to hail a taxi near the apartment we had rented. Eli, who is 20, had offered to take our twins Annie and Lucy to Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum as a treat for their twelfth birthday. All three were excited about seeing the statues of everyone from the Queen to Johnny Depp. 

Glad to have a few hours to ourselves, Lisa and I wandered into a store and asked the clerk about a different store that used to be in the same location. 

“It’s moved to central London,” he said, “but of course you wouldn’t want to go there today.” 

“Why not?” 

“Because of the bombing.” 

He saw our blank stares. 

“There have been bombs in central London. You’d better have a look at the news.” 

We raced outside, but the kids were already gone. What should we do? We had just sent our children into central London. Central London had been bombed or was being bombed. We didn’t know where the bombs had been. We didn’t know whether there would be more of them, or what might be the targets. 

“We’ll go to Madame Tussaud’s and find them.” Easier said than done. There were suddenly no taxis anywhere. I went into a shop and tried to call a taxi on the phone. First the phone line didn’t work. When it did, the phone rang endlessly without an answer. 

Lisa and I stood on either side of Kensington High Street, looking in both directions for a taxi, for a long half hour. Every few minutes, Lisa called to me and asked again what we should do. I kept saying that we had to find a taxi because I couldn’t think of anything else. When a taxi finally appeared, we told the driver why we were so frantic and asked him to take us to Madame Tussaud’s. 

“I won’t be able to go directly. Some of the roads are closed because of the bombing.” After a few blocks, he heard on the radio that the Euston Road, where the Wax Museum is located, was closed. “I’ll get you there if I can,” he said, “but I doubt that your children will get anywhere close.” 

After a few more blocks, we changed the plan and told the driver to go to the apartment, so I could leave a note in case the kids went there as well. Then we would try to get to Madame Tussaud’s. 

Lisa waited in the taxi as I went inside to dash off a note, telling Eli and the girls not to go out again if they did come back. Then I tried to call the hotel where we had arranged to meet later in the day to leave another message for them. I was on hold when I heard Eli’s voice yelling. A few seconds later, Lisa came in with the girls. They had turned back when their taxi was stopped by a police roadblock, and the driver told them about the bombs. All three had stayed calm in the taxi. The girls didn’t start to sob until they saw their mother. Eli said afterwards that she had never hugged him so hard. 

On Saturday, two days after the bombing, London seemed almost normal. The theaters were only closed for one night. The major museums, closed on Friday, were open. Students lounged on the grass in front of the Natural History Museum. In spite of early reports that the Underground would be closed for up to a week, most lines were back in service on Friday. (Not the one where there were still at least twenty bodies trapped in a deep tunnel, of course.) By Friday afternoon, the red double-decker buses were full of people, and so were the streets and stores. 

To us, all the responses were echoes of Sept. 11. “They will not change our way of life,” said the queen. Prime Minister Blair promised to hunt down the perpetrators. The kindly Indian grocer next door, proud of his very affluent and very mixed Kensington neighborhood (“This is Stratford Village. We are all happy here.”) said that whoever set the bomb wasn’t really a person. “Don’t they have a mother or father? These people should be tortured.” 

His was the only voice we heard calling for revenge, however. One MP with a working-class accent, interviewed on television, said that he hesitated about taking the bus to the House of Commons “because I thought I might get blown up. But then I thought, ‘sod it, I’m not going to stay off the bus because of a bunch of nutters.’” People we talked to, taxi drivers and shop keepers, sounded a similar note. 

The newspapers were filled with stories of the victims (including a few of London’s nearly one million Muslims) and the heroic rescuers. One headline simply screamed “Bastards!” but there were also more measured responses. A letter in the Guardian asked “What’s the difference between taking bombs into the bowels of the earth to blow up innocent people and dropping them from the skies for exactly the same reason?” An article in the Times called for the preservation of civil liberties. 

Somehow, none of the words seemed adequate. The formulas of grief and indignation did not measure up to the carnage or the desperate ideology that produced it. 

In the wake of our scare Thursday morning, we were too nervous over the weekend to go to the theater (Wednesday night, before the bombing, we thrilled to the jaunty optimism of Mary Poppins) or the museums. We stayed out of central London, and away from anything that seemed like a tempting target. We did go into Harrod’s in search of souvenirs—it was even more insanely jammed than usual, not just with tourists but with Muslim women covered head to toe in black—but Annie clutched my hand nervously until we were back on the sidewalk outside. We exchanged our own formulas with the cheerful taxi drivers (“They won’t beat us”) and with the Indian grocer, who gave us our vegetables for free on Friday as a gesture of cross-cultural solidarity. 

Saturday night, after a long afternoon walk in beautiful, comforting Kensington Gardens, past the swans and the Peter Pan statue and the inter-racial soccer games, I had a dream that replaced the present, incomprehensible violence with a more familiar version, borrowed from old moves of World War II. I dreamed that someone—it seemed to be the Japanese—was bombing my city from the air. I wanted to tell the children to stay away from the windows, and I watched in amazement as planes evaded the anti-aircraft fire and buildings silently crumbled. 

Annie was frightened again at Heathrow on Monday morning, and still frightened on the plane, occasionally sobbing, because we were going through New York. Only after we took off from Kennedy and headed west did she start to smile again. 

ô

Construction overcharges continued to be the theme at the Peralta Community College District Trustee meeting Tuesday night, with trustees sparring with Chancellor Elihu Harris and staff over the Vista College construction project. 

On a voice vote, trustees directed Harris to go back and conduct “hard bargaining” with Vista architects Ratcliff Architects to pick up $31,724 in costs which Peralta General Services Director Sadiq Ikharo said were the result of errors in Ratcliff’s original plans. 

The changes were necessary to modify portions of the college’s fourth-floor roof deck to fit into a depression that was not shown on Ratcliff’s drawings. 

Change orders in the Berkeley college construction project have been a continuing source of concern by trustees, with the board modifying district policy earlier this year to give them increased oversight. 

While saying that the amount in question was “only $31,000 in a multi-million dollar project,” Trustee Nicky Gonzalez Yuen said, “I’m willing to accept the cost of change orders that are our responsibility, but I’m not in support of paying for change orders that are not our fault.” 

But Harris questioned the cost-value of going after such a small amount, and said he did not believe that further talks with Ratcliff would be fruitful. 

“I hate change orders more than anyone,” Harris said, “but change orders are a fact of life. Some of these errors are normal in construction, and we have to decide what is tolerable.” 

Harris said that members of his staff had met with Ratcliff representatives two weeks ago, and the firm had indicated they were not going to pay the overages. 

“If you want me to go back and renegotiate, I need more direction,” Harris said. “I don’t want to just go back and say ‘pretty please.’ This is not negotiation. It’s not very likely they’re going to pay for it. If they say no, what do you want me to do?” 

Board members voted to direct Harris back to negotiations without further instructions.›

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

TRAFFIC CIRCLES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

To those who can’t figure out the traffic circles (suggestion: veer right), I fear sharing the road with you. 

Tom Case 

• 

THE BIKE LANE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The Daily Planet has published quite a few letters recently about traffic circles, pro and con. In many of these, I’ve noticed an alarming assumption being made. A number of writers have asserted that, at a traffic circle, “cars will be forced into the bike lanes.” That’s alarming because the writers don’t appear to understand the traffic rules, and since I’m often sharing the road with them on my bike, that worries me. 

Here’s the deal: There’s often just one lane through the circle. It is the bike lane. It’s also the car lane, and the truck lane, and the lane. If there’s a cyclist going through the traffic circle drivers coming up behind are supposed to slow down and follow the bike through the circle and out the other side. This radical requirement is, of course, a major threat to Western civilization, as a very fast driver caught behind an unusually slow cyclist could be delayed by as much as 20 seconds. Per circle! 

Bikes are traffic, and when there’s just one traffic lane, all the traffic has to line up in it, bikes along with cars. Following a bike is not an impossibility. Twenty-five MPH is the maximum speed limit, but you’re allowed to drive slower if you need to. I devoutly hope that any Berkeley drivers who find themselves behind my bike will see the need...best I’ve been able to manage lately on the flat is only about 22 MPH. Cut me some slack, folks, I’m a senior citizen. 

David Coolidge 

• 

ALBANY BULB 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Thanks for covering the Albany Bulb situation. I noticed two things, one is that the City of Albany is abusing homeless people, by throwing their belongings away. It looks like they are oppressing them again.  

Second thing, where is there proof that those toxins are not still in the soil there? Is there any investigation into that? If there are toxins (metals) they can be very dangerous. If they are still there, no one should be allowed in the area, or they could get cancer, right? 

About 20 years ago that subject was brought up during Rainbow Village. I’m curious how to find out what is the real hazard of these “metals.”  

John Delmos 

• 

DOWNTOWN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It is great to see someone like Roy Nee who has enough faith in downtown Berkeley to take on the Shattuck Hotel. I am really excited at the idea of having a world class hotel downtown. It sounds like Mr. Nee is planning to bring the hotel up to modern standards while still respecting the historic value of the building. I believe with a revived Shattuck Hotel this will help attract more retail business. This is just another step forward to help improve the downtown.  

These are exciting times for downtown Berkeley! 

Raudel Wilson 

• 

FILM FESTIVAL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I read with interest your article on Mr. Nee, the new Shattuck Hotel owner. 

Your article references the new Shattuck Hotel owner’s plans for a Berkeley film festival. These proposed plans will certainly need to address one of the nation’s largest independent film and video festivals already in existence, the Berkeley Video and Film Festival. 

As the director and founder of the Berkeley Video and Film Festival, I would like to point out that the East Bay Media Center has been producing the festival in Berkeley since 1991. 

It may be misleading to your readership of the Daily Planet, an ongoing sponsor of the Berkeley Video and Film Festival, to imply that a Berkeley film festival is in the planning stages, when the Berkeley Video and Film Festival already exists. 

Mel Vapour 

Director, Berkeley Video and Film Festival 

• 

TOM’S CHICKEN SOUP 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Former President Lyndon Johnson once said, “You can’t make chicken soup out of chicken [poop].” He would have also known that the ethically challenged can sell quite a bit of the poop soup as long as they do the right marketing and most people haven’t actually tasted the stuff. 

I’m sure Johnson was referring to a politician when he said the above, which brings me to the Tom Bates piece in the Daily Planet regarding the City of Berkeley’s return to progressive leadership. 

The “soup” Tom is selling sounds very nourishing, but having tasted it, by attending the tightly controlled City Council meetings, remarking on the disgraceful secret deal with Cal, following the public reaction in the Planet and on the street, attending the fake “town hall meetings” discussing the budget cuts, seeing how effective the mayor was at raising tax revenues, and last but not least, the continuous limitation of citizen influence on city and council decisions, I would say Tom’s “soup” contains no actual chicken. 

Harry Wiener 

• 

AWARDS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

We all celebrate every award the Daily Planet has gathered. Whether or not we agree with all editorial stands, whether or not we think that some letters you publish are, as you so gently put it “wrong-headed,” it’s not possible to overpraise the positive energy you generate in this community, nor to overestimate the energy and dedication it takes to do it. 

Bravi tutti at the Berkeley Daily Planet. 

Dorothy Bryant 

• 

PASSING OUT MONEY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I read in the papers recently that Ariel Sharon has just asked the United States for an extra $2.2 billion to cover the cost of relocating Israeli “settlers” away from the Gaza Strip.  

OK. I got out my calculator.  

If the U.S. gives Sharon 2.5 billion dollars to help move 9,100 settlers, that’s $241,758.24 each! For a family of four, that’s $967,032.96 per family. How come we aren’t giving almost $1 million per family to the poor displaced settlers in Rwanda? In Columbia? In Haiti? In Darfur? Or in Iraq? 

And what about the people in New London, Conn. that the Supreme Court recently kicked out of their homes? Are they getting $ 1 million per family too? 

And what about me? Give me $241,758.24 for every member of my family and we will settle anywhere! But preferably in a condo on the Riviera.  

Jane Stillwater 

• 

PUBLIC POOLS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

My wife and I live near King Pool. Swimming has been medically prescribed for both of us--my wife for heart issues and me for my lower back. We swim at King every other day and have done so year-in-year-out since moving to Berkeley in 1988. Two of our three children attended schools in Berkeley. We have both dedicated our professional lives to K12 education. In addition, as home owners, we pay significant taxes to maintain our schools. We know of what we talk, and walk it! 

We are deeply disturbed at the very skewed priorities being exhibited by the school district, actions which contribute to the city’s financial burden. This burden is forcing the closure of Willard and King pools from September through May (not “winter closures” as stated officially; rather closures for two-thirds of a year). 

The school has never contributed a penny towards the maintenance of the public pools. In fact, BUSD’s response when the city asked the district to contribute to pool maintenance was to punish students by terminating the King and Willard aquatics programs! This decision came at a time 49 percent of Willard’s students and 30 percent of King’s are low income. By terminating aquatics, the school district is denying many children the opportunity to ever learn to swim, much less swim. 

At the same time, for example, according to news accounts, BUSD is budgeting $23-26 million to re-do West Campus. What for? District administration offices? Yet, the school district refuses to contribute $50,000 a year to help keep pools open for neighbors and for the 1,500 students at King and Willard. 

There is something very wrong with this situation--might we say, something is indeed rotten within BUSD--its administration and the school board (who like it or not are the employers of the administrators). 

Peter Seidman and  

Bonnie Benard 

• 

BERKELEY HONDA 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

My name is Tim Lubeck and I was recently hired as a service advisor at Berkeley Honda. I heard about the opening and the change of ownership and applied for the position. I was hired June 1 and worked alongside the mechanics, who are now walking the picket line, for two weeks. 

Your stories and letters to the editor are slanted toward the “plight” of the mechanics and while the new ownership is usually quoted correctly, it is more like, “Well, here’s what management has to say.”  

On June 15, we took in 60 vehicles for service, had most of them torn apart, when the mechanics and one service advisor, walked off the job at 10 a.m. It took a day and a half to clean that mess up, to the distress of many unhappy customers. 

Those employees walked out on $31 an hour, full medical and dental coverage for themselves and their entire family (comparable to what the union offers) and a private 401K with a monthly contribution of $465. 

The union pension plan that they so desperately want is $1.5 million upside down locally and $200 million nationally. The employees only realize 5 percent of the $465 per month currently contributed because of administration costs and poor management and while they can retire at age 65, they can not begin collecting any money until age 72. 

I certainly hope the plan is transferrable to their grandkids, because they are the only ones who might see any of the money. 

Today we have five or six picketers walking a very tight line in front of the entrance to the service department. They stop every vehicle attempting to come in for scheduled appointments and disseminate their literature and propaganda. It is a very intimidating scene for some of our older customers and many drive off without hearing our side of the story. They tell our customers that we have no certified mechanics, no tools and that most of the work is being towed back in because of bad repairs, all of it untrue.  

We currently have four master technicians, two of them fully Honda certified and we are scheduling work so that they can oversee every vehicle that we take in. 

Your stories do not report that some of the mechanics/employees that were not offered positions with the new Berkeley Honda were not current on their Honda certifications and licenses, including smog testing. Management hired the cream of the crop from the previous employees. Is ownership required to hire an employee with expired licensing and no recent schooling just because he has worked with the previous employer over 20 years? 

Berkeley Honda has kept the same pricing that was in place with Jim Doten Honda. They are bending over backwards to make customers new and old feel welcome. It is sad that we have to deal with verbal abuse and taunting on a daily basis and this is from people who expect to come back to work alongside us when and if the strike is settled. 

The new owners have a tremendous capital investment in the building and the people of the new Berkeley Honda. I find it disheartening that good employees walked away from a tremendous financial package and now they want to destroy what is left of their former workplace. 

Berkeley is known for freedom of expression and choice and people should have the right to get their car serviced without being verbally assaulted and harassed. I really feel that your stories and letters fall short on describing what is really going on here at Berkeley Honda. The general consensus is that Berkeley Honda is a bad place to do business. Nothing could be further from the truth. 

Tim Lubeck 

• 

DEPARTMENT OF PEACE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Although I’m currently living on the other side of the planet, I recently read a commentary written by John Wornick called “Opposed to a Department of Peace.” I don’t know if I have ever read a more veiled, emotionally charged piece. In writing in the name of serving on the Peace and Justice Commission to ensure that our local lawmakers don’t waste their time or our dollars, he managed in a clearly vitriolic manner to: demean the intelligence and significant efforts of many Congressional members who are co-sponsors; misrepresent their numbers as only a “few members,” when in fact there are 53 co-sponsors of the bill; misrepresent the bill by erroneously indicating that it calls for “dozens and dozens of largely redundant programs”; derogatorily call the proposed department the “Department of Peace, Puppies, and Chocolate”; and refer to “progressives” as if it were a racial stereotype and slur. I’m all for having public dialogue about the actual practical issues John raises, such as: whether lawmakers on a local level should be reading about or writing resolutions on national and international issues; whether the City Council should consider resolutions that were not fully supported by the Peace and Justice Commission; and whether a Department of Peace is redundant or not.  

This is not what was being suggested at all, but rather a seemingly angry response at a commission being sidestepped. Anger comes from fear, and if John felt threatened and therefore angry, perhaps he could more productively stick to expressing that in an honest and owned fashion, instead of acting it out in a veiled manner in supporting his opinions. 

Marty Landa 

Alive Today Enterprises 

Australia 

• 

NEW LANDMARKS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

After reading the commentaries by Sharon Hudson and Janice Thomas on historical preservation, I wonder if there will come a day when my children will read that the Gaia and Acton Court buildings are being landmarked. “Although controversial when built, these fine examples of turn of the century ...”  

After I wrote a commentary on the urban infill problem I got an error correction from Alan Tobey (thank you), but there was no response from Hudson or Thomas. Evidently, they don’t feel a response is needed for concerns that “historical preservation” could become excessive, or could actually impose a social burden on society that requires compromise.  

Is everyone so focused on their own comfort and desires that they have lost all sense of the common good? We have had people fighting to block senior housing on Sacramento, and now we have Karl Jensen essentially suggesting that we throw the homeless to the wolves to save money. People are offended by the style of the police blotter, but have nothing to say about the breakdown in the social contract that it chronicles. Landmark preservation may help us gentrify our way out of such messy problems by moving them somewhere else in the short term, but at some point even the “Here/There” sculpture isn’t going to be enough to keep the barbarians from the gates.  

Robert Clear  

• 

WOZNIAK IN ACTION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Berkeley City Councilmember Wozniak fired the chairperson of the Housing Advisory Commission on the basis that she wrote a commentary critical of the secret deal between the city and the university. Her essay was published in the Daily Planet on June 24. Wozniak was quoted in the Planet’s June 28 edition confirming that her opposition was indeed a factor in his firing her. 

His words resulted in an action—the firing of someone—while her words were merely meant to inform and persuade. 

In the process of campaigning, his words convinced people to vote for him. 

His constituents essentially hired him for the job.  

The words in his oath are a promise to maintain the laws and the policies of Berkeley and the interests of his constituents.  

Mina Edelston 

• 

RFID 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I have been a frequent user of the Berkeley Public Library for decades. I have turned in my library card. I will not be checking out materials from the library until all the issues with radio frequency identification have been resolved. 

Terry Cochrell 

Our pleas to city officials to refrain from enforcing rolling brownouts obviously fell on deaf ears. And now the threat of a major catastrophic fire is becoming a hard reality in the wake of recent fires in the city (including one yesterday near Fish Ranch Road). Despite assurances by the mayor’s office, the City Council and the Fire Department that Station 7 on Shasta Road was going to be staffed for the entire fire season, Berkeley hills residents were put in a perilous situation on July 6 when Station 7 was closed until 5 p.m. It was only through the diligence of its residents that the station was staffed after 5 p.m., following angry calls to the mayor’s office and the Fire Department. 

To place Berkeley residents in this precarious situation is not only irresponsible, it is highly negligent and constitutes a breach of trust by city officials who place greater priority on their pet projects over basic necessities like public safety. The threat of a major catastrophic fire hangs over us like the sword of Damocles and our city officials have acted like Dionysius by cutting our fire services. Alas, the sword hangs only by a strand of a horse’s hair.  

Cecilia Gaerlan 

Co-Captain, Shasta-Sterling Neighborhood Group 

• 

FORGET ROVE! 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

When the day is done I have four choices for news in prime time (ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox), five if your include PBS. Actually “news” is somewhat inaccurate; “news bites” would be better. But, come to think of it, the news on any given day occupies a tiny portion of the half-hour alloted; reports of actual events get squeezed by the weight of advertising, pseudo entertainment and prophesies of “experts”—“Well, professor, tell our audience what you think the next move of X will be.” [Replace X with Bush, the Democrats, the terrorists, the insurgents—whatever.] Lately I’ve begun to ask myself “Why bother?” 

Consider how the issue involving Rove, Bush’s main man, has been hogging the news. Everybody has something to say. Did he leak? Did he lie? Did he violate the law? In spirit? In fact? Such questions are minuscule when compared to the Watergate potential of the Downing Street Memo—documented evidence that the Bush network was fixing the case for war, promising one thing while planning another.  

Karl Rove may be a liar, a thug, a genius. He may be fired. He may keep his job. He may get the Medal of Honor. The point, unacknowledged by newspersons everywhere is that Rove is alive and almost 1,800 of his fellow citizens, soldiers mostly in their early twenties, are not. Karl Rove is healthy but several thousand of his countrymen are permanently maimed.  

Newspersons, forget Rove! We belittle ourselves as a nation by spotlighting his venial sins rather than the grievous sins of George W. and his prompters.  

Marvin Chachere 

San Pablo  

• 

STATIST RESPONSE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

What a clever title for Lin Biao’s letter (“Statist Quo,” July 12). And oh how bad it makes me feel to have come to that from a guy that was considered a (rhetorical) bomb-thrower in my distant youth. Age has its definite drawbacks. 

But wait. Taxes in society are quite analogous to club dues. Those that don’t like them can vote out the rascals that installed them. And there ain’t no free lunch in this or any other society. Those folks that don’t like taxes are sure interested, for the most part, in the services they buy. 

Just one example: The U.S. just lost a Toyota assembly plant to Canada despite several American states offering more financial incentives. It seems Toyota found that Canadian workers were better educated than American workers, so Toyota needed to spend less in training (and Toyota liked the lower health care cost per employee hour—about $5—that Canada’s national health plan offered) So we spend money on education and health care, and we get good paying jobs; we don’t spend that money, we lose the jobs.  

Mal Burnstein›

Last summer, just before dusk, my 15-year-old daughter, Liana, and her friend Kate were standing in front of Berkeley High School (BHS), waiting for Kate’s dad to pick them up. A car pulled up to the curb near them and parked. 

The driver, a young man, b egan staring at them intently, making them feel a bit uncomfortable. As the girls chatted they noticed the guy shifting around in his seat, eyes glued on them. They looked at him, then looked away. They talked and laughed and looked again, somewhat nervously now as they continued to wait for Kate’s father, Dean. 

The car edged a little closer and they saw the guy’s hand pumping up and down. Initially, the girls weren’t sure what he was doing but when he wriggled out of his pants and flung them across the passenger seat, there was no doubt. He lifted himself up and they could see the top of his penis, his hand steadily pumping away. The girls were shocked and disgusted and they didn’t know what to do. 

After a few minutes, the guy left. “I guess he was don e,” Liana said. The girls spotted a police car nearby. Rather than look for the suspect, the officer decided to wait with the girls until Dean arrived, shortly thereafter. He typed something into his computer but for some unknown reason, he never actually filed a report. 

A few days later, Kate was walking along M.L. King, Jr. Way. The same offender pulled up alongside her. Kate ran to a nearby porch, pulled out her cell phone and called Liana. “I’m looking at him right now,” she said. “I’m writing down h is license plate number.” Creepo saw her writing and took off. Kate walked to our house and I called the police.  

Liana and Kate were excited about viewing the photo line-up (these girls love any sort of drama, although they could have easily done withou t this scene.) They perused the photos separately. Kate picked him out, Liana was unsure. While undergoing questioning at his home, the suspect claimed that in spite of Kate’s accurate identification of his mug and car, he wasn’t the one. His parents were in complete denial. However, when the policeman got him alone, he said that he could tell that the guy was guilty and told him so. The young man’s eyes welled up with tears as the officer warned him not to do it again. He wouldn’t want to ruin his college career, after all. That’s right, Creepo’s a college boy. It turns out that our public penis-wielder is a recent BHS grad and just completed his second year at a top Ivy League university—that is, if he hasn’t been arrested for sexual assault by now, or worse. 

Has testosterone outgrown its usefulness? Of course, I’m not saying that all men are abusive or violent and women are not. To the contrary, young women are committing more violent crimes than ever before. However, when you look at incidents of sex ual assault—and I include guys jacking off in front of girls in that definition, even if there’s no actual physical touching, which is a legal requirement for sexual assault—it’s primarily a male thing. Our college sophomore may not have physically touched the girls, but he did assault their psyches, their spirits, their innocence.  

Every woman I know has a story like my daughter’s; most have stories that are much worse. I’ve been assaulted by two jack-offs—I ran one of them out of the park, all the way to his car. Even with a description and license plate number, he was never apprehended either. 

One woman is raped every two minutes in the United States. Eighty percent are under age 30. Fifteen percent are under 12. Two thirds of all victims know their assailants. 

It almost happened to me. As a 17-year-old UC freshman, I was approached by a good-looking guy I’d seen around campus and assumed was a fellow student. Alonzo asked if I had seen Tilden Park and invited me for a ride. We drove around the beautiful, leafy hills to a secluded spot overlooking a valley thick with vegetation. I sat on the ledge, enjoying the view. Alonzo came up behind me and started massaging my neck. I was a bit startled. I’d never had a neck massage before. I tried to be cool but was suddenly aware of something being a little bit off. Then, Alonzo said in a steady, calm voice, “I could rape you right now if I wanted to.”  

Whoah. Something clicked on in my head and I knew I had to get out of there and fast. I started talking a mile-a-minute as I moved to get on my feet. “Rape? Yuck. I don’t understand why guys do that especially when can have almost any girl they want I mean no one has to force anybody there are so many people out there why would a guy do that I mean really t hat is so disgusting I can’t imagine.” 

I guess I turned Alonzo off with all that chatter. He backed off, shook his head and silently drove me back to campus. I never saw him again. I was lucky. Very, very lucky. Natalee Holloway, the American teen who is missing in Aruba, may not be so lucky. Out drinking and partying with friends, she left with some local boys and hasn’t been heard from since. Young girls seem particularly vulnerable to males who offer them attention, flattery and fun. Too often, though, when fun becomes frightening and girls try to say no, they are overwhelmed—physically and emotionally—and fun turns into something forced and terrible. 

According to the Coalition Educating About Sexual Endangerment (CEASE), one out of 12 male college s tudents has committed rape, although most wouldn’t call it that. They don’t understand that psychological as well as physical coercion can be considered in the charge. And in most acquaintance rape cases, alcohol is involved. Sadly, most women do not repo rt their rapes, whether out of fear, shame or insufficient information. Perhaps Natalee Holloway will be brave and able enough to testify against her abusers. That is, if she turns up alive. 

Where and how does sexual aggression begin and what can we do t o stem the tide? While not nearly as destructive as rape, public masturbation is more than indecent exposure. It’s a personal violation. I can only hope that Liana and Kate never experience anything worse. 

(Note: All of the names, except Creepo, have been changed.)  

h

I went out on the corner after dark on July 4 to watch the folks in my neighborhood set the sky aflame with fireworks, one of the most brazen displays of non-cooperation with authority since Mr. Ghandi led his followers down to the seashore to mine salt. 

Before I go any further, I suppose I should let you know that I’m not much for fireworks. I don’t flat-out hate them, as some of my good friends do. I’m not scared of fireworks, either. And though I can understand and appreciate the concern about the fire hazard and the noise and the trauma to animals and such, for my part, given the nature of the neighborhood I live in, I’m pretty much relieved when the popping sound outside turns out to be an M80 rather than a 9 mil. 

Mostly, I just don’t see the point of it—at least, not setting them off myself. Given the chance, I can figure out a lot better things to do with $7.95—or whatever these things are going for these days—than to set it down on the sidewalk outside and blow it up. 

But I went out on the corner after dark on the Fourth of July to watch the folks in my neighborhood set the sky aflame with fireworks, and for a half-hour or so stayed there while the screaming missiles and cartwheeling spinners and exploding bursts of color set off from sidewalks and driveways and backyards all around, as if a hundred prisoners—trapped by themselves in hidden dungeon cells, mute and unnoticed for years on end—were suddenly given voice and were sending up shouts of “Here I am, friend!”—first one, then another, then a third and fourth—until the whole, joyous conversation rose up from every degree of the circle, meeting and then overflowing at the top of the sky to proclaim, “Oh hell yeah, here we are!” 

The next day, and for several days afterwards, the local television stations and newspapers reported over and over that all across Oakland, people had defied the city’s “zero tolerance policy” against fireworks displays. 

So for a couple of hours on one night, the voiceless had a voice. And it was even acknowledged in the media that it was a defiant voice, a voice that got everybody’s attention. What power! 

For years, such individual fireworks-shooting were both legal and commonplace throughout Oakland, though on a much less explosive scale. My father used to buy one of those box assortments, with a couple of bottle rockets and a fistful of low-level firecrackers, some sparklers, and those black-charcoal buttons that you’d set down on the sidewalk and light, and it would rise in an eerie, spasmodic dance like a snake being born out of the concrete. There was always one big firework which would always be saved for the last, my father being the only one who could touch it off with a whirr of whistles and bangs and light, which ended the fireworks-lighting for us, but did not end the night. The whole neighborhood was out there with their own boxes, usually larger than ours, and we’d stay out there ‘til the last cracker was popped. There is something of a community-building about neighbors mingling outside in the night, summer or winter, children and adults, regardless of the cause—whether fireworks, Trick or Treat, an ambulance called to someone’s house, or a traffic accident down at the corner. It is a realization that we are not just alone, separate families reading books or watching television behind our individual front doors, but there are others who share the night with us, only a holler away. 

Wisely, I believe (because we live in a tinderbox in the summer, and the fireworks are gradually getting larger and more dangerous), the Legislature eventually outlawed individual fireworks-shooting in the state, but what we got offered as a substitute was a poor imitation. At various spots around the city and county—near Jack London Square, or the Coliseum, or the Alameda County Fair before those got canceled—the authorities invited you to come out and watch them shoot off fireworks. They were bigger, brighter, choreographed and orchestrated and I’ve watched my share over the years, but it is not the same thing. It is the difference, I think, between watching a movie—even a good movie—or sitting around with good friends, singing. The difference between being a passive observer, and a participant. 

In his 1994 book Skyline: One Season, One Team, One City, Tim Keown wrote about one 16-year-old Oakland kid, Jason Wright, who dreamed of making a noise in the city’s season-opening basketball jamboree, packed with players and fans from Oakland’s six public high schools. “The Jamboree was on his mind the entire week before, and in the unlikely event that he would forget about it, somebody was sure to remind him ... ‘J Wright, you gonna get a dunk for me?’” And two minutes into the game, when Wright did, indeed, get a massive, breakaway slam, “he hung on the rim just long enough to accentuate his point, and the crowd responded with a reflexive grunt, followed by a tremendous ovation that filled every silent space in the huge building. This was what they had come to see, and this was what Jason came to do. He ran downcourt yelling at the top of his lungs, his mouth wide open but no sound audible amid the roar.” 

But who roars for the Jason Wrights of Oakland—or Berkeley—or Richmond—or Emeryville—when they come back on these crowded, broken blocks, and they’ve got no basketball in their hands, and there’s no game to play, even if they had one? Who even listens, when they’ve got something to say? 

We’ve got a whole inner East Bay full of Jason Wrights, folks who never appear on television and are never quoted in the newspaper, and so they are faceless, nameless, voiceless, dark haunts and wraiths that hover just outside the edge of our consciousness, coming to our attention only when they have followed the hip hop deejay’s call to “MAKE SOME NOISE!” and do something—like set off fireworks, or play their music loud, or spin donuts in the middle of an intersection—that annoys us. Then we write columns about them, and fill up talk shows and news broadcasts and newspaper stories about them, and make them the subject of council meetings, and pass new laws about them, and send the police out after them. And so if the purpose was to get attention—anybody’s attention, in any way—then damned if it ain’t worked, if only for just a moment, however brief. 

People need to be heard, and so they will be heard. It’s the human way. The only real question is, how will we answer, and will that answer change the dialogue in some way, or keep it down the same destructive path it’s been going? 

›

Youthful Arsonists 

Thanks to the fortunate presence of an eyewitness, the fling at arson by a pair of teenagers Tuesday afternoon didn’t turn into something worse. 

Berkeley police spokesperson Officer Joe Okies said the witness called police after seeing two teenagers stick a piece of burning paper into the mailbox of a building in the 2100 block of Allston Way just after 4 p.m. 

The caller extinguished the blaze before firefighters and police arrived. 

Though the two fire bugs were last seen headed northbound on Oxford Street, they had vanished by the time police started their search. 

A Real Gas 

Police arrested a 17-year-old Berkeley woman after a fight with her 24-year-old boyfriend escalated into something worse just after 5 p.m. Tuesday. 

Police were called to the 1200 block of 67th Street after she produced a can of tear gas and sprayed her erstwhile companion. 

Officers charged her with brandishing a deadly weapon, use of tear gas other than in self-defense and as a minor in possession of tear gas. 

Megan’s Law Bust 

Berkeley Police arrested a 27-year-old convicted sex offender on charges of failing to register with local authorities under the provisions of Megan’s Law and for giving a false name to investigators. 

The man was arrested at 5:26 p.m. Tuesday after a pedestrian stop in the 2500 block of Dwight Way, said Officer Okies. 

Cody’s Flasher 

A heavy-set man wearing a dark baseball cap showed a clerk at Cody’s Books on Telegraph Avenue a lot more of himself than she wanted to see just before 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, then departed the scene before officers could make an arrest. 

Half-Price Robbery 

A pistol-packin’ predator stormed into Half-Price Books at 1849 Solano Ave. about 9:15 p.m. Tuesday and demanded cash. His request fulfilled, he fled in a silver sedan. 

Stomping 

Police are seeking the couple who kicked an 18-year-old woman in the 1400 block of Berkeley Way at 10:30 Tuesday night. 

Officer Okies said the duo, which included an 18-year-old thinly built woman with braids and a slightly older man with gold-capped front teeth, fled in blue Chevrolet following the assault. 

The pair is wanted on charges of assault with a deadly weapon. 

Drive-By BB 

A 34-year-old woman was the victim of a drive-by BB-gun attack as she walked in the 1200 block of Euclid Street near the Rose Garden about 11 p.m. Tuesday. 

The woman said the shots were fired from a white van that drove past her.›

An op-ed by Jonathan Wornick appearing in the July 12 Daily Planet opposing Berkeley’s recently passed resolution supporting a U.S. Department of  

Peace (DOP) was just shocking, especially coming from a Peace and Justice commissioner. It contained outrageous distortions and misinformation and I would like to set the record straight on this issue.  

I first introduced the resolution at the April meeting of Berkeley’s Peace and Justice Commission, a commission I proudly served on for three years. Jonathan become its chief opponent and was the only commissioner adamantly opposed to the resolution. He said at the May meeting, “We have a Department of Peace. It’s called the State Department.” He later added that the commission should stop this initiative “here and now.” It failed to pass in the commission due to poor attendance as we needed eight votes, a majority of the total commission and not just those present. Of those present, six voted for it, only Wornick voted nay and three abstained.  

In his op-ed Wornick justified his opposition by stating that, “Nowhere in our job descriptions does it say that the mayor or the City Council is supposed to have a position on issues like Middle East politics, war, free trade, or the United Nations.”  

This statement is not true. Has this Peace and Justice commissioner forgotten the commission’s mandate? On Feb. 18, 1986, the City Council passed Ordinance No. 5705 establishing the Peace and Justice Commission. Section 7 of that law states that “the commission shall a dvise the Berkeley City Council and the Berkeley Unified School Board on all matters relating to the City of Berkeley’s role in issues of peace and social justice, including but not limited to the issues of ending the arms race, abolishing nuclear weapons, support for human rights and self-determination throughout the world ... so that money now spent on war and the preparation of war is spent on fulfilling human needs and the promotion of peace. 

How can Wornick be so uninformed? If he is not ignorant of these facts, why is he deliberately feeding disinformation to the citizens of Berkeley? 

Wornick said, “Cohen and others went crying to Worthington for relief, sidestepping the process and making the commission system virtually obsolete.” In reality, Coh en never went to Worthington at all, and it was Wornick who went crying to the Daily Planet when he and Wozniak failed to stop the council from overriding their objections to it. It was solely Wornick’s recalcitrant position that caused us to seek council support directly. 

It is somewhat rare and unprecedented for the City Council to pass a resolution that a commission doesn’t pass. Some city councilmembers even criticized the commission for failing to do its job. 

Wornick made other misleading and false statements. He repeatedly made the accusation that the resolution has cost the city time and money. He stated, “a chosen few are once again wasting their time, and our dollars, writing resolutions on national and international issues. In fact, when Berke ley commissions write resolutions, no dollars are spent as commissioners serve voluntarily, saving the city both time and money. 

Why can’t he acknowledge that the DOP would actually bring money into Berkeley as the legislation aims to fund a wide range o f activities that Berkeley’s nonprofits could tap into, including those working on peace, social justice, human rights, nonviolent conflict resolution, spousal and child abuse, the mistreatment of the elderly and a wide-range of violence prevention progra ms, be they domestic, street or gang related. 

His remark on Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s letter was a gross misrepresentation and an insult to not only Feinstein, but to the citizens of Berkeley. He stated that, “At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, the local backers of this legislation waved around a letter from Sen. Feinstein misrepresenting her position entirely ... Her boiler plate response letter only said that she’d ‘examine’ it.”  

In Feinstein’s letter of May 26, she said, “The Department of Peace is a concept that deserves much attention and I assure you that I will examine this proposal further. The Department of Peace is an important example of the notion of peace and civility that our nation must strive to maintain. I applaud the efforts of your org anization to promote and uphold the principles of peace within our state, our country, and the world abroad.” So his statement that she only said that she’d examine it is false  

He never mentioned that Rep. Barbara Lee said, “This is a department whose t ime has come. A vital component of strengthening the campaign for the Department of Peace is for local groups to work to build local and regional support for this objective. The Bay Area, and Berkeley in particular, have historically been at the forefront of the peace and justice movement, and the creation of the U.S. Department of Peace will give our local peace organizations the support of a Cabinet-level federal agency.” 

In summation, most of Wornick’s statements are simply not true or gross misrepres entations. How can he expect to pull the wool over the eyes of the citizens of Berkeley? His behavior on this issue is totally inappropriate for a Peace and Justice commissioner. It has caused the commission, the 17 citizens who testified in support of th e DOP, and finally the City Council to spend unneeded time on an issue that Berkeley should have easily endorsed. Berkeley and its citizens have historically taken pride in supporting initiatives such as this. 

Only attacks such as Wornick’s can lead to m aking the commission system obsolete, not peace initiatives such as ours. A vigilant Berkeley will never allow such a thing to happen. Perhaps the cause of peace and justice could better be served if enough Berkeley citizens ask Councilmember Wozniak to c onsider replacing Wornick with a real advocate for peace on the P and Justice commission. 

Alan Moore is a former Peace and Justice commissioner and a member of East Bay DoPeace Committee, Musicians and Fine Artists for World Peace, and International Ass ociation of Educators for World Peace. 

o

Over two decades ago Bobby Sands, a member of the IRA, was arrested and put in jail by the British government. He later went on a hunger strike demanding to be freed. Margaret Thatcher, holding the British prime minister office at the time, refused to ca ve in to his demand until Sands finally died in prison as a result. 

Sands’ courage and stand for his belief was viewed and praised by the newly formed Revolutionary-Theocratic regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran. In fact at a Friday noon prayer sermon, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (then the president and now the supreme leader) went on to portray Sands as a martyr—and rightly so—and highly praised him all he could and downgraded the British government and its political and judiciary system all he could. 

S ands, a Christian-Irish-Revolutionary became an Islamic-Iranian-Revolutionary idol for the mullahs and soon a street in Tehran was named “Bobby Sands Street.” 

Enter Akbar Ganji: a brave devout Iranian Muslim who voluntarily joined Iran’s revolutionary ar my to fight the Iraqi army in the eight-year Iran-Iraq war. After the war ended about 17 years ago he gradually started his own war on tyranny by turning against the corrupt power-hungry rulers of the current Iranian regime and opening his arms to democra cy as opposed to theocracy.  

Seven years ago he started a crusade to reveal the identity of the high ranking government officials and of the Friday noon prayer preachers, who for several years had engaged in conducting “Mafia-like operations” murdering dozens of political dissidents and outspoken journalists.  

His daily and weekly articles in the reformist newspapers—which sprang up in the post-election era of the reformist President Khatami—focused on one thing and one thing only: the so-called “chain killings“ of the Iranian dissidents. Ganji had just started his fight to strip the theocratic tyranny of the mullahs of all its holy facade.  

Over five years ago when the supreme leader labeled the reformists’ newspapers as “foreign governments’ tools ag ainst the Islamic Revolution”, Ganji and many other journalists were imprisoned. Within a couple of years all were released. All but Ganji. He had gone too far! 

During the past five years of imprisonment he evolved as a true intellectual transcending revolutions, ideologies and even “the chain killings.” Ganji had started his new fight: the fight to pursue a true democracy. And the only way he knew how: non-violent, bold, transparent and relentless. 

While in prison he smuggled out more articles and two volumes of “The Manifest to Pursue Democracy,” in which he openly claims the regime of mullahs—lead by its supreme leader—to be a tyranny. Suffering from asthma, internal illnesses etc. he recently demanded to be released by going on a hunger strike. He h as gone without food for 35 straight days now! 

The head of the judiciary of the Islamic Republic announced recently that Ganji’s hunger strike was illegal. His memory perhaps had failed to remind him of the time when his appointer—the holy supreme leader—had praised Bobby Sands’ hunger strike over two decades ago. Or perhaps he was just announcing the Islamic Republic’s philosophy of existence loud and clear: All struggles for freedom against tyranny around the world are praised except those in Iran, exc ept those against the Mullah’s tyranny. 

Now I don’t know what potion there is that makes people like Sands and Ganji. What gives them the stamina to stand up singlehandedly against tyranny and where do they get their courage to enter the “lion’s den”? Al l I know is that Ganji may soon become Sands! 

As an Iranian I used to feel proud to drive on “Bobby Sands Street” every time I visited Tehran, but the summer of 2005 may very well make me ashamed to be an Iranian. 

I don’t want to go any where in the wor ld driving on “Akbar Ganji Street!” 

Homayon is the pseudonym of a correpondent writing from Tehran. 

›a

Lies, damn lies, statistics, and then studies. Twice in last week’s Daily Planet letters section a deceptive 2002 parking study was cited as proving there is no need for more parking in the downtown area. Why, parking is plentiful, they claim, and an adjacent claim is always on its heels, that parking spaces “cost” $25,000 each, garage parking spaces $50,000 or more. 

There would be plenty of parking, they say, if there weren’t so much overtime parking, meaning cars sitting at broken meters which would otherwise be ticketed, or whose meters are being fed by employees parking near their jobs, which is also a ticket offense. If these things weren’t happening, they reason, there would be more parking. 

But there’s not. The smart money is on Berkeley residents, who manage to fool or break any new parking machinery that comes their way, because otherwise the parking planners honestly think giving people a meter with only a half an hour of time is fine. The invention of the term overtime parking implies that no one who comes downtown should stay long, perhaps interesting themselves in a new store, or running into a friend for lunch, or seeing a movie. Overtime parking implies that people should get the hell out of the way so that a fresh driver with a fresh load of quarters should have a chance to visit for half an hour. 

And, they say, employees shouldn’t drive to work, because if they didn’t there would be more parking. 

But employees do drive to work. Even the police and the meter enforcers, who are supposed to ticket meter-feeding employees, are using the neighborhoods around their workplaces to park because they have no parking. Developers and planners applaud themselves for providing less parking than their projects need because they assume people will simply buy a bicycle and sail to work from Oakland, Orinda, and El Cerrito, thanking the parking planners for the opportunity to improve their health and save on gas. Except that they don’t. 

Both of these claims assume that the production of more parking tickets would have a positive result, freeing up more parking for happy, satisfied people. Except, of course, those people who got the tickets, who now have quite a different view of the town that only wanted a half an hour of their company and wants them to pay up or come to court, for which they would have to find more parking. 

But my favorite deception in the parking “study” is watching the big, bouncing numbers; $25,000, $50,000, representing the “cost” of a parking space. There is no cost, apparently, to a neighborhood that gets a 7:00 am influx of employee cars, or to a business which customers can’t get anywhere near. The real cost of losing real businesses like 49-year strong Tupper and Reed goes way beyond one business, or even the economic health of a downtown. Fewer children get any exposure to certain instruments, fewer children can rent them or play them, and very few parents are going to drive a long way to rent a baritone on the off chance that their child will take to it. It was the loss of parking that finished off Tupper and Reed, unless you want to dismiss the business expertise of 49 years. 

You can’t begin to calculate the real cost of consistently discouraging the otherwise willing and interested people of all ages who would love to participate in community events if there were a safe, sane way to get there. Half-empty concert halls and sparsely attended events are an incalculable social loss. Not all of us can ride a bicycle, and those of us who do ought to be honest enough to acknowledge that it is not safe. 

Let’s get real about wheels. If you walked up to the average driver and offered to replace their car for free with a no-emission vehicle, they would hand over the keys. If there were a shuttle waiting in front of their house guaranteeing a five-minute ride to work or to the symphony they would be on it. People aren’t driving because they like the idea that the ice is breaking up three weeks earlier in the spring in Manitoba. People, unlike planners, have to be realistic about their options and their lives, or they find themselves stranded across the bridge when Bart shuts down. 

It is more than unfashionable to criticize the unrealistic “transit first” policy. My status as a bike commuter won’t save me from being repeatedly run over by the narrow tires of letter writers who insist they can grocery shop for six or attend chemotherapy appointments by bicycle. Just keep in mind that the last time I checked, Berkeley was first in the national sale of hybrids. Some realistic planning, and some realistic alternatives might take us a lot further than deceptive “studies” by development-driver planners admiring the emperor’s new clothes. And a few more kids just might learn to play the trombone.

West Campus Neighbors who oppose the Berkeley Unified School District’s plans to move light industrial uses and heavy vehicle storage into their neighborhood are beginning to feel a bit like kids at a carnival watching a grifter executing a shell game. Just as they think they have a line on what the district is up to, the district switches direction. A few examples: 

The number of vehicles and nature of other equipment to be stored as well as the amount of space required changed drastically between the April 7 and April 21 meetings. Heavy equipment was added and the amount of space required tripled. 

At the April 21 meeting the neighbors were told that troubled Berkeley High School students currently home schooled because of criminal or behavior problems, would be taught in a community day school on West Campus. After vehement objections by the neighbors based on safety of children located in several pre-school and child care facilities in the neighborhood, the proposed facility was represented to be an alternative learning center. The nature of the students became more vague. Students were characterized as those with “special needs” (described as religious and psychological), not behavior problems. By June 2, Early had less, not more, information about the proposed student body. Might be one group or the other, or, possibly both. 

Originally, the neighbors were told by David Early, hired by the district to manage the community meetings, that there was no alternative to West Campus for the relocation of vehicle storage, warehouse facilities and central cafeteria kitchen. Early later admitted that the district owned a large parcel of vacant property at 1325 Gilman that could accommodate most, if not all the light industrial operations. The district’s own public information officer stated, then denied, that this land was subject to a substantial set aside and therefore was too small for the transportation facility. Later, boardmembers and the information officer admitted that the set aside was at the request of Mayor Bates. 

However, Mayor Bates’ representative to the community meetings has indicated that Mayor Bates agrees with the neighbor’s alternative plan that would eliminate the industrial uses. The mayor has yet to make a public statement explaining what authority he had to request the set-back in the first place and how he planned to get around the Education and Government Code provisions that govern uses of district property. Or whether he has any alternative site other than Gilman Street. 

The district continues to change its story about how the Administration Building and Transportation Facility is going to be funded. At first there was no answer. Then Early indicated that the money would come from bond issues AA passed in 2000 intended for retrofitting classrooms. When the neighborhood group attempted to follow up, it took weeks for the District to provide the Exhibits to the resolution authorizing the AA bond issue that limited use of the funds. 

Simultaneously, the district’s representative invoked the “Orange Book,” published by the district in advance of the 2000 election, as authority for use of the AA bond funds for the projects. This, despite the fact that the Orange Book itself makes it clear that the district is required to spend bond funds for purposes stated in the resolution authorizing the bond and in the ballot measure itself. Former Information Officer Karen Sarlo admitted in an interview with the Daily Planet two months before the bond election, the proposals in Orange Book are just that, proposals that are subject to change. 

Sarlo also stated that Measure AA “has a $10 million contingency for unforeseen circumstances written into the bond.” Co-incidentally, the district’s latest explanation of the source of funding for its new Administration Building, is that the District has $10 Million “from the State.” A review of the financial information posted on the district’s website and contained in the Orange Book does not reveal the existence of any such state generated nest egg. Did the district receive $10 it can use to build a new administration building from the state? Or is this another shell game? 

Finally, the board seems to be less than sincere in its desire to involve citizens with interests at stake. No notices of the community meetings were provided to residents on Curtis Street, which borders the West Campus. When they got wind of what was planned for their neighborhood, several Curtis Street residents appeared at the most recent community meeting with signatures of 60 residents and expressed dismay and anger at the district’s plan to once again “dump on West Berkeley.” 

Nor were the parents of the students currently enrolled in the alternative learning center told that the program would be moved away from its current close proximity to Berkeley High, making integration of these students with the high school difficult, if not impossible. 

The shell game continues with the district continuing to assert that it does know whether it is subject to city zoning and permitting requirements, although the law is clear that only classrooms, not other district facilities are exempt from local government regulation. 

Some times regulators are rescuers. The West Campus Neighbors take some solace in the fact that the Planning Commission does not intend to abdicate its responsibility. The neighbors hope that the mayor and other officials live up to their responsibility to ensure that the laws intended to protect residents are enforced and that proper procedures are followed. 

Ruchama Burrell and her family live near West Campus.›

I know that many citizens in Berkeley must be confused about the revisions to the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance. What in the heck are we doing? 

Simple, the charge given to the Landmark Commission by the city manager in 2000 was to upgrade the ordinance to conform to the State of California Permit Streamlining Act, which basically makes sure discretionary city process is done up front and then lets a developer get the design and financing done without the threat of being stopped when they are laying out money for a project.  

The members of the LPC are often portrayed as anti-development, but that is not true. In my more than seven years on the commission, we have approved 

scores of housing units to be added to landmarked structures, and overseen the restoration and rehabilitation of sorely neglected properties like those three Victorians in a row on Fulton Street at Haste Street. The projects have been as diverse as the Westminster House project, which added five stories of housing on the corner of Bancroft and College for student housing, to the Santa Fe Station on University Avenue becoming the centerpiece of the new Berkeley Montessori School, to the Rose Street Grocery remodel on Rose at Oxford Street which has just opened as a multiple unit housing project. As a member of the Design Review Committee for the past few years, I have voted to approve hundreds of wonderful new units all over town. Both the DRC and the LPC work hard to make sure most of the projects we approve are great additions to the city and we are proud of the projects once they are built. 

Some for-profit developers, large property owners and brokers say we are an obstacle, but others who are not as vocal will tell you we were very helpful to their projects. I don’t blame some of them for wanting the path to their money-making schemes paved for them, but, frankly, that is not our charge. We are the Landmarks Preservation Commission, and we are hoping for the best project possible. We have 300 designated properties in Berkeley, and 700 properties on a list the State of California keeps that appear eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. We have a process that takes us through the designation process. Those same vocal developers now want a free pass, a new process that takes them down a different path than any other citizen, one that requires unspecified research, and is on a shortened timeline. And if we don’t act because our volunteer commissioners don’t have the time (20-40 hours) to write a landmark application, the developer gets a one year free pass. It is not written for the single family homeowner, it is written for the developers, who will not be allowed to bring more than two properties before us every six months. I don’t know any single family homeowners who will have two potential landmark homes they own to bring before us during a six months period. 

We are not the body that reviews Pop-Up flying bungalows and McMansions—that is the Zoning Adjustments Board. But it is often true that citizens find out a project is happening in the neighborhood, and they look for their options to maintain the status quo. Many of us believe that one answer to this eternal dilemma is to comprehensively survey the city for historic resources. Since that is really expensive, I have recommended the city make a good faith effort and start with the areas of town where high density development is occurring. That battle is West Berkeley and the main thoroughfares—Shattuck, University, San Pablo, Telegraph. Drive down these streets and think about what you value. There is surely a lot of good we can all do to improve our streetscapes, and an important part of that is to recognize what we want to preserve, as well as encouraging what we want to develop. 

Carrie Olson is a member and former chair of the Landmarks Preservation Commission. 

The gutsy Berkeley Opera is taking on Wagner again, this time with its own reduced version of Die Meistersinger. Olivia Stapp had the opportunity to interview Artistic Director Jonathan Khuner after one of the recent rehearsals. 

Stapp: You have dedicat ed so much of your life to the Berkeley Opera. What keeps you going? 

Khuner: Berkeley Opera is the one arena in which I can bring to bear all my knowledge of music, opera particularly, and my skills in organization, love of working with people, and creat ive energy. Being a big fish in a small pond brings special rewards, not financially of course, but artistically and personally. 

I feel sure, after each performance, that I’ve made a bigger difference in the life of the few people involved (on both sides of the curtain, and in the pit) than I ever do at the most prestigious opera companies with which I work. 

At Berkeley Opera we are always creating something new, unique and irreplaceable, and our individual participants and audience members each carry away a larger portion of that experience. The satisfaction and thrill from that knowledge sustains me in the deepest hours of worry over limited budget and overwhelming demands of the huge medium on a small group.  

Stapp: Your renowned musical expertise has brought you engagements at the Met, Chicago, San Francisco, Bayreuth. You are a highly sought-after prompter. Tell us what that requires.  

Khuner: This invisible job is highly demanding, and can be extremely important in keeping an opera performance on keel.  

Stapp: Well, Jonathan, I certainly know from experience, how many performances were saved by having a knowledgeable prompter in the box, especially if the conductor is busy with the orchestra and doesn’t have that “extra arm” with which to cue singers in big ensembles. You are in the seat of the co-pilot.  

Khuner: The knowledge I bring to bear while sitting in the cramped prompter’s box (at the foot of the stage, in the center, with my head at floor level under a tiny hood opening towards the singers), are: languages—I work in English, French, German, Italian, Czech, Russian, and occasionally Armenian and Sanskrit; conducting—giving well-timed physical cues with absolute clarity and suggestiveness: musicianship—being able to anticipate when the performers are going to need extra help; and interpersonal—knowing the best style and timing for cueing each singer with his/her own style. 

Besides these ingredients of prompting, I also serve as conductor, pianist, coach, and occasionally violinist.  

Stapp: There are actually very few people like you who can approach operatic performance from such a variety of perspectives. But what about opera? Do you think that this art form is necessary, especially considering that it requires so much money to p roduce? 

Khuner: Art is not necessary, but it makes life livable. It is an expression of the human need for purpose. I find its function similar to that of religion, except that with religion, the shared experience tends to break down individuality and to o often dwells on belief in articles of dogma, while art celebrates both the collective seeking of meaning and the individual’s yearning for clarity in relation to the cosmos. And I love music because it so perfectly abstracts from experience all the ebbs and flows of physical and mental energy. 

Opera is of course the largest canvas for musical art, and applies music’s potential to characters and their stories in a richer way than any other medium. It is expensive and unreliable—so many people may do so many little things wrong and pull the experience away from perfection—but at its best it unites us in shared moments of passion and beauty. I believe that this something is still a vital ingredient in modern life. The challenge of devoting myself to this field is both exhausting and exhilarating. 

Stapp: I agree! Obviously, all of Wagner, and especially his Meistersinger, are important for you. What special meaning does it have for you? 

Khuner: My father, who was the best musician I ever met, had this opera in his blood from his earliest days in pre- and post-World War I Vienna. The love for this opera in particular was an important ingredient in the aesthetic tilt I received from him. 

Stapp: Where have you been able to find Wagnerian singers willing to participate in this musical experiment? 

Khuner: I was very fortunate to be introduced to Clayton Brainerd, a maturing Wagnerian bass-baritone on the American scene who happened to want to put Hans Sachs in his repertoire. I was thrilled that he agreed to take up the challenge of learning the whole role, and then committing to our reduced version in a regional production. He was lucky that of all the roles, we left his most intact, since so much of the meaning of the work derives from Sachs’ thoughts a nd relations to the other characters. Once Clayton agreed to be in the project, I built the rest of the cast around him. For the other roles I found wonderfully suited local singers. 

Stapp: I could not help but notice tonight that all participants in th e production seemed suffused with a sense higher purpose. But, what do you say to the purists who consider such a reworking of this masterpiece “heresy”? 

Khuner: First of all, they are right. But heresy is not always wrong. I don’t believe in the infallibility or cosmic superiority of even so great a genius as Wagner. His overall idea, and his musical execution of it, are undeniably great. But he deliberately overtaxes the audience with three such long acts (over four hours of music total), and there is much to be said for a loving compression, to make the experience more compatible with the limitations of a normal audience, not to mention a regional opera orchestra. 

There are definite gains in the faster pacing of our version. Although I admire the mag nificence of the original, I protest Wagner’s arrogance in deciding that he needn’t be economical in expressing his ideas. I’m sure that if he had wanted to, he could have said all he needed to in three hours. 

Even Wagner’s original concept was not for s uch a long epic, but rather for a modest, audience-hit, easily producible comedy. Because of his own grandiose tendencies, Die Meistersinger got out of hand, and became a huge work which even most sympathetic opera-goers find too extensive. Rather than ju st decline to produce the work on his terms, I am meeting his arrogance, by acting on behalf of the audience to make the experience more manageable. 

The reduction in forces, and Yuval Sharon’s use of commedia elements and lighter touches to decor and sta ging, put the piece more in tune with Wagner’s first thoughts on the subject. 

Stapp: Yes, this was supposed to be the short comic work that would fill his coffers, but he really lost control. What would you say in your defense to Wagner, if he were stil l around? 

Khuner: First: “Didn’t we make a lot of it better, actually?” Second: “You deserve it, for writing such an overlong opera in the first place!” Third: “See how many of the audience are leaving with real smiles on their faces, having been uplifte d by the wonderful music and singing, the meaningful story and high ideas, and not groaning over the aches brought on by hours of unrelieved sitting?” Fourth: “I apologize for all the wonderful moments we cut, and for the non-sequiturs created in the score!” 

Wagner might have approved of novel transformations, if respectful of the original, which I believe we have been, deeply (if not reverently). 

Stapp: So, you have made it more accessible? 

Khuner: Absolutely! Especially as ours is a serious version—we haven’t watered down the ideas, denied them, made fun of them, or uglified them for some modern anti-romantic posturing. Yuval has brought out nuggets of ideas, often submerged in grand productions, and made them sparkle and carry the comedy to a new b rilliance.  

I have been part of the Bayreuth experience, including Die Meistersinger, and I know that the discomfort of many stuffy hours in hard seats is practically guaranteed to destroy appreciation and enjoyment of Wagner’s great work far more that o ur modest alterations for Berkeley Opera’s version. This production is just one example of what I try to do with every Berkeley Opera show: bring an enlivened, focused representation of high quality to our local audience. 

The Berkeley Opera experience, including mine as artistic and musical 

director, is not reproducible.  

[I just hope it’s survivable!] 

Berkeley Opera presents Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg at 7:30 p.m. July 16, 20, 22 and at 2 p.m. July 24.  

Julia Morgan Theater, Berkeley. For more information call (925) 798-1300 or see www.berkeleyopera.org. 

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Woman’s Will, the Oakland-based all-female Shakespeare company, celebrates their eighth season of free performances of Shakespeare In The Park with performances of Richard III this Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m. in John Hinkel Park. 

Next weekend the group will perform at Oakland’s Mosswood Park (Saturday) and Dimond Park (Sunday). They will appear at other local venues till Aug. 14. Directed by Susannah Martin, the performance features Emily Jordan as Richard (Duke of Gloucester, later King). 

The Woman’s Will production focuses on “how the tradition of fighting and killing is passed down from generation to generation, children learning it at their parents’ side,” according to Artistic Director Erin Merritt. “Susannah saw that, in the play, the adults keep acting like children. She had the actors find the most childish moments of their characters, where the masks of adulthood start to slip.” 

Otherwise, she said, it’s a traditional performance, with emphasis on the text and the acting. 

“It’s an all-female cast,” Merritt said, “but nothing particularly conceptual in interpretation. The women still lose. But it’s the women and children in the play who first get that something dangerous is going on.”  

Shakespeare’s character study of this ruthless social climber, beginning with his famous speech “Now is the winter of our discontent” and ending with “A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!” at the Battle of Bosworth which closed the War of the Roses, also presents some of the most cynical relations between the sexes onstage. 

“Elissa Dunn as Lady Anne is able to make the audience believe that she can make the change from abhorring Richard, who’s responsible for her husband’s death, to thinking that maybe she’ll just marry him!” Merritt said. “And Emily is so charming ... what’s usually seen as such an abrupt shift makes sense on stage.” 

Founded in 1998 as a Shakespeare repertory company, Woman’s Will does more than titles by the Bard. In past years, they’ve performed Lord of the Flies, The Importance of Being Earnest and The Rover, a Restoration comedy by Aphra Behn (the first professional woman playwright), each with an all-female cast. This fall they will present the Bertolt Brecht-Kurt Weill musical, Happy End, at Luka’s Taproom in Oakland.  

But the Bard, and all-women productions in the parks, are their raison d’etre. 

“We were actors well trained in Shakespeare and in stage combat who were not able to use our skills,” Merritt said. “We’d all go to the huge number of auditions for Shakespeare festivals up and down the coast, each hiring about 30 men and three women—and there’d be 30 men and about 50 women sitting there, waiting to audition. The odds were terrible.” 

Merritt said that the women decided to make to odds more favorable. 

“I’d talk to other women about what a waste of talent this was—and how we were missing out on all that on-the-job training,” she said. “We needed a women’s company. And everybody said, ‘You gotta do it, you gotta do it!’—they were so into it, I figured that, sooner or later, somebody would start one. So we tried it once, just for fun—Two Gentlemen of Verona, subtitled “There Are No Gentlemen In Verona”—and everybody in the audience asked, ‘When’s the next one?’ They really wanted to see it done this way, and we hadn’t realized how much.” 

Woman’s Will presents Richard III at 1 p.m. July 16 and 17 at Berkeley’s John Hinkel Park; at 1 p.m. July 23 at Mosswood Park, Oakland, and at 6 p.m. at Rossmoor’s Dollar Clubhouse Lawn, Walnut Creek; at 1 p.m. July 24, at Diamond Park, Oakland. For other venues in July and August call 420-0813 or see www.womanswill.org.  

All shows are free.›

Harold Lloyd, one of the greatest comedians of silent film, is poised for a comeback. In anticipation of the November release of more than two dozen of his films on DVD, Pacific Film Archive and San Francisco’s Castro Theater are screening some of the comedian’s best features.  

PFA is showing a Lloyd film at 3 p.m. every Sunday through Aug. 7 and the Castro will screen a series of double features Aug. 19-25. 

Lloyd’s career spanned 34 years and more than 200 films, from one- and two-reel shorts to full-length features. Though he worked with writers and co-directors, Lloyd was one of the early auteurs, controlling nearly every facet of production. 

If it sometimes seems that Lloyd cannot be discussed these days without unflattering comparisons to legendary contemporaries Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, it is at least partially Lloyd’s own fault. Whereas the films of Chaplin and Keaton have been readily available for some years in revivals, on television, and home video, Lloyd chose to withhold his work after he retired, not releasing it to the public other than in a few compilations of the 1960s. 

But now, thanks to Suzanne Lloyd, the comedian’s granddaughter and president of Harold Lloyd Entertainment, Inc., these classic silent comedies are finally seeing release, with a dozen or so forming the core of a retrospective now touring the country. 

Comedy did not come easily to the young Harold Lloyd. He worked hard to acquire the timing and grace that was second nature to his peers. He did not have the natural and instinctive talents of Chaplin and Keaton; he was not raised in the theater, as they were, nor did he have an inherently comic persona, as Chaplin did with his shabby yet fastidious tramp and Keaton with his stoic and sober fatalist. Lloyd was not only smart enough to recognize this, he was determined to overcome it, and so he went about methodically creating a viable comedic identity. 

His first step was a common one among comedians of the day: He imitated Chaplin. That is, he appropriated the situations and style of Chaplin, though he did not adopt Chaplin’s costume. Instead, Lloyd inverted the outfit; rather than baggy clothes, he wore clothes that were too tight. And in place of Chaplin’s narrow brush mustache, Lloyd placed two dots of facial hair at either side of the mouth. This was Lonesome Luke, a logical if not inspired creation that Lloyd played in dozens of one-reel comedies. 

But imitation was not enough for Lloyd; his ambition was far greater. He would have to find a unique character, one that suited his talents and appearance. Eventually he found his inspiration. 

“I saw a dramatic picture at a downtown theater,” Lloyd wrote in his autobiography, An American Comedy. “The central character was a fighting parson, tolerant and peaceful until riled, then a tartar. Glasses emphasized his placidity. The heavy had stolen the girl, carrying her away on horseback. The parson leaped on another horse and the two were lost in a cloud of dust. When the dust cleared, the heavy lay prone and still, while the parson dusted his clothes with careless flecks of his handkerchief, replaced his glasses and resumed his ministerial calm.” 

Thus the “glass character,” as Lloyd called him, was born. He would join the pantheon of the elite comedic characters: Chaplin the Tramp; Keaton the Stoic; Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, the Fat Man; Harry Langdon, the Man-Child; and Harold Lloyd, the Everyman. With a simple pair of horn-rimmed glasses, purchased for 75 cents, Lloyd set off on a career that would make him the highest-grossing film comedian of the 1920s.  

Though the audience could at times identify with the situations and emotions in the work of Keaton and Chaplin, their characters had a strange, almost otherworldly quality. Lloyd, on the other hand, sought a character that was common, easily identifiable, someone the audience could recognize in their own lives. 

Film critic Walter Kerr, in his book The Silent Clowns, described the character as an archetype that was prevalent and easily comprehended in its day. “The good American, still devoutly believed in during the 1920s, was two things,” Kerr wrote. “He was aggressive, and he was innocent. Americans could not have tamed a continent if they had not been aggressive … But whatever had been done aggressively, or was being done aggressively, had been and was being done from the noblest motives, motives that had just recently helped make the world safe for democracy. The American’s energy was a virtuous energy, spent always in the cause of good. A vigor that extended to brashness on the one hand; a clear conscience on the other.” 

With variations here and there, Lloyd played this character throughout the rest of his career. It was a comic take on the Horatio Alger story, the “American boy who rose from shoe clerk to national hero,” in Kerr’s words. 

Lloyd’s craft was as studied as his character. In an effort to keep his output varied and interesting to audiences, he diligently worked at broadening the range of his abilities, mastering all the stock elements of film comedy and even adding a few innovations of his own. 

First among these was the chase scene, many of which will be on display in the films featured in the retrospective, from the last-minute heroics of Girl Shy to the herding of criminals and ne’er-do-wells into a church in For Heaven’s Sake. But Lloyd took the medium beyond simple chases, bringing a new twist to film comedy. 

Though he only made five of them, Lloyd is still best remembered for what he called his “thrill pictures.” One day, while walking in downtown Los Angeles, he saw a “human fly,” a man climbing a skyscraper as part of a promotional event. Though the thought of seeing the man fall to his death was horrifying, Lloyd couldn’t take his eyes off him. This led to the most famous of all Lloyd films, Safety Last, in which the Lloyd character climbs the face of a building as a promotion for the department store in which he works as a clerk. The climax of the scene finds Lloyd dangling from the face of a clock hundreds of feet above Los Angeles. 

Lloyd milked the situation for all it was worth, placing his camera above and to the left of the character so that the street below was always in view, never letting the audience forget the danger. While the gags along the way are not all unique—some, like the mouse in the pant leg, were already clichés at the time—Lloyd was using them in a new context, using fear and suspense to augment the comedy.  

You can see the hard work involved; Lloyd is consciously and deliberately exploiting every facet of the situation. This is not an inspired bit of comedy from an intuitive master, but it is well-crafted filmmaking of a high order. 

What often distinguished the better comedians was their ability to slow the pace of their films and develop their characters with more thoughtful comedy. In fact, some of Lloyd’s most accomplished work are these quieter moments, where he demonstrates the confidence and skill to dispense with the rapid-fire editing, stunts and chase scenes and simply holds the camera motionless, using long takes that allow both he and his co-stars to display their comedic talents. 

Again, For Heaven’s Sake provides an excellent example. In one scene, Lloyd, playing a dandified millionaire playboy, is sitting beside a down-and-out thug. In one continuous take, the two men slowly begin to notice the odor of perfume, each suspecting the other as the source.  

Lloyd draws the scene out, holding the camera perfectly still while each man’s face tells the story, slowly registering the presence of the odor, looking quizzically about the room, and then gradually settling upon each other and setting up the payoff as the two men silently evaluate each other. 

Another scene simply conveys Harold’s growing affection for the priest’s daughter. As she takes him on a tour of the mission, gesturing at various points of interest, Harold literally can’t take his eyes off her. He sees nothing of the mission; he only sees her. The camera follows them around the room, weaving between chairs and tables, capturing the mad whirl of romance. 

It is in these scenes, with the Everyman in everyday situations, that Lloyd is at his best. Here the years of work, study and determination pay off beautifully with simple, genuine scenes from which Lloyd draws simple, genuine comedy. 

Like the characters he portrayed, Lloyd reached the top through hard work and perseverance. A reevaluation of his work is long overdue, and hopefully the rediscovery of these films will cement his place as one of the preeminent talents in all of silent film, and one of the most accomplished comedic directors in film history. He deserves that much. He earned it. 

Harold Lloys at PFA: 

Safety Last 

3 p.m., Sunday July 17 

The Freshman 

3 p.m., Sunday July 24 

Welcome Danger 

3 p.m., Sunday July 31 

Accompanied on piano by Jon Mirsalis 

For Heaven’s Sake 

3 p.m., Sunday Aug. 7 

San Francisco’s Castro Theater will screen 13 Lloyd features and five short films Aug. 19-25.  

www.castrotheatre.com.

FRIDAY, JULY 15 

THEATER 

Actors Ensemble of Berkeley, “A Murder is Announced” by Agatha Christie at 8 p.m. at Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck at Berryman. Runs Fri. and Sat. through Aug. 13. Tickets are $10. 649-5999. www.aeofberkeley.org 

Aurora Theatre “The Thousandth Night” Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. 2 and 7 p.m., through July 31, at 2081 Addison St. Tickets are $36. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

“The Domestic Crusaders” the story of a Muslim family in the aftermath of 9/11, at 8 p.m., Sat. at 2 and 8 p.m. at the Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St. Tickets are $20-$35. www.domesticcrusaders.com 

Central Works, “The Grand Inquisitor” by Dostoevsky. Thurs - Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at The Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave., through July 31. Tickets are $9-$25 sliding scale. 558-1381. www.centralworks.org 

Contra Costa Civic Theatre “Anything Goes” Cole Porter’s musical, Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. through Aug. 13 at 951 Pomona Ave., El Cerrito. 524-9132. www.ccct.org 

“Livin’ Fat” a comedy about an African American family struggling over a financial blessing, Fri. at 8 p.m., Sat. at 2 and 8 p.m., Sun. at 4 p.m., through July 30, at Sweets Ballroom, 1933 Broadway, Oakland. Tickets are $12.50-$35. 233-9222. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Lightning From Above” The Crucible’s Fire Arts Festival at 8 p.m. at 1260 7th St., Oakland. Tickets are $25. 444-0919. www.thecrucible.org 

ACCI Gallery, “2005 New Member Show” opens at 1652 Shattuck Ave. 843-2527. www.accigallery.com 

Eddie Two Moons, Apache Jeweler Reception at 7 p.m. at Gathering Tribes Gallery, 1573 Solano Ave. Exhibit open Sat. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 528-9038.  

FILM 

For Your Eyes Only “Spies” at 7:30 p.m. at Pacific Film Archive. With Jon Mirsalis on piano. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Lisa Houston, mezzo-soprano, with Daniel Lockert, piano and Leland Morine, baritone in a benefit concert for Options Recovery Services, at 8 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker Church, 1640 Addison St. Suggested donation $30. 666-9900. www.optionsrecovery.org 

Santero at 9 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Stomp the Stumps Benefit for the Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters with Gary Gates Band, Funky Nixons and Day Late Fools’ Band at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10-$20. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Ellen Hoffman, Eric Swinderman at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Jill Knight with Deborah Levoy at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Vince Lateano/Satoru Oda Quartet at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

The Ravines at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Brenda Weiler, folk/rock singer-songwriter, at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. All ages. Cost is $5-$10. www.epicarts.org 

The Next Generation, Emerging Artists Concert Series at 8 p.m. at the Jazz- 

school. Cost is $10. 845-5373.  

Lae with Ranch Hound Brown at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5-$8. 548-1159.  

Battletorn, Gunsfire Mayhem, P.D.A. at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

Pete Escovedo & His Orchestra at 8 and 10 p.m. Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $20-$24. 238-9200.  

SATURDAY, JULY 16 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Magma From Within” The Crucible’s Fire Arts Festival at 8 p.m. at 1260 7th St., Oakland. Tickets are $25. 444-0919. www.thecrucible.org 

THEATER 

Woman’s Will, “Richard III” Sat. and Sun. at 1 p.m. in John Hinkle Park. Free. 420-0813. www.woman’s will.org 

FILM 

Pre-Code Hollywood “Bombshell” at 7 p.m. and “Red Headed Woman” at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Flash with Grace Grafton & James Downs at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Opera “Meistersinger” at 7:30 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Theater. Tickets are $10-$40. 925-798-1300. www.berkeleyopera.org 

Rebbesoul Hebrew roots at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $11-$13. 525-5054.  

Hideo Date, Robin Gregory at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ.  

Kurt Ribak Trio at 2 p.m. at Down Home Music, 10341 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. 525-2129. 

Odori Simcha with Neal Cronin at 7 p.m. at Temescal Cafe, 4920 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Donation $5. 

Mariospeedwagon & Lemon Juju at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Hip Bones, jazz grooves, at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

John Keawe at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

Loose Wig Quartet at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $10. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com  

Frank Fotusky and Steve Mann at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Cost is $5-$10. www.epicarts.org 

Phil Kellogg at 7 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. Cost is $7. 558-0881. 

Judith and Holornes, The Rise & Fall of Amy Rude at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082.  

Thought Riot, Love Equals Death, Daggermouth at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, JULY 17 

CHILDREN 

Explore Geometric Shapes and Sculpture from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts., Oakland. Cost is $8 adults, $5 seniors and students with i.d. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

Berkeley Art Center National Juried Exhibition and Awards Reception at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

“Thirty Something” Anniversary celebration and exhibition honoring Berkeley’s Kala Art Institute and Archana Horsting and Yuzo Nakano at 5:30 p.m. at Greens Restaurant, Fort Mason, SF. Tickets are $150. 549-2977. www.kala.org 

“On University Land in the Berkeley Hills” nature photographs by Sharon Beals. Reception at 4 p.m. at The Faculty Club, UC Campus. Hosted by the Claremont Canyon Conservancy. 

THEATER 

Sun & Moon Ensemble “Krishan and Radha” with performers and musicians from India at 4 p.m. at Julia Morgan Theater. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for children. 925-798-1300.  

FILM 

Harold Lloyd “Safety Last” at 3 p.m. and Pre-Code Hollywood “I’m No Angel” at 5:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Free Speech Movement Poetry Festival, featuring Jack Hirschman, Paul Sawyer and others, from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship Hall, 1924 Cedar St. 528-5403. 

Poetry Flash with Dale Jensen & Judy Wells at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852.  

Sculptor Bruce Beasley, Artist’s Gallery Talk at 2 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts., Oakland. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Midsummer Mozart “Paris” Symphony at 7 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $28-$48. 415-627-9145.  

The Berkeley Saxophone Quartet at 4 p.m. at the San Francisco Community Music Center, 544 Capp St., S.F. Cost is $5-$10. 415-647-6015. berkeleysaxophonequartet.com 

Jack Gates Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ.  

Ace of Spades Acoustic Series at 1 p.m. at MamaBuzz Cafe, 2318 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Free. All ages. 289-2272. 

Americana Unplugged: Redwing Bluegrass Band at 5 p.m. at Jupiter. 655-5715. 

Danzaq, Peruvian dance, at 7 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $15. 849-2568.  

The Strings Quartet Project at 4:30 at the Jazzschool. Cost is $10. 845-5373. 

Roy Bookbinder at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

Mental, Justice at 5 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

MONDAY, JULY 18 

THEATER 

Naked Masks “Amnesiac” at 8 p.m. at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Free. 883-9872. www.nakedmasks.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

“John Serl: Recent Acquisitions” opens at The Ames Gallery, 2661 Cedar St. and runs through Sept. 17. Gallery hours are 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Mon.-Fri. 845-4949. www.amesgallery.com 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Express with Jeanne Lupton, Janell Moon, Donna Lane & Trena Machado at 7 p.m., at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. berkeleypoetryexpress@yahoo.com 

Susan Linn on “Consumer Culture: The Struggle for a Good Life in a Materialistic World” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books, 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Trovatore, traditional Italian music, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

John Ellis Quartet at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$14. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

WEDNESDAY, JULY 20 

FILM 

For Your Eyes Only “Darling Lili” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

Arab Women Film Festival “Wild Flowers: Women of the South” at 7:30 p.m. at La Pena Cultural Center. Donation $5. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Latin American Working Class Film Fest with three short films from Mexico and Argentina at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donations of $5 accepted. 415-642-8066. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Rebecca Solnit discusses “A Field Guide to Getting Lost” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik and Three Blind Mice, at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5-$7. 841-2082. 

Café Poetry hosted by Paradise at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña. Donation $2. 849-2568.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Opera “Meistersinger” at 7:30 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Theater. Tickets are $10-$40. 925-798-1300. www.berkeleyopera.org 

Curtis Woodman Duo at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Balkan Folkdancing at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Dance lessons at 7 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054.  

Whiskey Brothers, old-time and bluegrass, at 9 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473.  

Calvin Keys Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ. 

Universal at 8 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

Bryan Girard Quartet at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Kaki King at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Palenque at 8 and 10 p.m. Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $8-$12. 238-9200.  

THURSDAY, JULY 21 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Wholly Grace” works by Susan Duhan Felix. Reception at 4 p.m. at the Badé Museum, 1798 Scenic Ave. 848-0528. 

Residency Projects by Kala Fellowship artists. Reception at 6 p.m. at Kala Art Institute, 1060 Heinz Ave. Exhibit runs to Sept. 3. 549-2977. www.kala.org 

FILM 

Pre-Code Hollywood “Skyscraper Souls” at 7:30 p.m. and “Lady Killers” at 9 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Betsy Burton reads from “The King’s English: Adventures of an Independent Bookseller” at 7 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloway’s Literary and Garden Arts, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

Margot Pepper, journalist, reads from “Through the Wall: A Year in Havana” at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes & Noble, Jack London Square. Sponsored by Global Exchange. 415-575-5534. 

Mark O’Connell introduces “The Good Father: On Men, Masculinity, and Life in the Family” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

Word Beat Reading Series with Steve Arntson & Christopher Robin at 7 p.m. at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave. 526-5985. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Summer Noon Concert with the David Thom Band at the Downtown Berkeley BART Plaza. Sponsored by the DBA. 

Kaki King at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. 

Richard Kalman & Con Alma Vocal Jazz Septet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ.  

Kid Beyond at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082 www.starryplough.com 

Pete Madsen at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Peter Barshay/Rich Kuhns Duo at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Bobby Watson & Horizon at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $14-$20. 238-9200.  

FRIDAY, JULY 22 

THEATER 

Actors Ensemble of Berkeley, “A Murder is Announced” at 8 p.m. at Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck at Berryman. Runs Fri. and Sat. through Aug. 13. Tickets are $10. 649-5999. www.aeofberkeley.org 

Aurora Theatre “The Thousandth Night” Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. 2 and 7 p.m., through July 31, at 2081 Addison St. Tickets are $36. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

Central Works, “The Grand Inquisitor” by Dostoevsky. Thurs - Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at The Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave., through July 31. Tickets are $9-$25 sliding scale. 558-1381. www.centralworks.org 

Contra Costa Civic Theatre “Anything Goes” Cole Porter’s musical, Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. through Aug. 13 at 951 Pomona Ave., El Cerrito. 524-9132. www.ccct.org 

“Livin’ Fat” a comedy about an African American family struggling over a financial blessing, Fri. at 8 p.m., Sat. at 2 and 8 p.m., Sun. at 4 p.m., through July 30, at Sweets Ballroom, 1933 Broadway, Oakland. Tickets are $12.50-$35. 233-9222. 

FILM 

Pre-Code Hollywood “The Spy in Black” and “Q Planes” at 9:10 p.m. at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Paul Buhle describes “Wobblies! A Graphic History of the Industrial Workers of the World” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Opera “Meistersinger” at 7:30 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Theater. Tickets are $10-$40. 925-798-1300. www.berkeleyopera.org 

Jazzschool Summer Youth Concert at 6:30 p.m. at the Jazz 

school. Free. 845-5373.  

Hungarian and Night Music with tango lessons at 7 p.m. at the Giorgi Gallery, 2911 Claremont Ave. Benefits the Latin American Music Scholarship Fund. Cost is $12-$15. www.berkeleymusiccooperative.com  

Caimalantin Latin Jazz Quartet at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10-$12. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Terry Rodriguez, Buford Powers Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ.  

Free Peoples, bluegrass/jazz at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $11-$13. 525-5054.  

Andrew McKnight at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Cost is $5-$10. www.epicarts.org 

Houston Jones at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Tommy Emmanuel at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Sara Leib Quartet at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Echo Beach, jazz, at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Penelope Houston, Moore Brothers, Willow Willow at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082.  

Bafabegiya, Disconnect, The Sweethearts at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

Radical Politics and Folk Music with David Rice, Robert Temple and Folk This! at 7 p.m. at AK Press, 674A 23rd St., Oakland. Cost is $5. 208-1700.  

Beenie Man at 8 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. 548-1159.  

Du Uy Quintet at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Bobby Watson & Horizon at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $14-$20. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

?

The City of Albany is removing homeless encampments on the Albany Landfill as part of a process that will bring the 31-acre site closer to becoming part of the Eastshore State Park. 

The city, which owns the landfill, has brought in a four-yard front loa der, backhoe and three 30-yard containers to remove 12 homeless encampments. 

The encampments, some of which are abandoned, contain a variety of materials including shopping carts, large sheets of plywood and general refuse. There is also an assortment of personal possessions such as clothing, books and camping equipment. 

City officials said the project will be completed by Thursday at an estimated cost of $15,000. 

“The Albany Waterfront Committee was concerned with the number of homeless encampments th at have sprung up,” said Ann Chaney, the city’s community development director. “We thought the best approach would be to remove the debris and the campsites and make it a better park for everyone.” 

In 1999, the City of Albany removed approximately 45 people who were living on the landfill, some who had camped on the craggy, windblown landfill for eight years. But some of the displaced squatters began to move back onto the sporadically monitored property and currently it is estimated that 10 people live there year around. 

Workers are cutting 10-foot roadways across the landfill to access some of the more hidden campsites. The process has caused concern among frequent landfill visitors that mature trees and wildlife habitat will be destroyed in the process. Berkeley attorney Osha Neumann has written a letter to the Albany City Council requesting that the front loader and backhoe be removed and that the debris be carried out by hand.  

But Public Works Supervisor John Medlock said the large amount of the debris and other materials require the use of heavy machinery. He added that very little vegetation is being destroyed. 

“Plus there is a lot of broken glass and needles,” he said. “We are trying to handle the debris as little as possible.”  

Chaney said there are no immediate plans to remove any of the paintings, murals and sculptures that are concentrated on the northwest corner of the landfill.  

City workers will also seal off seven wells that monitored toxic substances that were leaching into the ba y. The landfill is a former construction debris dump that closed in the early 1980s. In 1984 the Regional Water Quality Control Board issued a closure order when ammonia and high concentrations of metals were found leaching into the bay.  

Once the order was put in place, the city of Albany was unable to transfer the property or develop it until the toxic problem was solved. The cost to clean the environmental problems was so high, city officials decided to let the environmental problem naturally attenua te. 

By default, the legal limbo gave rise to an organic public park. A community of homeless took root pet owners loved the freedom to let dogs run free and paintings and sculptures flourished. One landfill resident built a small castle complete with lancet windows and spiral staircase.  

However, last May the RWQCB issued a finding that the landfill is no longer leaching ammonia or other toxic materials into the bay and lifted the closure order. Once the monitoring wells are capped, the City of Albany will be free to transfer the management of the property to the East Bay Regional Park District, and ultimately to the state as an addition to the Eastshore State Park although it is uncertain when this will take place. 

“There is currently no agreement wi th the EBRPD as to when we will turn over the land or if it will ultimately become part of the Eastshore State Park,” Chaney said. “We are just beginning to talk about it.” 

Æ

A decision last week by the Albany City Council to hold St. Mary’s College High School to a 10-year-old conditional use permit square-footage limit has left school representatives and at least one city councilmember trading charges of reneging on an agreement, as well as another councilmember’s charges that city staff encouraged St. Mary’s to break their deal with the city. 

St. Mary’s is a private, 630-student, 9-12 grade Lasallian school located in the Peralta Park Neighborhood on the southeast corner of Albany where it borders on Berkeley, three blocks from Berkeley’s Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School. 

Last Tuesday, the council voted 3-0, with one abstention, to reverse an Albany City Planning And Zoning Commission recommendation that would have allowed St. Mary’s to keep a band pavilion, a snack shop, and 652 square feet of classroom space on its campus. The vote upheld an appeal by members of the Peralta Park Neighborhood Association. 

Among other things in its appeal, the Peralta Park neighbors argued that the Planning and Zoning Commission decision ignored the reason why square footage conditions were put on St. Mary’s in the first place and failed to include any California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) analysis of cumulative impacts. 

Albany City Councilmember Robert Lieber, who sided with neighbors in opposing the school’s expansion, accused St. Mary’s officials of negotiating in bad faith. 

“I wanted to send a message both to the school and to anyone else that when you make an agreement with the City of Albany, we will enforce it,” he said. 

But in a letter posted on the school’s website this week, St. Mary’s President Brother Edmond Larouche called upon councilmembers to reverse their decision.  

“It is ... surprising to see members of the council so readily attach themselves to the notion that the school had breached a trust or contract with its neighbors and had had less than honorable intentions in pursuing the city’s direction,” he said. “There has been no breach of trust on the part of the school.” 

Larouche added, “Just as some school neighbors feel that city processes have failed them, so, too, does Saint Mary’s after Tuesday night’s council reversal of the ... Planning and Zoning decision.” 

Larouche called the council decision “political and solely intended to be punitive.” 

At issue is whether the school should be held to the 1994 conditional use permit (CUP) without going through the process of developing and presenting a new school Master Plan. Among other things, the 1994 CUP limited the school to 90,675 square feet. 

Five years later, St. Mary’s applied for and received a second CUP from the City of Albany in which the city allowed St. Mary’s to build the 9,100-square-foot, two-story, seven-classroom Frates Memorial Hall in exchange for demolishing 2,380 square feet of existing buildings (the band room and the snack shop) and taking another 652 feet of building space out of classroom use. 

That total 3,032 square feet was supposed to be taken out of use within one year of the occupancy date of Frates Hall, which received its certificate of occupancy at the beginning of January, 2002. 

But two weeks before the one-year time limit was to run out, St. Mary’s applied for an amendment to keep the 3,032 square feet in use, effectively increasing the school’s total square footage to 93,707. It was that application which the Planning and Zoning Commission upheld last April after what Albany Planning Manager Dave Dowsell said was a battle that lasted more than two and a half years between neighbors and school officials. 

Councilmember Robert Lieber charged that St. Mary’s strategy “all along” was to keep both the Frates Hall square footage and the band pavilion/snack shop square footage, and says that at least some city representatives actively encouraged the school in that strategy. 

“When I had the school representative on the stand Tuesday night,” Lieber said, “he said that the school was told by city Planning Commissioners [during the 1999 CUP decision] to pay no attention to the requirement to demolish the buildings. In effect, the school was told to ‘shine them on. You can get out of this later on.’” 

Lieber’s charges that city staff did more than merely receive St. Mary’s amendment request are backed up, in part, by documents released both by the school and by the Planning and Zoning Commission. 

In his website-posted letter, St. Mary’s president Larouche said St. Mary’s sought reconsideration of the square footage limitation “at the city’s suggestion.” 

And in his recommendation to council on the St. Mary’s amendment, Planning Manager Dowswell wrote, “When the square footage limitation was discussed in 1999, some of the planning and zoning commissioners encouraged the school to return to the Commission to request an increase in the allowable building square footage.” 

In supporting the commission’s recommendation to uphold St. Mary’s request, Dowswell wrote councilmembers that “in reviewing the records of [the original 1994 CUP], staff was unable to find a specific reason or reasons for limiting the total building square-footage allotted to the school to 90,675 square feet. ... Staff believes the square footage limit was imposed as a means to further regulate, probably from a visual standpoint, the school’s impact on the neighborhood. Ultimately, the Planning and Zoning Commission felt that allowing the 3,032 square feet of building area to remain ... would not have a negative visual (environmental) impact on the neighborhood since the two buildings already exist.” 

According to Dowswell, the building space in question is currently being used by St. Mary’s. 

“They probably could do without the snack shop,” Dowswell said in a telephone interview. “But the band pavilion is in constant use. This is where the school band actually practices. It’s a stand-alone building, which makes it a great location from a noise factor.” 

In its decision Tuesday night, the Council agreed to let St. Mary’s keep the extra buildings temporarily, so long as they are taken out of use. St. Mary’s is presently preparing to begin a new Master Plan process with the city, and the three councilmembers who upheld the Peralta Park Neighborhood Association Appeal said they would wait until that document ultimately comes before council before deciding the fate of the buildings. 

Lieber abstained on the vote, calling it a bad decision. 

“I would have voted to demolish the buildings immediately,” he said, “but that vote wasn’t available.”´

Tuesday’s City Council meeting looks to be the latest battleground for pro- and anti-development forces as the council holds a public hearing on changes to a law that governs the future of Berkeley’s historic buildings. 

Before the council is draft ordinance language from the Planning Commission that opponents charge would weaken sections of Berkeley’s Landmark Preservation Ordinance. Meanwhile the Landmarks Preservation Commission, which enforces the ordinance, recently voted to rescind its approval of a previous draft of revisions, and has called on the city to bring in an outside consultant to guide the revision process. 

The council typically doesn’t vote on agenda items at the same meeting in which it holds a public hearing on them. With the summer recess two weeks away, a vote on LPO revisions might not come until September, though the council could vote on Tuesday if it wants to speed things up. 

The controversy has garnered a lot of attention, in part because developers portray the ordinance as a tool for derailing projects and preservationists see it as valuable protection for structures they say are esthetically and historically significant. 

Since it was adopted in 1974, Berkeley has designated 265 landmarks, four historic districts and 27 structures of merit. 

The ordinance is credited with stopping the wholesale demolition of older buildings during the 1960s and early 1970s. However opponents of the Landmarks Preservation Commission have charged that commissioners have exploited it to slow down development rather than to save worthy buildings. On several occasions, the City Council has reversed the commission’s designations of buildings in order to allow them to be demolished for development sites.  

Revisions to the ordinance have been in the works for five years. The council originally asked the Landmarks Commission to revise it to avoid conflicting with the state’s Permit Streamlining Act, which requires that building permits be acted on within a specific time frame. 

To ensure that the ordinance wasn’t used to obstruct proposed developments, the Landmarks Preservation Commission approved a Planning Department proposal to front-load the designation process so developers would know from the beginning whether their property might qualify as a historic resource and fall under the commission’s purview. The proposal changed timelines for the commission and the public to respond to development projects and required that most applications to demolish or alter older buildings over fifty years old, including private homes, be placed on the commission’s agenda for early evaluation of the property’s historic status. 

But some members of the Planning Commission said that they didn’t think the proposal went far enough to aid developers. Rather than accepting the LPC-approved revisions, the Planning Commission spent nearly a year formulating its own proposals to change the ordinance. The draft forwarded to the Council by the Planning Commission would further limit the window for the public to initiate landmarking proceedings. 

It would also take away the Landmarks Commission’s control over “minor alterations” to the exterior of designated structures of merit—which have different criteria than landmarks do—and give it to city Planning Department staff instead. Under both drafts, the Landmarks Preservation Commission would get new power to deny demolitions of both landmarks and structures of merit, which would eliminate conflict with the Permit Streamlining Act, but opponents say that Planning Commission revisions would weaken protection for structures of merit under the California Environmental Quality Act. 

For councilmembers allied with preservationists, the Planning Commission proposal goes too far to serve developers and excludes citizen participation. 

“It’s a slap in the face to anyone who cares about landmarks,” said Councilmember Kriss Worthington, who along with Councilmember Dona Spring has been a staunch defender of the Landmarks Preservation Commission. 

Other councilmembers said they were undecided on the issue, but expressed an openness to the Planning Commission’s proposal. 

“I don’t think a structure of merit should be treated the same as a landmark,” said Councilmember Laurie Capitelli. 

Noting concerns that the Landmarks Preservation Commission had previously used its power to obstruct proposed developments, Capitelli also said that “Whether a building is landmarked or not should not be based on the type of building proposed to replace it.” 

Councilmember Spring said she is against the LPC’s proposal to enlist aid from an outside expert. 

“The problem with an outside consultant is that it will be under the thumb of the city attorney and planning staff,” said Spring, who contends city staff favors the Planning Commission’s version. 

Also Tuesday, City Manager Phil Kamlarz will explain the recent closure of Berkeley hills Fire Station 7 last Wednesday. As of July 1, the city had been rotating the closure of up to two fire companies as a cost saving measure, but councilmembers were under the impression that closures would be rare and the station in the fire-prone hills would be exempt.  

In response to concern from the council, City Manager Phil Kamlarz has ordered that Station 7, home to a single engine company, remain open and that no more than one fire company be shut down daily until the council takes up the issue next week. The council will consider spending roughly $250,000 to limit closures to one fire company a day through December, when 12 new hires are expected to diminish the need for closures. 

The council will also hold a public hearing Tuesday to establish late fees for landlords as part of the city’s Rental Housing Safety Program. 

k

A marriage between two national media chains has apparently deprived the San Francisco Bay Guardian of one of its top advertisers. 

Bill Graham Presents, the Bay Area’s largest concert venue operator and a subsidiary of media conglomerate Clear Channel Entertainment, informed the Guardian three weeks ago that a sponsorship agreement with competitor New Times means it will no longer be placing ads in the independent weekly, said Guardian Executive Editor Tim Redmond. 

“This is a case of the big chain trying to stick it to the little guy,” he said. “It’s so frustrating because they won’t play fair.” 

The deal with New Times, the Phoenix, Ariz.-based publisher of 11 alternative weekly papers, including the Guardian’s chief competitors, SF Weekly and the East Bay Express, calls for New Times to pay Clear Channel a six-figure sum as part of a three-year deal to rename San Francisco’s Warfield Theater “The SF Weekly Warfield.” 

The deal also requires BGP to boost advertising in New Times papers. Redmond said the deal leaves little or no money to advertise in the Bay Guardian or other local papers. BGP had previously advertised in both the Guardian and New Times papers, as well as the San Jose Metro and the San Francisco Chronicle. 

SF Weekly’s Publisher Chris Keating called Redmond’s claim “just more Guardian rhetoric.” 

“We would never require [exclusive advertising rights],” he said. “BGP can put ads wherever they want.” 

Bill Graham Presents President Lee Smith said the company decided to cancel advertising with the Bay Guardian only after the paper wrote an article bashing the deal. “I don’t think I’m inclined to advertise in a publication that reports things so unfairly towards us,” he said.  

Smith added that while the contract does call on the company to spend more money advertising in New Times papers, Clear Channel expected to continue running ads in the Chronicle and San Jose Metro. BGP ads continued to run in the Bay Guardian this week under a contract that is set to expire shortly, Redmond said. 

New Times has signed several naming rights deals with concert venue operators around the country, none of which led to competing papers losing advertising, said Kurtis Barton, publisher of the Phoenix New Times.  

“The more people who come to our sponsored venues the better it is for us,” he said. “Every time they put our name in the Bay Guardian, that’s marketing.” 

Redmond said BGP had been one of the Bay Guardian’s top 10 advertisers, but declined to disclose how much money the paper stood to lose without them. 

“It’s a big chunk of change, but we’ll survive,” he said. “We’ve been dealing with this kind of anti-competitive behavior for years.”  

The Guardian has a pending lawsuit against New Times charging that SF Weekly has purposely sold ads below cost to win advertisers away from the Guardian and drive it out of business. Redmond said the case could go to trial next summer. 

The two alternative weeklies have also attacked each other in their editorial pages. The Weekly mocks the more left-leaning Guardian for its politics, while the Bay Guardian insists that SF Weekly is a cutthroat chain publication with no connection to the Bay Area. 

In 2003, the Bay Guardian reported on a deal between New Times and Village Voice Media to end competition in Los Angeles and Cleveland. New Times closed its Los Angeles paper, giving Village Voice Media a monopoly in free weeklies there, while VVM closed its Cleveland paper, giving New Times a monopoly in that market. 

The Justice Department filed an anti-trust suit against the two companies and obtained a settlement forcing them to sell the assets of the closed papers to outside groups interested in reopening the papers. 

Clear Channel is the biggest player on the local entertainment scene. It owns seven Bay Area radio stations and books concerts at the Warfield, Filmore, Shoreline Amphitheater, Chronicle Pavilion and Mountain Winery. 

Berkeley’s two major concert venues, the Greek Theater and the Community Theater, recently switched booking agents from Clear Channel to the Berkeley-based Another Planet Entertainment, owned by former BGP executives. 

Clear Channel, based in San Antonio, Tex., maintains close ties to Republican politicians, and has been criticized by free speech advocates for prior actions. Following the Sept. 11., 2001 terrorist attacks, the company briefly banned dozens of songs from its airwaves including “Peace Train,” by Cat Stevens, now known as Yusef Islam.  

Last year, Berkeley-based Project Billboard sued a Clear Channel subsidiary that controls much of Manhattan’s top billboard space when the company balked at the group’s design: An American flag-patterned bomb with the caption, “Democracy Is Best Taught By Example, Not War.” The group ultimately replaced the bomb with a dove and agreed to move the message from the top of the Mariott Marquis, which opposed the political banner being placed above its Times Square Hotel. 

On July 28 the curtain is scheduled to rise once again at the Elmwood Theater, operator Greg King said Monday. 

The three-screen centerpiece of College Avenue’s Elmwood Shopping District has been closed for nearly a year. A nearby broken sewer line flooded the theater last October. 

The theater is owned by the Elmwood Theater Foundation, formed by local merchants and residents, and is the beneficiary of the Elmwood business improvement district. 

Repair work was scheduled to be complete by Thanksgiving, but a series of delays stalled the project, said King. 

King said the interior work on the theater is complete and all that remains is some exterior seismic upgrade work. The theater foundation, under pressure from the city, decided to retrofit the building while making repairs from the sewer damage. 

The building had been retrofitted in 1994, but the theater never received a final city inspection, and in 2000 the city tightened requirements for masonry structures like the theater. Berkeley loaned the foundation $90,000 for the seismic work. 

The sewer damage caused more damage than initially realized, King said. Floors were stripped to the dirt and reinforced walls from the 1994 seismic work were torn down. Sewer repairs weren’t completed until January, he said, in part because of a fee dispute between the contractor and the insurance company. 

The seismic work also ran into delays, King said. Among the difficulties, he said, were a lack of construction coordination and bureaucratic hurdles as the theater attempted to get a city permit for a new level floor designed for patrons in wheelchairs. 

The exterior seismic work won’t be complete by July 28, but King said the theater should be in good enough shape to welcome back customers. 

He expected most of the theater’s former employees, many of whom have been collecting unemployment insurance, to return. Also the theater will now control its concession stand, which he said would offer more upscale selections. 

John Moriarty, a member of the Elmwood Theater Foundation, said he expected patrons to be impressed by its new interior. 

“There will be new seats, new floors, new carpets,” he said. “When it opens it will be wonderful.” 

UC Berkeley has temporarily gnawed off yet another hunk of city turf, moving the Bancroft Library collection to a downtown building while the campus library is retrofitted. 

The deal, however, will make no difference to the city tax burden since the space is destined for another non-property-tax-paying institution, the non-profit Judah L. Magnes Museum. The museum plans to move into the new building after the Bancroft Library collection returns to campus.  

The Magnes features collections of Judaica, especially items involving the settlement of Jews in the American West. It will relocate its treasures from its current home at 2911 Russell St. to the building they purchased at 2121 Allston Way across from the Gaia Building. 

The new lease to the Bancroft Library puts off the museum move for at least two years while allowing the larger and even more valuable collection to find a temporary home. The Bancroft Library and its archives needs a new home while that institution’s usual home in the Doe Library Annex on campus undergoes a $64 million retrofit. 

Magnes spokesperson Robin Wander said the lease will give the museum time to plan and raise more funds for its eventual move to the Allston Way structure. 

According to the Bancroft’s website the library will reopen at its temporary new home in October. The relocation involves more than a half-million books, many rare and irreplaceable, nearly three million photographs and five million manuscripts, including those of Mark Twain. 

The rebuilding of the UC library facility is expected to take two years. 

l

The Berkeley Planning Commission will take up three major projects when it meets Wednesday night, leading off with the joint UC-city Downtown Area Plan (DAP) process. 

City Planning and Development Director Dan Marks and UC Berkeley Assistant Vice Chancellor Tom Lollini will give a presentation on the process, worked out as part of the settlement of the city’s suit against UC Berkeley over the university’s 2020 Long Range Development Plan (LRDP). 

Slated as an informational presentation, the talk will focus on the planning process and timeline, followed by a question and answer session. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

As resolved in the controversial settlement, the city and university will jointly work to formulate a plan for the downtown area adjoining the UC campus, an area where the university is already the single largest landowner. 

The second major item on the agenda for the meeting is a session for gathering scoping comments for the draft environmental impact report on the proposed West Berkeley Bowl. 

The proposal by Berkeley Bowl owner Glen Yasuda calls for a new store with a warehouse on a 2.3 acre site at 920 Heinz Avenue, which currently houses vacant buildings and an asphalt business. 

The proposal has drawn fire from some West Berkeley artisans and business owners who have decried the advancement of commercial uses in the city’s dwindling supply of land zoned for light industrial and manufacturing uses. 

Mayor Bates is strongly pushing for a greater commercial presence along Ashby and University avenues and Gilman Street in West Berkeley to boost city sales tax revenues, setting the stage for a major land use battle in a city known for such conflicts. 

The third major item on Wednesday’s agenda is a public hearing on Waterfront Specific Plan and Zoning Ordinances revisions needed to build a complex of soccer and baseball fields on the southernmost parking lot at Golden Gate Fields, immediately south of the western end of Gilman Street. 

If all goes as planned, construction on the project’s first phase could begin next spring or early summer, with completion due by September. 

If the Planning Commission gives a final nod to the amendments at its July 27 meeting, the City Council could give final approval on Sept. 26. 

Slated for construction on the southernmost parking lot at Golden Gate Fields, the fields are being built as a joint effort by the cities of Berkeley, Albany, Emeryville, and Richmond, working in cooperation the East Bay Regional Parks District (EBRPD), which owns the land. 

Under the memorandum of understanding formed for the project, Berkeley is the lead agency for the project and will manage the fields under EBRPD supervision, said Parks and Recreation Chair Yolanda Huang.  

Once approved, construction will begin on two specially designed artificial turf soccer fields, which can also be used for football and field hockey. That project will consume the entire $3 million currently available, with two softball fields and a regulation hardball field to follow as funds become available. 

Another major project on Wednesday’s agenda is a public hearing to adopt a tentative tract map on a 30-unit condominium project planned for 2025 Channing Way. 

The final hearing set for Wednesday will focus on proposed Zoning Ordinance amendments to clarify definitions of front-, side- and backyards, which have become an issue in part because of projects recently approved that seem questionable under the current ordinance. 

The new amendments would establish clear and enforceable rules developers must follow. Yard-related parking issues played a major role in debates over the so-called “flying cottage” at 3045 Shattuck Ave.?

Berkeley’s Zoning Adjustments Board is confronting yet another dispute over construction plans on La Vereda Trail. 

Last year’s battle focused on proposed alterations to a cottage designed by noted architect William Wurster at 1650 La Vereda Trail, which pitted WIRED magazine founder Tom Rossetto in an acrimonious affray with neighbors who protested the scale of proposed alterations. 

Opponents successfully lobbied to landmark the building and Rossetto’s architect came up with plans that satisfied both the Landmarks Preservation Commission and ZAB. 

The newest battle concerns a 977-square-foot two-car garage and accessory building at 1734 La Vereda to augment the home at 1732 La Vereda. 

While ZAB approved the project, the owners of three nearby properties have appealed, and the board will hear from them and architect John Holey when they meet at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers at Old City Hall, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. 

A proposal to demolish a single family home at 1532 Martin Luther King Jr. Way has been placed on the consent calendar, despite protests from some neighbors at the proposal’s last airing.  

Plans call for replacement of the home by a two-story duplex and a cottage in the rear. The main issue ZAB members didn’t like was the visibility of front yard parking from the street.  

The last major item on the agenda is a proposal to reduced by 1,855 square feet plans already approved for an Affordable Housing Associates project at 1001 Ashby Ave.

A joint school lunch and school-garden-to-school-table project of the Berkeley Unified School District and Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse Foundation has received the attention of national legislators and the country’s national museum. 

During a Smithsonian Folklife Festival held in the two-week period between June 23 and July 4, the Smithsonian Institution recreated Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School’s Edible Schoolyard on an 80-by-20-foot plot on the National Mall in Washington D.C. 

Legislators, including Senators Hillary Clinton of New York, Tom Harkin of Iowa, Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Barbara Boxer of California stopped by to munch on wood-fired pizza and listen to a pitch for support for the Berkeley-inspired School Lunch Initiative. 

The exhibit also featured interactive work with students, demonstrating ways to grow and harvest healthy food in the way the Edible Schoolyard regularly operates in Berkeley. 

“A nutritious daily lunch, integrated into classroom lesson plans for grades K-12, will be provided for all public school students in the district, from kindergarten through high school,” according to the Chez Panisse Foundation website. “Our intention is to change the lives of every public school child in Berkeley, and to provide a model for the reinvention of public school lunch nationwide.” 

Waters is working now on both national and state legislation to advance that initiative in other school districts. The Washington D.C. exhibit garnered long stories in both the New York Times and the Washington Post. 

Edible Schoolyard’s Program Coordinator Chelsea Chatman, who made the trip to Washington and “basically worked in the kitchen most of the time preparing food,” called the event “the right opportunity,” even though she believes it will take some time for Congressional legislative action to result. 

“It’s going to take a while for these ideas to percolate,” she said. “But even during the time we were there, we could see good things beginning to happen in the D.C. schools around lunch programs.” 

She said that the initial invitation to Waters came two years ago, with the focus on the Edible Schoolyard. 

“The Berkeley School Lunch Initiative wasn’t as formal then as it is now,” Waters said. “We knew that we were going to the mall with the garden. But the initiative added a new piece.” 

Chatman said she was impressed by the re-creation of the Edible Schoolyard on the National Mall, which Smithsonian Institution staff members had to do on top of the existing grass because federal law does not permit digging into the mall ground. 

Students from three Washington area elementary schools assisted in the planting, with help given by Maine Four Seasons Farms owner Elliot Coleman, whom Chatman called “one of the east coast’s foremost experts on organic gardening.” 

While the Berkeley participants brought some Bay Area seeds (“mostly beans”) with them to pass out to students, Chatman said that the exhibit received donations of plants, food, and garden materials from D.C. area groups.  

Berkeley participants in the exhibit included Waters, Chatman, Edible Schoolyard Manager Kelsey Siegel, LeConte Elementary Garden Educator Ben Goff, Chez Panisse Director of Special Projects Marcia Guerrero and her assistant Jesse Benthien, and BUSD lunch consultant Ann Cooper. 

Travel, food, and lodging for most of the Berkeley contingent was paid for by the Smithsonian Institution, with some funding provided by the Chez Panisse Foundation for the lobbying efforts with legislators. No funds came from the Berkeley Unified School District.›

Berkeley has hired Claudette Ford as acting director of public works to replace Rene Cardinaux, who is retiring Aug. 5 after eight years with the city. 

Ford worked as the public works agency director in Oakland for five years and before that served as the director of public works in New Haven, Conn. For the past year, she has worked as a private consultant. 

In Oakland, Ford supervised 750 employees with an operating budget of $98 million and a $35 million capital program. 

“Ms. Ford’s past experience in a neighboring city has amply prepared her for the role of acting public works director for Berkeley,” said Phil Kamlarz in a statement. David Hodgkins, the acting human resources director, said Ford would get a trial run as acting director. If both she and the city are satisfied, Kamlarz could then ask the City Council to make her the permanent department head. 

Public works, which includes the Office of Transportation, is the city’s largest department with an annual budget of about $75 million. 

—

The London attacks are the symptoms of an internal war among two Islamic trends, and may be a sign of growing desperation by one group.  

Clearly the London explosions indicate that al Qaeda is still capable of carrying out well-planned attacks in the heart of London, one of the most secured European capitals. The operation surpassed in magnitude any attack carried out by the IRA in Britain for past five decades. The bombings were designed to punish the most loyal ally of the United States for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But why now?  

The answer goes beyond the G8 summit, which coincided with the explosions, and lies instead within an ongoing conflict between two Islamic trends. The first trend, largely represented by the Muslim Brotherhood, which was established by Hassan al-Banna in 1928 in Egypt, calls for peaceful political participation to bring about a society based on Islamic principles. The other one, largely represented by al Qaeda, supports any means necessary, including violence, to achieve similar goals.  

The “cold war” between these two groups, as some Arab commentators call it, started in 1970s in Egypt, when the Muslim Brotherhood rejected other former Brotherhood members—mainly young students who were severely tortured by the Egyptian government—upon their release from prison. By calling for the use of violence against the government, these students had become too radical for the Brotherhood.  

The Brotherhood also rejected the teachings of Said Qutub, a former Brotherhood member whose prison writings provide the ideological foundation for most radical Islamic movements.  

Kamal Habib, an Islamic scholar who appears on Al Jazeera’s Web site, writes that the young students formed the nucleus of the Egyptian radical Salafi and Takafiri trends, the ideological foundation of al Qaeda. Radical Salafism is an extremist interpretation of how Islam was practiced in the time of the Prophet. Takfirism claims the right to declare others infidels, including Muslims, thus sanctioning their punishment or murder.  

Habib explains that the war between the Muslim Brotherhood and these two trends was played out in Egypt in Al Azahar, Alexandria and Cairo universities. The failure of the Muslim Brotherhood to achieve tangible results in fighting corruption and changing the Egyptian government helped these radical groups win many students to their side.  

The radical Salafi trend criticized the Muslim Brotherhood for, in their view, compromising the principles of jihad and accepting subjugation to infidel regimes closely associated with the U.S.  

Radical students, including al Qaeda top lieutenant Ayman al-Zawahiri, once a leader in the Egyptian Jihad organization, declared Egyptian President Anwar Al Sadat an infidel, and assassinated him in October 1981. Several hundreds of these radicals were imprisoned and eventually sent to Afghanistan to fight the former Soviet Union. The Egyptian government hoped that they would die there.  

In Afghanistan, not only did al-Zawahiri deviate from Muslim Brotherhood head Abdullah Azzam, the charismatic leader who was able to recruit young Arab men to fight against the U.S.S.R., but he also convinced the successful financier Osama Bin Laden to leave Azzam and join him in what would become the most lethal radical Islamic organization, Al Qaeda.  

The Sept. 11, 2001, attacks achieved great success for the two men in gaining legitimacy, which was evident in the amount of attention that Bin Laden’s and Al-Zawahiri’s speeches were receiving in the Muslim world. Things had changed, however, by the time al-Zawahiri gave his latest speech on May 18 of this year.  

The thrust of al-Zawahiri’s speech, aired on Al Jazeera, was to criticize the recent and groundbreaking peaceful demonstrations in Egypt that were largely organized by the Muslim Brotherhood. “Driving the invading Crusader troops and Jews from Islamic countries cannot be achieved through demonstrations and chanting slogans in the street,” al-Zawahiri said. “We can achieve reform and drive the invaders out only through fighting in the cause of God.”  

But this did not cause the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood to reverse its April decision to join the Egyptian social movement “Kefayah” (”change”), which is led by the Christian Egyptian George Ishak and includes communists, leftists, secularists and nationalists.  

Al-Zawahiri also criticized the new position taken by Hamas, a Muslim Brotherhood organization that, since the election of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, has agreed to a “cooling off” period, refrained from suicide operations and participated in municipal elections. “I salute my brothers, the lions of Islam, who are garrisoned on the holy frontiers of Islam in the environs of Jerusalem,” al-Zawahiri said. “I beseech them, invoking the name of the Almighty God, not to renounce their jihad; not to lay down their arms ... and not to allow themselves to be dragged into the game of secular elections under a secular constitution.”  

But senior Hamas official Mahmud al-Zahar recently told Al Jazeera television, “resistance does not have to be armed,” which is the opposite of Hamas’ past policy line: “What was taken by force can only be taken back by force.” Even before Hamas’ new stance, their attacks against Israeli civilians were rationalized as a defensive jihad, and not based on a Takafiri stance.  

This in turn follows many reports in Arab media about an “American-Islamic dialogue” between Hamas, Hezbollah and the Muslim Brotherhood, and retired U.S. government officials.  

The London bombings, in this view, look like an attempt by Al Qaeda to regain momentum and respect in the Muslim world at a time when many Islamic figures are renouncing violence and turning toward politics. Most recently, on July 8, Abu Muhamad al-Maqdsi, the spiritual leader of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, head of Al Qaeda in Iraq, criticized the targeting of Shiite mosques and citizens in Iraq. The U.S. is pressuring Egypt to end its ban on the Muslim Brotherhood and to stop detaining Brotherhood leaders. This is a Bush administration attempt to correct the historical mistake in which U.S. support for secular Egyptian regimes in their oppression of Brotherhood leaders only radicalized these leaders and empowered their ideology. 

Jalal Ghazi monitors and translates Arab media for New California Media (a project of PNS) and Link TV. ?

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

A NEW PERSPECTIVE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

When the most recent traffic circles were installed near downtown, I expected to like them. And I did for the first week, in which I happened to only bicycle. But then I walked. 

Where straight traffic through never bothered me much, now all the cars veer into the crosswalk. At night especially the car headlights sweep the sidewalk. All my protective pedestrian reflexes (e.g. “there is a car coming straight at me”) are activated. And, despite the stop signs at each circle, car drivers rarely stop. 

I find walking on the sidewalk much less pleasant now that circles have been installed. 

Bryce Nesbitt 

• 

HAZARDS OF TRAFFIC CIRCLES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

“Calming circles.” Duh! If you want to calm down, turn on soft music in your car. I cannot see any use for them except to complicate local people’s lives. I worry about the thousands of dollars it must have cost the city to erect, plant, water and maintain these structures. In times of budget crisis, the money could have been spent on needed expenditures such as fire trucks, which, by the way, could travel a lot easier through the city without the circles. Every second of delay to firemen increases damages caused by fires. The circles are another obstruction combined with barriers and speedbumps to make emergency services more hazardous and difficult. 

Andree Leenaers Smith 

• 

SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Walking by the mess that is Willard School yesterday, I saw two of the newly installed sprinklers, broken, just gushing waster. I saw the asphalt driveway ripped up when the old driveway was perfectly fine. As best as I can remember, the old driveway didn’t even have a crack. A couple of years ago the school district took out the old chain link fence, and installed a brand new one closer to the sidewalk. A year ago, they removed that new chain link fence and for a year, the schoolyard was open, which was quite lovely. I discovered to my delight a very nice labyrinth, which I have enjoyed walking. Now the school district is doing more construction, whose purpose is not at all clear. 

A few weeks ago, a letter writer lamented the waste on fencing at King School. Perhaps these build, tear down, rebuild with inferior quality materials and tear down again cycles is not merely poor planning, but someone feather bedding a private account? I am certainly curious as to what the school district is doing and why. How much does this all cost? I wonder if it isn’t appropriate for an investigation. 

Sara Rutman 

• 

NO ROLE MODEL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

If anyone or any institution should be a role model for youth, it should be our schools and our school systems. As I watch this continued construction of new facilities in Berkeley, I am struck by all the grass that is being planted just for show, and how very little recycled materials or green building technology is being included. Solar panels anywhere? Students are taught the four Rs: reduce, reuse, recycle and rot. Our schools by and large have school gardens that compost. Yet, the very behavior of our school system demonstrates the hypocrisy of what it is teaching our children. 

Grass is a mono-culture, and expensive to maintain. It is mowed with petroleum powered equipment at a time when everyone is decrying our dependence on foreign oil. Grass requires an enormous amount of water. In the Native Plants Tour this past April, thousands crowded our beautiful Berkeley gardens, as Berkeley is a regional leader in incorporating native plants into our backyards. Yet, our school system continues to act as an ostrich in the sand. We live in a Mediterranean climate. There is no justification to spend public funds on planting, maintaining and watering grass. (That huge swath of water wasting lawn in front of King and the new grass at Willard). John Selawsky, I thought you claimed to be environmentally conscious. What happened? 

Now that the continued construction at Willard is killing the lawn planted last Fall, maybe instead of replanting it with water wasteful grass, BUSD can do better and replant with drought tolerant, native plants in order to practice what it teaches. And take the money it now spends on water and mowing and put into programs for students. 

Lewina Ruggles 

• 

EXTRAVAGANCE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The current community discussions of Berkeley Unified School District construction spending waste are examples of what happens when a big bureaucracy is given money without adequate safeguards and accountability measures. The school district will spend every nickel of our money, without refund, regardless of need and definitely without considering efficiency and effectiveness, as long as we taxpayers let them. 

Having followed the school construction program, I have seen how endless monies are poorly used. The new school at Rosa Parks cost $12 million. So, Malcolm X school wanted $12 million for itself. Cragmont Elementary School got wood parquet floors in its cafeteria. So the high school had to get hardwood paneling in its cafeteria. 

The extravagances are wild. Malcolm X school built an outdoor concrete amphitheater, so Cragmont School had to build one, then King, and Willard had to build one. But no one ever asked, is spending money like this a good idea? Malcolm X’s amphitheater is seldom used, and last year became a fishbowl twice due to flooding. King’s concrete amphitheater essentially cuts off the beautiful Edible Garden from the rest of the school. A concrete barrier. And the amphitheater is oriented so that you sit in it with your face in the sun. Everyone in Berkeley should visit King during school hours, and see that this large, expensive and ugly structure is little used. Why was it built at all? 

I support funding schools. I don’t support waste and fiscal mismanagement. It is time for a complete independent audit of our school local parcel taxes and bonds, to honestly, and truthfully let us taxpayers know. What kind of job is are schools doing? Is our money well used? Are students benefiting? 

Raymond Chandler 

• 

STATIST QUO 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Ah, everyone’s favorite state apologist, Mal Burnstein, rides forth again to present another self-serving non-argument as to why his bureaucratic class has further claim to our resources ! 

Excuse me, Mal, but taxes are not like club dues. No club collects members or funds at the point of a gun. Far from being a mark of civilization as the myopic Professor Lakoff would have it, taxes are a remnant of ancient societies where the ruling class would forcibly extract its tribute from the hides of its subjects. 

Anyone is under any illusions that all the services currently monopolized by government could not be provided privately in a free market needs to read For A New Liberty by Murray N. Rothbard. Rothbard goes into detail as to how everything from roads to schools to the police could be furnished more efficiently and without infringing our freedom in a society of laissez-faire capitalism. 

It’s a beautiful antidote to the Berkeley Statist Quo. Which also happens to be the intellectually braindead staus quo around here. 

Lin Biao 

• 

MARRIAGE EQUALITY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Letter writer S. Smith (July 8) is a classic example of someone picking a fight instead of working to achieve a goal. S/he accurately points out the unfairness of many legal privileges available to married people, an issue I imagine the vast majority of supporters of gay marriage will acknowledge, and then goes on the attack, seemingly accusing everyone in a committed relationship of opposing fairer policies. 

I, for one, am in complete agreement with the assertion that a successful life partnership (ours passed 30 years in June) is reward enough in itself, though I would not call it the “happenstance of our sex lives.” If the objective is to recruit supporters for reform of government and business bias, count me in, though family-friendly policies making it easier for partners to care for one another probably pay for themselves by reducing the need for social services. But Smith’s letter was an attack on marriage itself, calculated to undermine any coalition between couples and single people for tax and benefit reform—a coalition that obviously will be needed if it’s true that singles are a minority. 

Legal benefits are often mentioned by gay marriage proponents, because they are a concrete example of material unfairness based on gender, but many gay and lesbian couples just want their relationships acknowledged and sanctioned in the community. Spitting in the eye of these folks does zero to win their support—or mine. 

Daryl Sieck 

• 

DOG PARK PROBLEMS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Sometimes a good idea turns out to be a bad idea.  

The Ohlone dog park was one of the first in our country. A place for dogs to run around without leashes. Good idea. The bad part is that it was set up in a residential area. More and more dog owners are drawn to the park, even from outside of Berkeley. I was told that there are 30,000 dogs in Berkeley alone. A small percentage of dogs bark more than exercise. Some dogs are brought at 6 a.m. and some dogs are brought as late as 10:30 p.m. Neighbors who work at home, neighbors who work nights, children are robbed of the right of a reasonably peaceful environment. 

There have been more than three years of monthly meetings to work out some solution. Dog owners have refused to observe reasonable hours. The Parks Department and City Council have had representatives at these meetings, and have recognized problems. Dog trainers have testified that any dog can be taught not to bark, and offered to teach classes. Meetings, meetings, meetings—for more than three years. Anything change? No! 

Dogs and dog owners are mobile. We neighbors are not. The noise at times exceeds allowable standards. I suggest that Ohlone dog park be moved to a non-residential area. Maybe City Hall would be a good place. 

Harry Gans 

• 

OZZIE’S 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Yes, it’s a shame that Ozzie’s Fountain has to close after so many years and so many memories. As a native of Berkeley, I have many of those same memories as a student at Willard back in the ‘60s, getting a cherry phosphate from Ozzie. It’s odd, however to see the likes of Marty Schiffenbauer merely calling it “sad” that no one with the money has stepped forward to keep it going. He should have plenty of money himself to keep his beloved hangout going. After all, he almost single-handedly brought rent control to Berkeley so he could keep his money out of the evil landlord’s pockets. Over 25 years of savings should be just about enough. I say he should put his money where is mouth is. 

Tim Cannon 

• 

PEACE LANTERN CEREMONY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

One of the many occasions in Berkeley when Norine Smith will be missed is this year’s Peace Lantern Ceremony, Aug. 6 at the north end of Aquatic Park. Norine applied her legendary enthusiasm to the success of this event, which involves three of her great loves: the quest for peace and justice; Japanese culture; and the parkland adjoining Berkeley’s Bay waterfront, which she worked so hard to protect as a Waterfront Commissioner. 

Norine (along with various friends she recruited) helped create the annual ceremony, in which participants (including many children) decorate shades for candle-lit lanterns floated on the lagoon at dusk, after performances of Japanese music and messages from the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 

Until this year, her work on this event was behind-the-scenes: hosting planning meetings at her house, organizing work sessions to make lantern shades, directing volunteers assembling and lighting the lanterns at the event. This year, she was to serve as one of the event’s emcees. 

The ceremony affirms our aspirations for a peaceful future and our abhorrence of atomic (and all) warfare, but it is rooted in an ancient Japanese tradition for honoring the departed. Many people decorate their lantern shades with remembrances of loved ones; the lanterns are floated as “boats” to guide their souls to the Beyond. While Norine has made that journey too early, there is no doubt she packed more passion, activism, and love into her 67 years than most of us could fit into 100. 

Fittingly, the planning group is dedicating the 2005 Peace Lantern Ceremony to Norine. To honor Norine, all who have gone before us, and especially, our community’s many efforts toward a just and peaceful future, please contact the planning committee at www.progressiveportal.org/lanterns or 595-4626 and help make this all-volunteer, low-budget event a success. Wherever she’s watching from now, I know Norine will be pleased. 

Steve Freedkin 

• 

BETH EL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am a property owner who has lived at 1237 Oxford Street since 1965, right next door to the monstrous complex that Temple Beth El is currently constructing in what used to be a very nice neighborhood. The activities that will take place in this huge complex are threatening to have a very negative impact on the lives of those of us who live here unless Beth El will live up to the legally binding agreements it has made with LOCCNA, the neighborhood association. 

I am deeply concerned about the unethical behavior of Beth El which negotiated an agreement and now seeks to ignore it. I understand that the City is preparing to issue a Certificate of Occupancy for this project even though Beth El has failed to live up to the legally binding signed agreement, the language of which was incorporated into the Conditional Use Permit to be issued for the project. 

If the City fails to require that Temple Beth El live up to its agreement on the detailed parking plan and the requirements for bank- stabilization and landscaping for Codornices Creek that it signed, then the City will be derelict in its duty and responsibilities to the citizens of Berkeley in this neighborhood. 

The mayor and city government should look into this matter and require full compliance with the conditions specified before allowing the buildings to be occupied. 

Ruth L. Jennings  

Nevada City 

• 

LAWSUIT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Just to keep the people abreast of what is happening in the CEQA lawsuit over LRDP, my motion for inquiry into the existence of extrinsic fraud in the obtaining of the voluntary dismissal is still pending before the court and will be heard on July 20, 2005, at 9:00 A.M.  

However, the in-house counsel, Hope Schmeltzer for the university and Zach Cowan for the city, wrote a highly improper letter to the court, requesting of the court that it should return my motion to me “as improvidently filed.” Then, they asked that the court should “vacate the filing nunc pro tunc.” Any attorney reading this should recognize that these legal terms were improperly used and that the request of the parties was essentially hysterical gibberish, or legobabble.  

A ruling or judgment is sometimes said to be made improvidently, if the court lacked some critical piece of information that it later obtained, but there is no record I could find of a motion being “improvidently” filed. That is because a judge does not prejudge a motion and so there is nothing that she could un-judge and re-judge, just based upon the filing. Similarly, a nunc pro tunc order is solely for correcting an error in the record, not for undoing what was actually done.  

A filing can be “unified” at least in some jurisdictions, if the filing is deficient in some respect, but that is not even what the parties claimed. They went on to make extensive legal arguments in their letter addressed to the clerk of the court. This was a bizarre breach of legal ethics by the office of one who just received an award for her writings on legal ethics. I suspect that the members of the State Bar who voted to give that award to Manuela Albuquerque don’t know her like we do. They need to hear our perspective.  

The scariest part of all, however, was the last paragraph. The parties said: “Please notify us as soon as possible after vacating the filing so that the court will not be burdened with a response to a motion that is beyond the court’s jurisdiction.” Not only they are making a legal argument about jurisdiction in a letter addressed to the clerk of the court, but they are certain that the court will do their bidding, will do just as they say, based upon this serious breach of civil procedure. This is arrogance of the highest order. This is complete and utter contempt for law and the rule of law. This is unfettered disdain for due process. 

By the way, I was easily able to show the court, in a letter of my own written solely to counter their letter, that the arguments of the parties were lame and incorrect, as of course they always have been. My motion is correct. Assuming we get a fair hearing, we will win. All power to the people! 

Peter J. Mutnick 

• 

ANTI-BLOTTER 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Just another pitch against “cutesy” police logs. I have taught high school students for ten years, and many of them cuss quite often (or use other words I find offensive). When I object, they say “It’s OK, ‘we’ all know what we mean.” I tell them that I find it offensive, and a good rule is to avoid offending people. While it seems these days we cannot open our mouths without offending at lease one person, there have been enough letters to the Planet opposed to Richard Brenneman’s style to argue that many people are being offended by his style. We should not have to, as one writer wrote “zing up the telling of what otherwise become repetitious and boring.” A “police blotter” is not there for our entertainment, but to tell us of unfortunate events that happened in our town. 

Lee Amosslee 

• 

A FEW THOUGHTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I love Berkeley and read the Daily Planet regularly. I am grateful for the open, honest, and sincere reporting and learn much from the letters to the editor.  

I am saddened at the seeming intentional lack of communication between the mayor and the city council on matters of UC Berkeley’s development plans for this wonderful city and am reminded of a quote from Gary Snyder’s poem titled, The Arts Council Meets in Eureka. The poem ends, sadly:  

No one who lives here  

has the power  

to run this town.  

On a lighter note: I suggest in place of the controversial humorous police blotter, that there be a separate column devoted to overheard conversations about town. For example, in one afternoon I heard some beautiful exchanges which make me so glad to be here:  

In line at the bank, a woman explains to the bank teller: “I’m into numerology. So, it matters very much to me how much I deposit and on what date. So let me just take a moment to think it through.”  

In the same afternoon: A Retail Clerk on her cell phone with her daughter: “You want to take what! Won’t that be heavy and too much luggage! ....Hangs up and exclaims...”Can you believe it! My daughter is bringing her espresso machine to Maui. Kona coffee isn’t good enough. She says she can’t live without lattes for two weeks!”  

Karen Clark 

El Cerrito 

• 

PLAME LEAK 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Journalist jailed but the big story is that a high level snitch exists in the Bush administration who leaked the identity of undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame to syndicated columnist Robert Novak. This is treason. Valerie Plame’s name was leaked a few days after husband, former ambassador, Joseph Wilson criticized President Bush’s reasons for invading Iraq. Who is the dirty rat and why does the Bush administration continue to impede the investigation? 

Ron Lowe 

• 

MEDIA HAVE IT WRONG 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As usual, our corrupt complicit corporate media has the recent story about the jailing of the New York Times reporter Judith Miller upside-down, inside-out, backwards or in a word, wrong. Judith Miller is a war criminal. Judith Miller is an accessory before the fact to mass murder and war crimes in Iraq. Judith Miller belongs in jail, along with Rove, Rumsfeld, Rice, Powell, Cheney and Bush and the rest of their vicious gang. In 2002 and 2003, her constant parroting of the Bush regime’s lies about the existence of Iraqi WMDs, which were printed in the New York Times as the gospel truth, were a major part of propaganda blitz used to bully and stampede the American people and the Congress into supporting the stupid invasion of Iraq. Judith Miller is now protecting some traitorous criminals in the Bush White House who illegally outed the undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame some two years ago; she is not “protecting her sources.” 

Valerie Plame, the wife of Ambassador Joseph Wilson, was outed by someone in the Bush White House as retaliation against him for his earlier having revealed the Bush lie about Iraq having purchased some yellow cake uranium ore from Niger, a country in Africa. The Cheney lie was that Saddam had “reconstituted his nuclear program” and thus needed the uranium ore to make nuclear weapons. Ambassador Wilson revealed that the documents that supposedly showed the Iraqi purchase of yellow cake were merely crude forgeries. Ambassador Wilson then blew the whistle on these Bush lies by going public with this information. This was a big step in cracking the facade of all of the Bush lies about Iraq.  

The Bush White House then orchestrated the outing of an undercover CIA agent, who incidentally was researching possible WMD threats, in what was an 

extremely reckless act. This criminal action was meant to intimidate other potential whistle-blowers who might want to reveal other Bush regime crimes.  

I guess that all the editorial pontificators prattling on about the supposed “freedom of the press” in America are not referring to the freedom of the corporate media to lie, smear, attack, distort, omit facts and act as cheerleaders in support of the illegitimate Bush regime, its thefts of presidential elections in 2000 and 2004, its vast corporate corruption, its absurd unbelievable incompetence in managing to not quite be able seal off airliner cockpits in time to stop the nine-eleven terror attacks, its overthrow of the democracy in Haiti by the kidnapping of President Aristide to Africa and his replacement by death squad leaders and its illegal 

criminal war on the Iraqi people.  

The only “free press” newspapers left in 21st century corporate America are a few courageous progressive alternative weekly papers. Otherwise, we are forced to go to the Internet each day to find anything resembling the truth. In this regard, some useful alternative media websites include: News from occupied Iraq at www.uruknet.info, the LeftCoaster at www.theleftcoaster.com, Nero Fiddled at /nerofiddled.blogspot.com, Common Dreams at www.commondreams.org, Truth Out at www.truthout.org, Tom Paine at www.tompaine.com, Buzz Flash at www.buzzflash.com, Bella Ciao at //bellaciao.org and the Daily Kos at www.dailykos.com. 

James K. Sayre 

Oakland 

It will be three years until the next Democratic convention, but Washington insiders not only expect Hillary Clinton to run for president, they believe that she will easily garner the nomination. According to veteran prognosticator Charlie Cook, Hillary is far ahead of the other contenders, both in terms of money raised and support among the party faithful. First, she has to win re-election to her New York Senate seat; if she wins that race handily in 2006, then her historic presidential nomination seems assured. Anticipating Hillary, conservatives have already launched a no-holds-barred assault on the former first lady. 

Few question Sen. Clinton’s intelligence or determination. The standard objection to her candidacy is that she is “a polarizing figure”—that for every voter who is a fan, there is another who detests her. Many feel that the polarizing label sells Hillary short. Charlie Cook observed that Hillary’s constituents have found her to be hardworking and pragmatic. Recent New York polls showed the Senator with favorability ratings in the 60-70 percent range, and holding a thirty-point lead over her likely opponents. 

Outside New York, many voters continue to have reservations about the former first lady. While some of their hesitation may be due to sexist bias, the most likely source is her enigmatic relationship with Bill Clinton.  

Even in Europe, the former first lady is a controversial figure. In May, at a dinner party in Great Britain, several conservative Brits volunteered that they did not like Hillary Clinton. Although they knew almost nothing about her, they had negative feelings based upon the fact that Ms. Clinton stayed married to Bill after the Monica Lewinsky scandal. They believed Hillary did this in order to further her political career and described her as an “opportunist.” Many American voters share these sentiments. 

Roughly one-third of the electorate dislikes Sen. Clinton and probably won’t vote for her under any circumstance. Assuming that another third will vote for whomever the Democrats nominate, that leaves a final third that Hillary has to win over. Republican leaders are already worried about the possibility that the former First Lady might shake her “difficult woman” moniker and broaden her base of support. Predictably, they have launched their favorite weapon, the negative hit piece based upon interviews with questionable sources. 

In June, Edward Klein’s book The Truth About Hillary: What She Knew, When She Knew It, and How Far She’ll Go to Become President was published. In 272 pages, long on innuendo and woefully short on journalism, Klein levels two charges at the senator: she may be a lesbian (Gadzooks!) and she is ambitious (Sacre Bleu!). While universally panned, Klein’s book has crept near the top of the best-seller list. No doubt it is only the first of a series of attacks on Ms. Clinton, part of a carefully orchestrated Republican strategy to keep alive the iconic image of Hillary as a person of poor moral character because she had the temerity to “stand by her man” and now seeks her own starring role. 

Hillary Clinton has wisely decided not to respond to Klein’s book. Instead her campaign is methodically gathering support, gaining momentum for the races in 2006 and 2008. In the course of this effort, the junior Senator from New York is carefully establishing her positions on issues ranging from abortion to zydeco. 

Is Ms. Clinton a liberal or a centrist? Does she have original ideas or is she content to cannibalize those of others? Will her campaign be poll-driven or will she have the chutzpah to take an independent stand on strategic issues? In due course we will learn the answers to the many questions that rank-and-file Democrats have about their probable nominee. 

In the meantime, it would tell us a lot about the “real” Hillary if she would help her party by providing some of the leadership it desperately needs. At this moment in time, the Democratic Party is struggling to find its identity. A recent Democracy Corps poll found that while voters had lost confidence in President Bush, Democrats had fallen even further out of favor—only 38 percent of the electorate had positive feelings about them versus 43 percent for the Republicans. Veteran Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg attributed this decline to the public perception that Democrats have “no core set of convictions or point of view.” Most voters are clear that the Dems oppose the policies of the Bush administration but unsure of what they offer to replace them with. At the moment, Democrats are best characterized as the Party whose unifying slogan is, “Just say no.” 

Based upon her status as the party’s probable nominee, and with her own Senate reelection seemingly assured, it is not asking too much for Hillary to help the party get its act together for 2006. Whether she does this, or instead, plays it’s safe and lets others carry the load until 2008, will tell us a lot about Ms. Clinton. Is she is a real leader, a rock the party can rebuild around, or yet another self-centered celebrity candidate? 

Bob Burnett is a Berkeley writer and activist. He can be reached at bobburnett@comcast.net. 

›

For years there has been a small leak in the ceiling between the upstairs bathroom and the downstairs dining room at our house. As leaks tend to do, it has grown progressively worse with time. The first major seepage was discovered after a charming young Russian guest decided to hand wash clothes in the bathroom sink. She forgot to turn off the hot water spigot before leaving the house. A crack in the downstairs ceiling plaster developed and water dripped onto the dining room table. Fortunately, no one was sitting there at the time, and after some investigation and discussion it was decided that as long as no one left the water running, or as long as there were no Russians in the house, we didn’t really have a major plumbing problem, we just had a big hole in the ceiling.  

But then sporadic leaks sprung whenever anyone took a bath. We fixed this situation by banning upstairs bathing. One was allowed to take a brief shower, but no one was permitted to soak in the tub. This policy worked okay because, even though there are four adults living in our house, no one has the leisure time required to loll in the tub. 

Last week the situation changed with two significant events. First, our friend Jernae, a teenager, moved in for the summer, and second, my 3-year-old nephew, Bryce, came to visit at the same time my housemate’s 7-year-old niece, Clyiesha, dropped by for an extended stay.  

I took Bryce and Clyiesha to a small park located just south of the Claremont Avenue DMV. It’s one of a few tiny green oases where Temescal Creek runs above ground for several yards. Bryce and Clyiesha took off their shoes, and immediately began wading. Before I knew it, they had whipped off their pants and shirts and were fully engaged in water sports and hydrotherapy research. When we got home, Andrea, Clyiesha’s aunt, made them take a bubble bath. I momentarily forgot about the leakage problem, but not for long. 

Immediately after Bryce and Clyiesha got out of the tub, Jernae took a bubble bath by herself. When she was done I took a shower and that’s when the trouble began. Too much water had backed up behind the wall due to seepage from the ancient pipes. It was raining in our dining room.  

So I did what I always do when we suffer from plumbing failure: I called my neighbor, Teddy Franklin, and asked for his help. He came over and diagnosed the problem. We needed to replace the hot and cold spigot stems and the shower diverter.  

The next day Teddy and I went to Orchard Supply to look for parts. There were hundreds of bathtub stems to choose from but none that fit the exact measurements of our upstairs tub. We went across the street to Ashby Hardware and Building Supply, and when that didn’t work we went to Ehret Company Plumbing and Heating on Gilman Street. A nice man named Joe spent an hour looking for the proper replacements. He found a shower stem, but not the correct hot and cold water apparatus. We drove to Rubenstein Supply on 28th and San Pablo in search of the missing pieces. An enormous gentleman with a lot of tattoos told us that we needed to go to Meyer Plumbing Supply located near Jack London Square. “And if they don’t have it?” I asked Teddy as we sped toward the docks. Teddy shook his head. “Then we’re talkin’ cuttin’ a hole in the wall, pullin’ all the pipes, and replacin’ everything,” said Teddy. “It’s gonna get ugly.” 

But at Meyer’s we found exactly what we needed. Three hours after leaving home, Teddy and I returned. He repaired the bathtub leak in less than thirty minutes. Finding the proper hardware took six times as long as the actual fix. I always knew that I didn’t want to be a plumber, but I thought it was because of the nature of the work. Now I know it’s because of the parts, and not the resulting product.  

.

Quickly Extinguished 

Firefighters blame that old favorite, a problematic extension cord, for a Saturday blaze that did $15,000 in damage to one room and its contents in a garden courtyard apartment at 2233 Blake St. 

The 911 call reached firefighters at 5:59 p.m., and when they arrived moments later, they found flames shooting out of a window, said Deputy Fire Chief David Orth. 

The flames were quickly extinguished, with the damaged confined to a single room, Orth said.µ

Tall, Thin, Deadly 

A thin man about 6’5” tall who professed to be packing a deadly weapon convinced a woman to surrender her cash about 2:15 a.m. Thursday near the corner of Blake and Ellsworth streets, said Berkeley Police spokesperson Officer Joe Okies. 

Bottle Hurler 

Police are seeking the 20-something woman who hurled a bottle at a 59-year-old woman outside St. Helena Liquors at 2198 San Pablo Ave. shortly after noon Thursday. 

Officer Okies said the bottle didn’t cause serious damage to the intended victim but did manage to inflict some property damage. 

Drive-By Shooting 

A man was sitting in his car on Francisco Street near the corner of Curtis Street just before 9 p.m. Thursday when a dark gray PT Cruiser pulled alongside, a dark tinted window rolled down and a handful of pistol appeared, followed by a volley of shots. 

The would-be victim sustained only superficial injuries in the potentially deadly attack, said Okies.  

Laptop Robbery 

A pair of strongly built felons approached a man in the 1900 Block of University Avenue at 2:45 a.m. Friday, when one of them delivered a kick just before the pair made off with their victim’s laptop computer. 

The two men were associated with a red vehicle with out-of-state plates which was last seen headed southbound on Shattuck Avenue, said Officer Okies. 

Gang of Four 

Four bandits braced a 33-year-old man in the 2300 block of Durant Avenue about 12:48 a.m. Sunday and strong-armed him into forking over his wallet and cash. 

Escalatio 

A verbal altercation between two men outside the 76 Station at 901 Ashby Ave. just before 1:30 p.m. Saturday clicked up a notch when one of the two headed to his car and returned with a baseball, which he brandished at the other before setting it down. 

After the argument escalated yet again, the would-be bat-wielder picked up an air hose and swung it, striking his co-disputant squarely in the head. 

At that point, the bat-threatened and hose-hit fellow and his opponent launched into a round of fisticuffs, resulting in the flight of bat boy. 

Officer Okies said the two fellows were known to each other before the fracas. An investigation into the brouhaha is now underway. 

Youthful Villains 

Police are seeking two youths between the ages of 12 and 14 who robbed a 70-something woman outside the Berkeley Bowl shortly after 6 p.m. Sunday. 

The two grabbed at her purse, which she unsuccessfully fought to keep before the young bandits fled the scene on their bicycles. 

By continuing the fight after she tried to keep the purse, the youngsters elevated their crime from a simple purse snatch to a more serious strong-arm robbery, said Officer Okies. 

Woman Snatches Purse 

A woman in her 30s approached a 20-year-old woman near the corner of Regent and Parker streets shortly before 11 p.m. Sunday, knocked her to the ground and then made off with her purse. 

Your story “Board Vetoes Jefferson School Name Change” (July 8) was misleading. I was never “torn” about the name change. I objected to labeling opponents of the name change as racist, and opposed arguments that the nasty nature of the campaign somehow justified ignoring the result of the vote. I said what the School Board taught about the value of democracy was more important than any school name. I reminded the School Board how disgusted we were when the Supreme Court interfered with the 2000 election. I implored boardmembers to prove that in Berkeley one’s vote still counted, and concluded that admiration for Jefferson required respecting the democratic process he so loved by honoring the vote to re-name the school. 

Unfortunately this incident represents another episode in the accelerating trend toward undemocratic governance. In 2001 I warned that Berkeley was becoming “…an administrative state, where policy is decided by bureaucratic fait, and where the voice of the people will not be heard.” ( “Dead Trees Resemble Communications Tower Fiasco,” March 28, 2001.) 

Since then the problem has gotten worse. First Linda Maio’s aide Brad Smith issued a memo calling for removal of commissioners who favored the Height Initiative. Then, immediately following the mayor’s apology for trashing newspapers that endorsed his opponent, the City Council ignored pleas by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Peace and Justice Commission by creating a secretive “Agenda Committee” which, in the absence of TV and radio coverage, makes backroom deals and prevents controversial items from appearing on City Council agendas. 

The March 2002 election saw voters adopt initiatives further eroding democracy. Measure H lowered to 40 percent the number of votes a candidate needs to avoid a run-off election, and Measure J made it more difficult to run for local office. Ironically, Maudelle Shirek failed to qualify for re-election after, either by confusion or conspiracy, she failed to comply with the more complicated procedures she sanctioned by supporting Measure J. 

By 2004 the gratitude toward more amiable City Council meetings was fading. Some people began to see Mayor Bates as the mythical evil genie who grants wishes at the cost of dire unanticipated consequences—the wicked magician whose parlor tricks made squabbling vanish by pulling back room deals out of his hat while making democratic debate disappear. That fiscal waste and disgust at the selling out of citizen interest to developers led an unlikely coalition of Berkeley voters to defeat every tax increase City Council placed on the ballot. To drive the point home the same voters adopted tax increases for Berkeley schools, state mental health and children’s hospitals. Berkeley voters were not opposing to taxes per se, but the City Council itself. 

Unfortunately, the council is ignoring the message. The sneaky deal with UC to abandon authority over downtown development means that unless the courts intervene the mayor, city staff and UC developers can make backroom development deals which can not be altered by commissions or by the City Council. Councilmembers have violated the city charter by relinquishing land use authority and guaranteed a charade of sympathetic speeches about how UC’s sovereign immunity means we can do nothing to stop the very development this deal allows! 

These sleazy arrangements to undermine democratic participation will further alienate citizens from city government making the rejection of future tax measures more likely. If voting “no” continues to fall upon deaf ears, Charter Reform will eventually be enacted. My fear is that at the rate that the City Council is giving public land away to developers there will be little left to save by that time. 

Elliot Cohen is a member of the Peace and Justice Commission.  

While some of our better lawmakers are working hard to improve our schools, keep fire stations open, fix our roads, and bring jobs to our beloved city of Berkeley, a chosen few are once again wasting their time, and our dollars, writing resolutions on na tional and international issues. 

In the most recent example, Councilmember Kriss Worthington wrote a resolution supporting a federal Department of Peace. On the surface a Department of Peace sounds like a lovely idea. What the heck, while we’re at it, le t’s call it the Department of Peace, Puppies, and Chocolate—those are good things that we can all get behind, right? 

Before I delve into the flawed logic for a Department of Peace, let’s first examine my reasons for voting against the resolution as a com missioner on Berkeley’s Peace and Justice Commission. The commission reviewed the legislation first in order to save our elected officials from wasting their time and our money. 

Our city government has jurisdiction and power only on a local level. We hav e a responsibility to provide the citizens of Berkeley with good schools, police and fire protection, functioning roads and so on. Nowhere in our job descriptions does it say that the Mayor or the city council is supposed to have a position on issues like Middle East politics, war, free trade, or the United Nations. Regardless of my personal opinions, the fact that Kriss Worthington hates President Bush or the Iraq war or all wars is of little concern to me and even less concern to the rest of the country. Why? He is a local politician with zero federal power. His job is to improve the small town of Berkeley. When our city council wastes its time and our dollars debating and voting on one ineffectual resolution after another just to make themselves feel g ood, I get incensed and so should the rest of Berkeley’s citizens.  

The city’s volunteer Peace and Justice Commission, appointed by the City Council and the School Board, reviewed the Department of Peace legislation and listened to public testimony and d ebate during two consecutive meetings. The resolution was not able to garner enough votes to pass a supporting resolution onto the council. Those in favor needed eight votes. They got six. Three people abstained, and I proudly voted against it. Five membe rs were absent. 

The three commissioners who abstained were not uninformed as Elliot Cohen, a fellow commissioner, erroneously told the City Council. These abstainers were squarely against the legislation but were frightened out of their shoes to publicly vote against something and risk being characterized by the progressives as—hold on to your hats—anti-peace!  

Unhappy with their loss at the commission, Cohen and others went crying to Worthington for relief, sidestepping the process and making the commission system virtually obsolete. Maybe we don’t need a Peace and Justice Commission after all. 

What’s wrong with a Department of Peace? First, I suggest reading what Dennis Kucinich, the author of the legislation, is calling for. I’m fairly certain most of the councilmembers who voted for the resolution didn’t bother to read it. But let’s assume they did. When you see them, thank them for spending your tax dollars to read about issues they have no jurisdiction over.  

The proposed Department of Peace cal ls for the creation of dozens and dozens of largely redundant programs dealing with spousal abuse, gangs, labor laws, drug abuse, ethnic intolerance and on and on – and oh yes, it also calls for the department to stop our government from getting into wars that progressives don’t approve of. The fact that there are federal, state, city, and non governmental organizations already working to solve these problems is lost on them. The fact that we already have a Department of State working for peace all over t he world is lost on them. The fact that we have a delegation to the United Nations, once again, is lost on them. 

Another key principal of Kucinich’s legislation is the establishment of a cabinet level Secretary of Peace. Let’s say the progressives got th eir Department of Peace. How would they feel about Donald Rumsfeld being appointed by the President to run the Department? It could happen. What would they do then, write a new resolution calling for the abolishment of the Department of Peace? 

To date, o nly a few members of the House have signed on as co-sponsors. In fact, the legislation has been languishing in the House for over two years. At Tuesday’s city council meeting, the local backers of this legislation waved around a letter from Sen. Feinstein misrepresenting her position entirely. She does not support this legislation. Her boiler plate response letter only said that she’d “examine” it.  

Councilmembers Worthington, Anderson, Maio, Moore, Spring, and Mayor Bates can feel good that their progre ssive credentials are intact. But let’s be honest. Was one new teacher hired? Will all our fire stations be open twenty-four hours a day this summer? Were any new jobs created? Has the life of one single person in this city been improved? This is their jo b.  

Councilmembers Capitelli, Olds, and Wozniak all abstained from the voting to support the Department of Peace. They need to be thanked and congratulated for doing the right thing.  

My vote against the resolution on the Peace and Justice commission wa s not a vote against peace. It was a message to the City Council: Do your job. We need to remind them of it every day, or they need to be voted out of office. 

Jonathan Wornick is a member of the Peace and Justice Commission. 

à

The new fiscal year is a good time to look back on the last two and a half years and reflect on where we are in Berkeley and on what we have accomplished together. 

I took office at a time when the city was facing the worst budget crisis in our history with rising costs, flat revenues, and major reductions in state and federal funding. In just the past two and a half years, we cut $20 million out of our budget, eliminated over 10 percent of our workforce and reduced support to many of our community-serving programs.  

In spite of this immense challenge, we found new ways to innovate. We turned many of those challenges into opportunities to reclaim Berkeley’s leadership on environmental, housing and youth policy.  

Without question, Berkeley has regained its position as a world environmental leader. In fact, Berkeley was recently named the third most sustainable city in the country. I am proud of that ranking—as well as the fact that we are using our environmental policies to save money and build our economic base. 

The City Council adopted the Kyoto Protocol, required all city buildings to be built to a high green (LEED-silver) standards, enacted the precautionary principals to ensure the healthiest public policy options are chosen, and is joining the Chicago Climate Exchange to reduce green house gas emissions.  

There are more than 200 “green businesses” and 75 green buildings in Berkeley, making this a national center for sustainable business. The city has fostered this growth by creating the Mayor’s Sustainable Business Working Group and developing an action plan to build on our green businesses success. The city recently adopted a plan to achieve “zero waste” by the year 2020—helping the environment and giving a boost to the businesses that have sprung up to make use of the recycled and reused materials. 

Berkeley is also at the forefront of the clean energy revolution. We recently formed an innovative privately financed $100 million clean energy fund partnership with the City of Oakland. The city has helped provide thousands of small businesses and private homes with free-energy efficiency retrofits. We have taken the lead in moving towards public power through a community choice aggregation joint partnership with several Bay Area cities. These programs are making Berkeley a more competitive place for sustainable businesses to locate. 

The City of Berkeley also brought City CarShare to local government, replacing 15 of its fleet cars with four hybrids that are available to the public through City CarShare on evenings and weekends. The innovative program will save the City $400,000 in the first year, reduce emissions, and reduce the need for parking spaces. Earlier this year, it was named one of the 12 most innovative city programs in the country by Harvard University.  

We are also working to expand open space and sports fields. Berkeley is leading a Joint Powers Authority with five neighboring cities, in cooperation with the East Bay Regional Parks District and State Parks Department, to oversee a $6 million dollar 17-acre sports field complex to give young people and adults a place to play ball. 

On the housing front, Berkeley used its housing trust fund to build more affordable and workforce housing than at any time in our history. Two affordable housing developments are under construction and three additional projects are in the pipeline—adding nearly 300 new units for low-income seniors, disabled, and working families to our housing stock. We are ensuring that people who work in Berkeley will still be able to live here. 

Perhaps most importantly, we have marshaled our resources to protect our young people. We have saved programs for Berkeley’s youth from debilitating cutbacks, allocating $600,000 annually from its the general fund to subsidize childcare for low-income families and $7 million for youth programs. This commitment to young people earned Berkeley statewide recognition from the California Wellness Foundation as the number one Teen Healthy City in California. 

This summer, we expanded an innovative partnership called Project BUILD (Berkeley United in Literacy Development) to bring summer literacy, nutrition and physical activity to hundreds of preschool and school age children in South and West Berkeley—where the greatest health and academic disparities exist. Now in its second year, the partnership includes the UC Cal Corps Public Service Center, the city’s recreation centers, libraries senior and public health programs, UC Berkeley schools of Education and Public Health, and BUSD and is funded by local businesses.  

This year approximately 40 employees volunteered with Berkeley’s “at risk” youth as a result of the City Council-adopted initiative called Berkeley Champions for Kids —a multi-pronged program that encourages Berkeley adults to mentor and volunteer with Berkeley’s young people. Included in Berkeley Champions for Kids are also opportunities for city employees to donate to local youth-serving programs through a voluntary payroll deduction program. 

I’m very proud of our city’s progressive record while swimming up stream against federal and state cut backs and a weak economy. We still have a lot to do, but Berkeley is once again setting the pace.  

Tom Bates is the mayor of Berkeley. 

Last week the City of Albany installed three enormous green dumpsters on the upper road leading to the Albany Bulb and began an operation the purpose of which we’re being told is to clean out campsites of the homeless, some of which have been reoccupied in recent months. 

Unfortunately the clean up is being done in a way that is producing massive and completely unnecessary environmental damage. Unless the methods used are changed, irreparable harm will be done to the fragile ecosystem of the landfill. 

Instead of using the least intrusive means to accomplish its objective the city has chosen to bring in bulldozers and heavy equipment. The road down the center of the Bulb has been widened, although it was already wide enough to allow the passage of police vehicles and pick ups. In two places large circles have been scrapped bare around methane vents. But the worst damage has been caused by the use of heavy equipment to clear paths to campsites. California native plants including full grown coyote bush have been flattened. In one case mature palm trees and acacias have been uprooted. Broken tree limbs and dirt have been bulldozed down a hillside, destroying what was one of the prettiest groves of trees on the entire landfill. 

There is no reason why the environment needs to be collateral damage of the campaign to remove the homeless from the landfill. Everything that the homeless brought into the landfill was carried in by hand, or wheeled in on shopping carts and bicycles. If they brought stuff in by hand, it can be taken out by hand. 

The use of heavy equipment makes no sense if Albany is simply conducting a cleanup operation. A possible explanation for its use is that Albany’s goal goes beyond cleanup to reshaping the landscape of the landfill so that it no longer provides camouflage for possible homeless sites. If that is the case, the operation is shortsighted and futile. It will destroy habitat for wildlife, reduce biodiversity, replace a complex mix of mature plants with fast growing invasive vegetation, and leave ugly scars which will not heal for decades. The folly of destroying a village in order to save it is self evident. The folly of destroying everything that is attractive about the landfill in order to prevent homeless people from camping there should be equally obvious. Regular patrolling and the issuance of warnings would be more effective and have fewer side effects. 

Albany may be ambivalent about the landfill. The debate about its future has been lively and impassioned. It may soon become part of the East Shore State Park. But whatever its future, the current operation needs to be stopped and reassessed immediately. 

Destruction is easy. But trees take years to grow and ecosystems can not be willed into being overnight. 

Osha Neumann is a local artist and attorney.›

From its origins about 400 years ago, opera has been conceived as a synaesthetic experience. The voices, the lyrics, the orchestration, stylized acting, costumes, sets and lighting are meant to add up to a total effect on all the senses of the audience. This is what has given credence to the frequent claims that opera is the greatest of arts—because it combines them all in an aesthetic apotheosis. 

Festival Opera’s production of Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera (A Masked Ball), playing this Tuesday, Friday and Sunday at Walnut Creek’s Dean Lesher Center, brings the truth of these claims home in a way that more extravagant productions in the great opera houses often don’t. 

The popular caricature of opera as overwrought and cloying unfortunately applies to many of these lavish shows; the audience is left to sort out what elements really worked. Festival Opera’s Un Ballo, however, is a triumph of perfect coordination between cast, orchestra, musical and stage direction and design that results in a stunning overall effect, something that could never be achieved in its particular way by any other means, by any of the other arts. 

Un Ballo is based on an historic incident, the assassination of Sweden’s king, Gustavus III, by Count Ankerstrüm at a masked ball at court during the late 18th century. The opera, with libretto by Antonio Somma, was based on a work by French playwright Eugene Scribe (responsible for the type of “well-wrought” play that’s the model for subsequent commercial theater and screenplays). The setting was changed (note the characters’ Italian names) as regicide was still a sensitive issue. 

In the pit before the stage, dominated by an enormous gilt picture frame, conductor Michael Morgan strikes up the orchestra in the overture, graceful, but with elegiac overtones. He emphasizes the great spectrum of moods that quickly alternate, even crowding in and contradicting one another. The tempo rises and the music is briefly tempestuous, then the lights go up to reveal a tableau of the court within the golden frame, courtly figures striking a pose beneath marble arches and heraldic banners—perfect image of a 19th century academic imitation of an Old Master painting. Each act begins and ends this way. 

This is Romantic opera at its peak. The story is sublime, but also a melodrama from a scandal sheet. King Riccardo is a noble, reckless soul, with a secret, forbidden love whom he looks forward to seeing at the masked ball. Heroic tenor Mark Duffin is a splendid Riccardo, gaining strength as he goes, especially in the second act’s graveyard (and gallows-side) duet with wonderful soprano Hope Briggs as Amelia, his inamorata. Baritone Scott Bearden as faithful nobleman Renato tries to warn the careless, lovelorn Riccardo of a plot on his life, but Riccardo shrugs it off. The unknowing Renato is Amelia’s husband. Here are all the threads of the plot that will twist into tragedy.  

In subsequent scenes, among the fantastic ruins (like the chiaroscuro of a baroque oil painting), gypsy sorceress Ulrica (dramatically powerful mezzo Patrice Houston) reads the palm of the disguised Riccardo and tells him a friend will kill him. Then Riccardo confronts Amelia by the gallows as she gathers a dread herb to help her forget their love. And in a drawing room, Renato condemns Amelia before an enormous portrait of the king (the room in strange foreshortened perspective). Finally, at the masked ball, the plot teases out every bit of emotion and musical color and rhythm possible. 

The cast is uniformly fine, with exceptional support from soprano Aimee Puentes as impish pageboy Oscar (who at one point leaps into the arms of startled Renato), and basses Matthew Trevino and Carlos Aguilar as the somberly dressed conspirators. The chorus, whether as the court or the superstitious subjects attending the gypsy’s prophecies, is very good, presided over by chorus master John Kendall Bailey. 

Set designer Peter Crompton has excelled in his extraordinary conception, abetted by excellent work by lighting designer Matthew Antaky, costumer Vincent, and stage director David Cox, who moved the cast within and outside the proscenium of Crompton’s great gilt frame with a skillful grace that accented the lyric and dramatic features of the libretto. Frederic O. Boulay was director of production. 

The collaboration among all involved—remarkable in that all principals besides Houston, as well as designers Antaky and Vincent, are debuting with Festival—makes Un Ballo in Maschera an event equal to any recently in the several performing arts. 

“Why go to San Francisco?” reads the Lesher Center’s advertisement, “Festival Opera’s here!”—good reason for the rest of us to make it to Walnut Creek. 

Festival Opera presents Un Ballo in Maschera at 8 p.m. July12 and 15 and at 2 p.m. July 17 at the Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Arts, Walnut Creek. $35-$100. Sung in Italian with English supertitles. For more information, see www.festivalopera.com or order tickets at (925) 943-SHOW.›

TUESDAY, JULY 12 

CHILDREN 

Colibri An interactive journey through Latin America with traditional instruments and song, at 7 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

FILM 

Eyeing Nature “The Great Art of Knowing” and “Skagafjordur”at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Sam Davis on “Designing for the Homeless: Architecture that Works” at 6 p.m. at Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. Free, but please RSVP 643-8465. 

Bakari Kitwana explains “Why White Kids Love Hip-Hop: Wankstas, Wiffers, Wannabes and the New Reality of Race in America” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

The Whole Note Poetry Series with Nicole Henares and Anise at 7 p.m. at The Beanery, 2925 College Ave. 549-9093. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Swamp Coolers at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054.  

The Karan Casey Band, Irish progressive traditionalists, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50- $18.50. 548-1761.  

Singers’ Open Mic at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ.  

Mark Goldenberg at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

YMP and the Jazz Masters Benefit at 8 and 10 p.m. Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $18-$22. 238-9200.  

Barbara Linn at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

WEDNESDAY, JULY 13 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Vanishing Species and More” recent mixed-media paintings by Rita Sklar. Reception for the artist at 4 p.m. at the Joseph P. Bort MetroCenter, 101 Eighth St., Oakland. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays. 464-7773. 

ACCI Gallery, “2005 New Member Show” Reception for the artists at 6 p.m. at 1652 Shattuck Ave. 843-2527. www.accigallery.com 

“Transformations” A new Life for Recycled and Found Objects by Toby Tover-Krein. Reception at 4 p.m. at LunchStop Café, Bort Metro Center, 101 8th St. Oakland. Sponsored by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. 

FILM 

For Your Eyes Only “ Saboteur” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Arab Women Film Festival “Hollywood Harems” and “Benaat Chicago” at 7:30 p.m. at La Pena Cultural Center. Donation $5. 849-2568. www.lapena.org  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Faith Adiele talks about her journey to become Thailand’s first black Buddhist nun in “Meeting Faith” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik and Three Blind Mice, at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5-$7. 841-2082 www.starryplough.com 

Café Poetry hosted by Kira Allen at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña. Donation $2. 849-2568.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Ned Boynton/Jules Broussard Trio at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Bernard Anderson & The Old School Band at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. West Coast Swing dance lesson with Nick & Shanna at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

La Verdad, salsa, at 8 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

Sat Tan Trio, heavy dub, jazz, at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Fiamma Fumana, Italian folk fusion, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50- $18.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Calvin Keys Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

The Fourtet Jazz Group at 9 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Pete Escovedo & His Orchestra at 8 and 10 p.m. Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $20-$24. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

THURSDAY, JULY 14 

EXHIBITIONS 

California Watercolor Association “Summer Small Paintings Show. Artists reception at 6 p.m. at Giorgi Gallery, 2911 Claremont Ave. 848-1228. www.giorgigallery.com 

“Fire & Light” The Crucible’s Fire Arts Festival at 6:30 p.m. at 1260 7th St., Oakland. Tickets are $75. 444-0919. www.thecrucible.org 

FILM 

Pre-Code Hollywood “Female” at 7:30 p.m. and “Heat Lightening” at 8:50 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Bay Area Writing Project’s Young Writers will read at 7 p.m. at Moe’s Bookstore, 2476 Telegraph Ave.  

“On the Wall: The Art of Collecting Photography” A panel discussion sponsored by Pacific Center for the Photographic Arts at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Free, donations accepted.  

Helen Oyeyemi introduces her novel of a child torn between the worlds of her British father and Nigerian mother in “The Icarus Girl” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com  

“The Photographc Legacy of Claude Cahun” with Sandra Phillips, SFMOMA, at 6:30 p.m. at Judah L. Magnes Museum, 2911 Russell St. Cost is $4-$6. 549-6950. 

Word Beat Reading Series with Cherise Wyneken & Tim Nuveen at 7 p.m. at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave. 526-5985. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Summer Noon Concert with The Hipnotics at the Downtown Berkeley BART Plaza. Sponsored by the Downtown Berkeley Association. 

From Bastille to Bush, labor musicians, including Anne Feeney, at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10-$20. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Jug Free America at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $9. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Jason Davis & Jazz Pirates at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Natasha Miller at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

The Welcome Matt, Demons Defeated at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082 www.starryplough.com 

Debbie Poryes/Glenn Richman Duo at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

FRIDAY, JULY 15 

THEATER 

Actors Ensemble of Berkeley, “A Murder is Announced” by Agatha Christie at 8 p.m. at Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck at Berryman. Runs Fri. and Sat. through Aug. 13. Tickets are $10. 649-5999. www.aeofberkeley.org 

Aurora Theatre “The Thousandth Night” Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. 2 and 7 p.m., through July 24, at 2081 Addison St. Tickets are $36. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

“The Domestic Crusaders” the story of a Muslim family in the aftermath of 9/11, at 8 p.m., Sat. at 2 and 8 p.m. at the Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St. Tickets are $20-$35. www.domesticcrusaders.com 

Central Works, “The Grand Inquisitor” by Dostoevsky. Thurs - Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at The Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave., through July 31. Tickets are $9-$25 sliding scale. 558-1381. www.centralworks.org 

Contra Costa Civic Theatre “Anything Goes” Cole Porter’s musical, Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. through Aug. 13 at 951 Pomona Ave., El Cerrito. 524-9132. www.ccct.org 

“Livin’ Fat” a comedy about an African American family struggling over a financial blessing, Fri. at 8 p.m., Sat. at 2 and 8 p.m., Sun. at 4 p.m., through July 30, at Sweets Ballroom, 1933 Broadway, Oakland. Tickets are $12.50-$35. 233-9222. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Lightning From Above” The Crucible’s Fire Arts Festival at 8 p.m. at 1260 7th St., Oakland. Tickets are $25. 444-0919. www.thecrucible.org 

ACCI Gallery, “2005 New Member Show” opens at 1652 Shattuck Ave. 843-2527. www.accigallery.com 

Eddie Two Moons, Apache Jeweler Reception at 7 p.m. at Gathering Tribes Gallery, 1573 Solano Ave. Exhibit open Sat. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 528-9038. www.gatheringtribes.com 

FILM 

For Your Eyes Only “Spies” at 7:30 p.m. at Pacific Film Archive. With Jon Mirsalis on piano. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Lisa Houston, mezzo-soprano, with Daniel Lockert, piano and Leland Morine, baritone in a benefit concert for Options Recovery Services, at 8 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker Church, 1640 Addison St. Suggested donation $30. 666-9900. www.optionsrecovery.org 

Santero, debut album release party at 9 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Stomp the Stumps Benefit for the Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters with Gary Gates Band, Funky Nixons and Day Late Fools’ Band at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10-$20. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Ellen Hoffman, Eric Swinderman at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Jill Knight with Deborah Levoy at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Vince Lateano/Satoru Oda Quartet at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

The Ravines at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Brenda Weiler, folk/rock singer-songwriter, at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. All ages. Cost is $5-$10. www.epicarts.org 

The Next Generation, Emerging Artists Concert Series at 8 p.m. at the Jazz- 

school. Cost is $10. 845-5373.  

Lae with Ranch Hound Brown at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5-$8. 548-1159.  

Glider at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Battletorn, Gunsfire Mayhem, P.D.A. at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

Pete Escovedo & His Orchestra at 8 and 10 p.m. Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $20-$24. 238-9200.  

SATURDAY, JULY 16 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Magma From Within” The Crucible’s Fire Arts Festival at 8 p.m. at 1260 7th St., Oakland. Tickets are $25. 444-0919. www.thecrucible.org 

THEATER 

Woman’s Will, “Richard III” Sat. and Sun. at 1 p.m. in John Hinkle Park. Free. 420-0813. www.woman’s will.org 

FILM 

Pre-Code Hollywood “Bombshell” at 7 p.m. and “Red Headed Woman” at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

Oakland Outdoor Cinema “West Side Story” with an introduction by Rita Moreno, at 8 p.m. on Washington St. between 9th and 10th Sts. Limited seating, bring chairs and blankets. 238-4734. www.filmoakland.com 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Flash with Grace Grafton & James Downs at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Opera “Meistersinger” at 7:30 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Theater. Tickets are $10-$40. 925-798-1300. www.berkeleyopera.org 

Rebbesoul, world fusion with Hebrew roots, at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $11-$13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Hideo Date, Robin Gregory at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ.  

Kurt Ribak Trio at 2 p.m. at Down Home Music, 10341 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. 525-2129. 

Odori Simcha with Neal Cronin at 7 p.m. at Temescal Cafe, 4920 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Donation $5. 

Mariospeedwagon & Lemon Juju at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Hip Bones, jazz grooves, at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

John Keawe at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Loose Wig Quartet at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $10. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com  

Flamenco, music and dance, at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12-$20. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Frank Fotusky and Steve Mann at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Cost is $5-$10. www.epicarts.org 

Phil Kellogg, psychadelic blues, at 7 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. Cost is $7. 558-0881. 

Campo Bravo, Judith and Holornes, The RIse & Fall of Amy Rude at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Randy Porter Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Thought Riot, Love Equals Death, Daggermouth at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, JULY 17 

CHILDREN 

Explore Geometric Shapes and Sculpture from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts., Oakland. Cost is $8 adults, $5 seniors and students with i.d. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

Berkeley Art Center National Juried Exhibition and Awards Reception at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

“Thirty Something” Anniversary celebration and exhibition honoring Berkeley’s Kala Art Institute and Archana Horsting and Yuzo Nakano at 5:30 p.m. at Greens Restaurant, Fort Mason, SF. Tickets are $150. 549-2977. www.kala.org 

“On University Land in the Berkeley Hills” nature photographs by Sharon Beals. Reception at 4 p.m. at The Faculty Club, UC Campus. Hosted by the Claremont Canyon Conservancy. 

THEATER 

Sun & Moon Ensemble “Krishan and Radha” with performers and musicians from India at 4 p.m. at Julia Morgan Theater. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for children. 925-798-1300. www.juliamorgan.org 

FILM 

Harold Lloyd “Safety Last” at 3 p.m. and Pre-Code Hollywood “I’m No Angel” at 5:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Free Speech Movement Poetry Festival, featuring Jack Hirschman, Paul Sawyer and others, from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship Hall, 1924 Cedar St. 528-5403. 

Poetry Flash with Dale Jensen & Judy Wells at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852.  

Sculptor Bruce Beasley, Artist’s Gallery Talk at 2 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts., Oakland. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Midsummer Mozart “Paris” Symphony at 7 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $28-$48. 415-627-9145.  

The Berkeley Saxophone Quartet at 4 p.m. at the San Francisco Community Music Center, 544 Capp St., S.F. Tickets available at the door at $10 for adults, $5 for children and seniors. 415-647-6015. berkeleysaxophonequartet.com 

Jack Gates Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ.  

Ace of Spades Acoustic Series with Paula Fraxzier, Patty Spiglanin and JJ Schultz at 1 p.m. at MamaBuzz Cafe, 2318 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Free. All ages. 289-2272. 

Americana Unplugged: Redwing Bluegrass Band at 5 p.m. at Jupiter. 655-5715. 

Danzaq, Peruvian dance, at 7 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $15. 849-2568.  

The Strings Quartet Project at 4:30 at the Jazzschool. Cost is $10. 845-5373. 

Roy Bookbinder at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

Flamenco Open Stage at 7:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Mental, Justice at 5 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

MONDAY, JULY 18 

THEATER 

Naked Masks “Amnesiac” at 8 p.m. at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Free. 883-9872. www.nakedmasks.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

“John Serl: Recent Acquisitions” opens at The Ames Gallery, 2661 Cedar St. and runs through Sept. 17. Gallery hours are 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Mon.-Fri. 845-4949. www.amesgallery.com 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Express with Jeanne Lupton, Janell Moon, Donna Lane & Trena Machado at 7 p.m., at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. berkeleypoetryexpress@yahoo.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Trovatore, traditional Italian music, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

John Ellis Quartet at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$14. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

?

You think of fossil-hunting as something that takes place in faraway barren places: the Flaming Cliffs of the Gobi Desert, the windy wastes of Patagonia, the Dakota badlands. But not downtown Berkeley. That was the source of Specimen 78858 in the UC Museum of Palaeontology’s collection, though, a fossil I finally got to meet at last year’s Cal Day. It’s a massive thighbone, the femur of an extinct ground sloth that inhabited these parts in the Pleistocene Era, tens of thousands of years ago, and it turned up when the Berkeley BART station was being excavated. 

The species, depending on which sloth scholar you ask, is either Glossotherium harlani or Paramylodon harlani. Charles Darwin dug a Glossotherium, along with other former South Americans, out of the Bahia Blanca fossil beds in Argentina when the Beagle anchored there in 1832. The name, meaning “tongue-animal” (and I’ll get to that later), was coined by the anatomist Richard Owen, who later broke bitterly with Darwin after The Origin of Species was published. Harlani honors another nineteenth-century naturalist, Richard Harlan, who described the species from a jawbone found at Big Bone Lick, Kentucky. (Yes, a real place—a friend visited it during a business trip to Cincinnati. It’s a salt lick where sloths, mammoths, and other prehistoric megafauna left their skeletons.) Harlan’s more notorious younger brother Josiah, a rogue Quaker turned adventurer in feudal Afghanistan, appears to have been the real-life inspiration for Kipling’s “The Man Who Would be King.” 

But back to Harlan’s ground sloth: These ungainly creatures evolved in South America when it was an island, with a fauna of sabertoothed marsupials, giant flightless predatory birds, and odd hoofed mammals. Ground sloths show up in the fossil record long before the modern tree sloths, the only survivors of a diverse lineage: three-toed sloths like the one Dr. Maturin brought aboard HMS Surprise and Captain Aubrey won over with cake soaked in grog, and two-toed sloths. Some palaeontologists believe the two-toed and three-toed sloths evolved from distantly related ground-sloth ancestors, acquiring their tree-hanging lifestyles and specialized anatomies through convergence. Another South American sloth, the sea sloth Thalassocnus, became adapted to an aquatic life.  

When the Isthmus of Panama joined the Americas three million years ago, the sloths moved north as North American species—big cats, elephants, the ancestral llamas—headed south. Harlan’s ground sloth was one of several species inhabiting Pleistocene Southern California; after the extinct western horse and ancient bison, it’s the third most common plant-eating mammal in the La Brea Tar Pits. At 11 feet in length and 3,500 pounds, it was only a midsized sloth; its relative Eremotherium was elephantine. Apart from the Bay Area, Harlan’s sloth ranged at least as far north as Carson City, Nev., where there’s a fossil sloth trackway with 19-inch-long impressions in the yard of the state prison. 

Sloth tracks look oddly humanoid, but the creatures actually walked on the outsides of their hind feet; the foot was rotated so the sole faced inward. The gait of a sloth was at best a waddle. There were other anatomical pecularities. Ground sloths had a second set of ribs, linking the standard costal ribs to the breastbone. Some of their tail vertebrae were fused to the pelvis, forming a heavy-duty brace to support the beasts when they sat upright. And some species, including Harlan’s, had pebble-like nodules embedded in the skin of the back, armoring the sloth against sabertooths, dire wolves, and other predators. 

The sloths also had wicked-looking sickle-shaped foreclaws, used by G. harlani primarily for digging roots, by other species for snagging leafy branches. They would also have been formidable in defense. A flange on the cheekbone anchored massive jaw muscles for serious chewing power. Owen thought the sloth he christened used its tongue giraffe-fashion to gather food, hence Glossotherium. The flat grinding teeth of Harlan’s sloth suggest it was primarily a grazer.  

Those foreclaws misled Thomas Jefferson, our only palaeontologist president, into misclassifying an eastern species, Megalonyx jeffersoni, as some kind of giant feline. After the error had been corrected, Jefferson cherished the hope that some of the creatures might still survive in the unexplored West; he asked Lewis and Clark to keep an eye out for them. 

No such luck, though; the sloths were long gone. If you subscribe to Paul Martin’s controversial Pleistocene Overkill hypothesis, the big, slow, and probably none-too-bright beasts would have been easy targets for Palaeoindian hunters. Alternatively, they may have succumbed to changes in climate after the retreat of the glaciers. In any case, the youngest G. harlani remains from Rancho La Brea are 13,890 years old; some persisted for another four thousand years in Florida. 

For those who are inclined to believe such things, there are persistent rumors of something big and slothlike in the Amazon jungle. It’s reputed to leave oddly shaped tracks and a foul smell. So far, as with Bigfoot and other cryptofauna, tangible evidence is lacking.  

TUESDAY, JULY 12 

Rally for Youth Vote Join Berkeley teenagers in support of a measure that would allow 17 year olds to vote in school board elections in Berkeley. At 1 p.m. in front of the Berkeley BART station. 883-9091. 

“Ideas that Sustain an Unjust Economy” A conversation with Terry O’Keefe at 6 p.m. at Café de la Paz, Shattuck at Cedar. Sponsored by the Sustainable Business Alliance. terry@sustainablebiz.org 

Road Cycling for Women Covering rules of the road, bike choice, clothing and accessories, at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. Free. 527-4140. 

Tuesday Tilden Walkers Join a few slowpoke seniors at 9:30 a.m. in the parking lot near the Little Farm for an hour or two walk. 524-9992. 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org  

Buddhist Meditation Class at 7 p.m. at The Dzalandhara Buddhist Center. Cost is $7-$10. For directions and details please call 559-8183. 

Kundalin Yoga six-week class, Tues. at 4:15 p.m. at Studio 12, 2525 Eighth St. Cost is $42. 841-4339. 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Don Worth will lead a current events discussion at 11 a.m. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, JULY 13 

Save the U.S. Supreme Court Rally at 5:30 p.m. at 14th and Broadway, Oakland to protect our rights and civil liberties. Sponsored by the National Organization for Women, Oakland/East Bay. www.oebnow.org 

Insects for Kids A free class for children ages 5-10, at 9 a.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. www.barringtoncollective.org 

The Wonderful World of Worms We’ll learn how worms “see,” where they live, what they eat. For ages 8 to 12 at 10 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. We’ll be digging in the dirt so dress to get dirty. Cost is $5-$7. Registration required. 525-2233. 

Climbing Mt. Shasta Tips for first-time climbers with Eric White, climbing ranger with the U.S. Forest Service at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. Free. 527-4140. 

Walking Tour of Old Oakland uptown to the Lake to discover Art Deco landmarks. Meet at 10 a.m. in front of the Paramount Theater at 2025 Broadway. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. 

Arab Women Film Festival “Hollywood Harems” and “Benaat Chicago” at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Donation $5. 849-2568.  

“Raymundo: The Revolutionary Film-Makers’ Struggle” A documentary on the life and work of Raymundo Gleyzer, at 7 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donation $5. 

Track Maintenance, a benefit party for Watchword Press with readings and music at 7:30 p.m. at Café Van Kleef, 1624 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Cost is $5.  

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Action St. 841-2174.  

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets every Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze Market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Everyone is welcome, wear comfortable shoes. 548-9840. 

“Searching Within” A free 9-week course, Wed. at 7 p.m. at 2510 Channing Way. Call to reserve a place. 652-1583. bayarea@gnosticweb.com 

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at the Berkeley BART Station. Sing for Peace at 6:30 p.m. Peace Walk at 7 p.m.  

Stitch ‘n Bitch Bring your knitting, crocheting and other handcrafts from 6 to 9 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198. 

THURSDAY, JULY 14 

Where the Wild Things Live A nature program for 8-12 year olds to discover who lives where and why. At 11 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Fee is $5-$7. Registration required. 525-2233.  

“Rescuing Asian Black Bears in China” A lecture with Jill Robinson at 7 p.m. at the Oakland Zoo, 9777 Golf Links Rd, Oakland. Cost is $8-$10. 632-9525. www.oaklandzoo.org 

Parenting Class: Yoga with Baby for new and expecting parents at 10 a.m. at Bananas, 5232 Claremont Ave. Registration required. 658-7353.  

“The Lost Boys of Sudan” A documentary following two Sudanese refugees on their journey from Africa to America, at 7 p.m. at the James Irvine Foundation Conference Center, 353 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Oakland. Reception at 6:30 p.m. Free. Sponsored by the Piedmont Diversity Film Committee. 835-9227. www.diversityworks.org 

Nonprofits and Grantwriting Workshop from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave. freeskoolyes@yahoo.com 

Steps to Buying Your Own Home at 7 p.m. at Shaw Properties, 400 45th St., Oakland. Includes the process of pre-approval for financing, including income requirements and credit issues, and finding a realtor. www.barringtoncollective.org 

World of Plants Tours Thurs.-Sun. at 1:30 p.m. at the UC Botan 

ical Garden, 200 Centennial Dr. Cost is $1-$5. 643-2755. http:// 

botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

“Eating for Health: A Family Plan” with Ed Bauman, Ph.D., Director of Bauman College at 5:30 p.m. at Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy, 1744 Solano Ave. 527-8929. 

FRIDAY, JULY 15 

“Eyewitness in Iraq” with Sheila Provencher, an American who has spent the last year and a hlaf in Iraq doing humanitarian work, at 1:30 p.m., Fireside Room, Starr King School for the Ministry, GTU. 928-4901. 

Celebration in Opera and Song for Options Recovery Services with Lisa Houston, mezzo-soprano, Daniel Lockert, piano and Leland Morine, baritone at 8 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker Church, 1640 Addison St. Suggested donation $30. 666-9900. www.optionsrecovery.org 

Contientious Projector Film Series will show “Beyond Treason” at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Unitraian Universalist Fellowship Hall, 1924 Cedar St. at Bonita. 528-5403. 

Harry Potter Midnight Costume Party to celebrate the release of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” at 12:01 a.m. (Sat.) at Mrs. Dalloway’s Literary and Garden Arts, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

Harry Potter Book Release Party at 8 p.m. at Barnes & Noble, Bay Street, Emeryville. Crafts, trivia contest. Come dressed as your favorite character. Book will not be released until 12:01 a.m on the 16th. 655-4002. 

Thinking of Becoming a Doula? at 2 p.m. at Change Makers, 6536 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Free. 728-8513. 

Salsa Dancing at “The Beat” Dance Studio at 8:30 p.m. Lessons with Joseph Gallardo. 2560 9th St. at Parker. 472-2393 www.wildsalsanights.com 

Berkeley Chess Club at 8 p.m. at the East Bay Chess Club, 1940 Virginia St. Players at all levels are welcome. 845-1041. 

Women in Black Vigil noon to 1 p.m. at UC Berkeley, Bancroft at Telegraph. 548-6310. 

SATURDAY, JULY 16 

Harvesting for the Hungry Do you have fruit trees? Village Harvest and Spiral Gardens are teaming together to harvest backyard fruit trees for the hungry. If you live in the Berkeley area, have a large amount of fruit and are unable to harvest it yourself, call 888-FRUIT-411, joni@villageharvest.org www.villageharvest.org 

Fix Our Ferals Fundraiser at 4 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church, One Lawson Road, Kensington. Silent auction, food and wine. Cost is $35. www.fixourferals.org 

Edible and Medicinal Plant Walk with Terri Compost at 1 p.m. in People’s Park. Meet at the west end. 658-9178. 

Children’s Zoo Grand Opening at the Oakland Zoo, with interactive experiences, and exhibits of lemurs, giant fruit bats, otters, reptiles and more. 632-9525. www.oaklandzoo.org 

SASSAFRAS Shotgun’s Annual Splendalicious Silent Auction Family Renion and Soiree with performances and hors d’oeuvres at 7 p.m. at The Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. Cost is sliding scale $20-$100. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

Berkeley Cybersalon “At the Electronic Frontier” with Esther Dyson and Brad Templeton at 6 p.m. at The Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St.  

Remodeling Workshop covering design options, working with professionals, permits and zoning, budgeting and scheduling and more. From 9 a.m. to noon at Truitt and White Conference Center, 1817 Second St. Free with advance registration. 558-8030. www.macbuild.com 

Planting for Shade Learn how to plant a woodland garden or a shady tropical garden, at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. 

Biodiesel Car Show sponsored by Berkeley Biodiesel from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Crissy Field, Mason St. in the Presidio, SF. 594-4000, ext. 777. www.berkeleybiodiesel.org 

Connecting Through Dance for the Visually Impaired A celebration and fundraiser with silent auction, dance demonstrations, and open floor for dancing and free dessert bar. From 7 to 11 p.m. at Lake Merritt Dance Center, 200 Grand Ave. at Harrison, Oakland. Tickets are $20-$25. 501-4713. www.connectingthroughdance.org 

Oakland Outdoor Cinema “West Side Story” with an introduction by Rita Moreno, at 8 p.m. on Washington St. between 9th and 10th Sts. Limited seating, bring chairs and blankets. 238-4734. www.filmoakland.com 

Free Sailboat Rides between 1 and 4 p.m. at the Cal Sailing Club in the Berkeley Marina. Bring warm waterproof clothes. www.cal-sailing.org 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden Sat. and Sun. at 2 pm. Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Tilden Park. Call to confirm. 841-8732. www.nativeplants.org 

Historical and Botanical Tour of Chapel of the Chimes, a Julia Morgan landmark, at 10 a.m. at 4499 Piedmont Ave. at Pleasant Valley. Reservations required 228-3207.  

Walking Tour of Oakland City Center Meet at 10 a.m. in front Oakland City Hall at Frank Ogawa Plaza. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. 

Oakland Heritage Alliance Walking Tour of the F. M. “Borax” Smith Estate. Cost is $5-$10. For details call 763-9218. www.oaklandheritage.org 

Loose Leash Walking for Your Dog at noon at RabbitEars, 303 Arlington Ave., Kensington. Cost is $35. Registration required. 525-6155. 

Car Wash Benefit for Options Recovery Services of Berkeley, held every Sat. from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lutheran Church, 1744 University Ave. 666-9552. 

SUNDAY, JULY 17 

Bay to Barkers Berkeley’s biggest dog walk and festival from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Cesar Chavez Park in the Berkeley Marina. Registration is $25-$30. Proceeds benefit the Berkeley East-Bay Humane Society. www.berkeleyhumane.org 

Rock N Roll at Wildcat Creek for ages six and up to explore a river-bed, gather stones, and learn how the land was shaped. Meet at 10:30 a.m. at the Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Summer Pond Plunge With dip-nets and magnifiers we’ll discover the denizens of the deep. For ages four and up. Meet at 2 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Bike Tour of Oakland A leisurely-paced tour covering the history of Oakland. Meet at 10 a.m. at the 10th St. entrance of the Oakland Museum of California. Registration required, 238-3514. 

Oakland Street Peace Festival from noon to 5 p.m. at Lakeside Park at Lake Merritt. Music, performances and speakers. For details see www.sourceoflight.com/streetpeace.html 

Oakland Heritage Alliance Walking Tour of Montclair Village. Cost is $5-$10. For details call 763-9218. www.oaklandheritage.org 

Free Speech Movement Poetry Festival, featuring Jack Hirschman, Paul Sawyer and others, from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Berkeley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Hall, 1924 Cedar St. at Bonita. 528-5403. 

Community Arts Awareness Workshops and Networking Bazaar, from 3 to 9 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Afternoon workshops are free, donations of $20 and up for the evening program. Sponsored by the Truss Project. 689-6771. www.trussproject.org 

Hands-On Bicycle Clinic from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. Free. 527-4140. 

Free Sailboat Rides between 1 and 4 p.m. at the Cal Sailing Club in the Berkeley Marina. Bring warm waterproof clothes. www.cal-sailing.org 

Children’s Film Series “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” at 11 a.m. at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Cost is $5. www.juliamorgan.org 

Socal Action Forum “Stand Against Domestic Violence” a video, at 9:30 a.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302, ext. 306. 

Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace Peace walk around the lake every Sun. Meet at 3 p.m. at the colonnade at the NE end of the lake. 763-8712. lmno4p.org 

“Science and Religion: Issues For the 21st Century” with Dr. Robert Russell at 11:30 a.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. 

MONDAY, JULY 18 

“Uncluttering Your Life” with Jill Lebeau and Stephanie Barbic at 7 p.m. at the El Cerrito Library, 6510 Stockton Ave. 526-7512. www.ccclib.org  

Spanish Book Club, led by Ricardo Antonio Navarette meets at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books, Telegraph Ave. For title of book to be discussed see www.codysbooks.com 

Sisters of Song A week-long workshop for emerging poets, led by Yosefa Raz. Open to girls between the ages of 13-19. Mon. - Fri. from 9 to 11:30 a.m. at the Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center. 848-0237, ext. 130. karenc@brjcc.org 

Stress Less with Hypnosis A free seminar at 6:30 p.m. in Oakland. Registration required. 465-2524. 

TUESDAY, JULY 19 

Peach Tasting plus other stone fruits, from 2 to 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market, Derby St. at MLK,Jr. Way. Cooking demonstration at 11:30 a.m. 548-3333. www.ecologycenter.org 

“Creating a Non-Violent Peaceforce” with Mel Duncan at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Friends Church, 1600 Sacramento St. Sonation $5 and up. 533-4732. 

Healthy Eating Habits and Hypnosis A free seminar at 6:30 p.m. in Oakland. Registration required. 465-2524. 

Berkeley Salon Discussion Group meets to discuss “Craig’s List: Has it Changed Your LIfe?” from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. Please bring snacks and soft drinks to share. No peanuts please. 601-6690.  

Magic Show with Norman Ng at 7 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

Tuesday Tilden Walkers Join a few slowpoke seniors at 9:30 a.m. in the parking lot near the Little Farm for an hour or two walk. 524-9992. 

Parenting Class: Living with Ones and Twos, with Meg Zeiback, nurse practitioner at 7 p.m. at Bananas, 5232 Claremont Ave. Registration required. 658-7353.  

Fast-Packing An evening with GoLite founder Demetri Coupounas at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. Free. 527-4140. 

“A Fat Nation in a Thin World” video and discussion at 1 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5190. 

Brainstormer Weekly Pub Quiz every Tuesday from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Pyramid Alehouse Brewery, 901 Gilman St. 528-9880. 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

Buddhist Meditation Class at 7 p.m. at The Dzalandhara Buddhist Center. Cost is $7-$10. For directions and details please call 559-8183. 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. At 11 a.m. Laurabeth Nelson will talk about the Asian Art Museum’s exhibit “Tibet Rooftop of the World.” 845-6830. 

ONGOING 

Summer Camps for Children offered by the City of Berkeley, including swimming, sports and twilight basketball, from June 20 to August 12, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. 981-5150, 981-5153. 

Free Lunches for Berkeley Children beginning June 20, Mon.-Fri., 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Frances Albrier Center, James Kenney Center, MLK, Jr. Youth Services Center, Strawberry Creek, Washington School and Rosa Parks School. 981-5146. 

Albany Summer Youth Programs including basketball, classes, bike trips and family activities. For information see www.albanyca.org/dept/rec.html 

Bay Area Shakespeare Camp for ages 7 to 13, two week sessions through Aug., at John Hinkle Park. Cost is $395, with scholarships available. 415-422-2222. www.sfshakes.org 

CITY MEETINGS 

City Council meets Tues., July 12, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Homeless Commission meets Wed., July 13, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Jane Micallef, 981-5426. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/homeless 

Planning Commission meets Wed., July 13, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Janet Homrighausen, 981-7484. www.ci.berkeley. ca.us/commissions/planning 

Police Review Commission meets Wed., July 13 at the South Berkeley Senior Center. 981-4950. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/policereview 

Library Board of Trustees meets Wed. July 13, at 7 p.m. at South Berkeley Senior Center, Jackie Y. Griffin, 981-6195. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/library 

Commission on Early Childhood Education meets Thurs., July 14, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Angel- 

lique De Cloud, 981-5428. www.ci.berkeley. ca.us/commissions/earlychildhoodeducation  

Community Health Commission meets Thurs., July 14, at 6:45 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Kristin Tehrani, 981-5356. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/health 

West Berkeley Project Area Commission meets Thurs., July 14, at 7 p.m., at the West Berke 

ley Senior Center. Iris Starr, 981-7520. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/westberkeley  

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., July 14, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. Mark Rhoades, 981-7410. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/commissions/zoning  ?

Judy Miller is one disgusting poster child for freedom of the press. We can all agree on that, can’t we? She was the pipeline for the administration’s totally bogus claims that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. But on the other hand, nobody thinks that it’s right to jail a reporter who merely received—didn’t even print—a leak from a presumably highly placed source which amounted to the disclosure of the identity of a CIA employee. Can we agree on that?  

The leak itself might or might not have been a crime. (There is some suggestion that at the time of the leak Valerie Plame wasn’t working as the kind of covert operative protected by the anti-disclosure law.) But even so, no reason to send Miller to jail.  

Not every one agrees, it turns out. Andrew O’Hehir (Local Boy Made Good—Berkeley High Jacket Editor, 1979-80) has been presiding over a hot debate on the topic at Salon.com. He’s shocked by how many readers have been ready to throw Miller to the wolves because of her past sins. Some of our own correspondents are in that camp. Here’s why Andrew thinks the leftist public wants to see Miller and most other journalists hanged, First Amendment be damned: 

“Media insiders have become so obsessed by their own internal debates and so mesmerized by their own pseudo-professional codes of conduct that they’ve failed to notice how badly they’ve lost the public trust. The Times’ near-sanctification of Miller upon her imprisonment is a perfect case in point.” 

He’s got the right diagnosis, and now the question is, what’s the cure? 

I’ve spent my life blithely jumping back and forth over the line between insider and outsider, so I can see both internal and external perspectives. I love that “pseudo-professional”—many times “journalism ethics” are right up there with “real estate ethics” in the oxymoronic competition. The much-vaunted concept of objectivity in journalism was invented in the 1920s as a way of placating American advertisers, who were timid about supporting the lusty journals of opinion which before then dominated the American press, and which still comprise the European press. But Americans grew accustomed to wanting their media, especially their newspapers, to be perceived to be as truthful as the Baltimore Catechism, which was the gold standard of information in the Catholic schools of my childhood.  

Catechisms aren’t what they once were, and neither are newspapers. Public trust might still be a good goal, but how to achieve it? 

One way, which we’re experimenting with here, is to move closer to the European model of many competing opinionated voices, not just in the opinion ghetto but mixed into the news pages, signed of course. That’s why we have our Public Eye columns, written by self-confessed participants in the news-making process. But our public still wants to read a certain amount of “professional” news written by staff reporters. As one of the people around here with red pencils, I try to enforce a few rules to make the hard-news pages as neutral as possible. 

First and foremost, no ethereal attributions. That is to say, no “officials say” or “studies show.” We don’t always catch all of those, but we try.  

Similarly, no unsigned stories, even briefs, which differs from the practice at many papers. 

Third, no un-named sources unless it’s a very crucial story which we have absolutely no other way of reporting, and then the reporter in question must have an explicit clear agreement with the source about how far to go to protect his or her identity. There are very few stories worth going to jail for—we haven’t found one in two years.  

Number four, it’s not “both sides,” it’s “many voices.” Of course there should never be a story that has only one source, but even two sources will often neglect to provide key aspects of an important story. And reporters who get information only from one un-named source have a particularly high probability of being spun as Miller was, twice. 

Finally, no conclusory reporting of one point of view in a controversy as if it were fact: “Because the downtown plan prohibits buildings over five stories…” That’s a hard one to police, because after a reporter hears claims by various parties enough times some of them begin to sound true. And of course, they might be true, but it’s not the job of a news reporter to make the call in the context of a news story.  

Will simple rules like these restore the public trust? Or at least protect the press from the embarrassments of the last few years of the Jayson Blair and Judith Miller variety? Maybe. Another good word in O’Hehir’s comment is “sanctification.” The pedestals on which certain segments of the American press have placed themselves since Deep Throat provide a long way to fall when a mistake is made.  

Oh, and this just in, as I’m finishing up this piece. Our advertising salesman tells me that the City of Berkeley is transferring its announcement advertising from the Berkeley Daily Planet to the trash tabloid East Bay Daily News, just launched here by the national Knight-Ridder corporation (also the owner of the San Jose Mercury, the Contra Costa Times and the Berkeley Voice.) The person he’s been talking to at City Hall told him that she thinks this switch is because some people there don’t like the Planet’s editorial content. (If anyone tries to go after her for revealing this, I’m personally willing to go to jail to protect her job, if her union can’t.)  

Lest we forget, the best way to regain public trust, but also to lose some advertisers, is to tell the truth. 

—

First, the breaking news: The Berkeley Daily Planet has captured a flock of prizes in the statewide Better Newspapers Contest sponsored by the California Newspaper Publishers Association. At the awards luncheon on Saturday we learned that we’d won two first prizes, for editorial pages overall and for an editorial cartoon by Justin DeFreitas, second prize for a spot news photo by Jakob Schiller, and honorable mentions (top 10 percent of entries in Northern California, statewide finalists) for local spot news (Matthew Artz), writing (Richard Brenneman) and for another DeFreitas cartoon. Please excuse us if we’re mighty proud of this record, especially since we’ve only been around for two years. 

Now, in classic Berkeley style, let’s all give ourselves a rousing round of applause! I say “ourselves” here because The Daily Planet couldn’t have won the prize for the best editorial pages without our many vigorous and prolific reader-contributors. Not only that, our brilliant editorial cartoonist Justin DeFreitas also contributes to these pages (as well as helping me edit them). Well done, gang. Even if We (that’s the regular editorial “we” now) sometimes think some of You (opinion writers) are dreadfully wrong-headed in your opinions, we appreciate your sending them along to us. 

This provides yet another opportunity to reflect on why we’re all gathered here together, a favorite theme on this page. I’m currently reading a new book, A Matter of Opinion, by Victor Navasky, a man described affectionately by Calvin Trillin as “wily and parsimonious.” He was for a number of years the editor of The Nation, and then around about 1994 he shifted gears and became its publisher instead. The chapter that most interests me is the one entitled “The Editor As Publisher”—I’m looking for tips on how he pulls it off, and in particular how he managed to bring the magazine into the black in short order after he took over the business side of the endeavor. That’s the wily and parsimonious part. But it’s at the end of a long book, and so far I’ve only gotten through the earlier chapters, where he explains why he’s doing it. 

He is a fan of Jurgen Habermas, a German philosopher whose theory Navasky sums up as “the idea that to flourish, democracy requires a continuous conversation, open argumentation and debate.” That’s the idea on these pages too. In a seminar at the New School which is transcribed on the Internet, Navasky elaborated on it: 

“The point is that in the present circumstance, with all the post-Cold War unresolved issues, with all of the issues that divide the tiny staff of editors at a magazine like The Nation, or like The National Review, that divide the country, and the world, and with the conceptual difficulty that characterizes this period as we attempt to get a handle on these issues -- that is a time that is ready-made for these journals that really do specialize in opening up the public arena, to public argument and discourse. So, that is the business we're really in….” 

Now, quite a number of fine journals have specialized in opening up the national public arena. But it’s much harder to find one which works on the local level to do the same thing, even though local issues tend to repeat themselves all over the country. Many newspapers have converted to the sound-byte school of letters to the editor, and their op-ed pages are dominated by syndicated or staff columnists. Instead of opening up the public arena, they’re closing it. We’ve been trying to reverse the trend, and based on the opinion of the contest judges (who came from all over the country) we might be doing something right. 

A major difference between what we’re doing and pure journals of opinion is that they can bounce off the widely disseminated national “hard news.” We’ll leave aside for a moment the fascinating topic of whether there’s any such thing as “objective” news coverage, and just point out that the public can’t engage in argument and discourse about current events if they don’t even know what’s going on. So we try (in 28 pages max) to do it all: to give readers enough solid factual information about what’s happening locally that they can form opinions and turn them into letters and commentaries for the public arena. Our news coverage is central to our mission. 

And we’ve learned something: Sometimes the readers are ahead of the reporters in knowing what’s going on. There was a fascinating little story in one of the dailies which pointed out that the major first reporting on the London bombing was sent in as cell phone text messages by on-the-site observers, with the first pictures coming from cell phone cameras. And many have commented on how the online non-professional bloggers were way ahead of the major media in exposing the now-famous Downing Street memo revelations. On the local level, we’ve never needed to do a story on what appears to be a major fiasco in A.C. Transit’s bus-buying because our readers are all over it.  

Although most of our correspondents send in their contributions as e-mail, it appears that a major advantage a printed newspaper has over on-line chats is that contributors are more careful about how they express themselves. They use conventional spelling and grammar for the most part, which makes their letters much easier to read (we do occasional cleanup). They tend to think about what they write, instead of just “flaming” as writers are tempted to do online. And many more readers can pick up the paper for casual reading on the bus or in cafes—we’re not limited to the techno-savvy. We print and distribute close to 30,000 copies of each paper, most of which are picked up, and using standard industry pass-around figures that means that about 50,000 pairs of eyes fall on some part of every issue.  

Which brings us, in a tortuous way, to the vexing question of distribution of free pick-up papers. We’re at the mercy of “the interests” even though we don’t charge for our copies. In the past few weeks both UC and the City of Berkeley have tried to curtail our free circulation. Could it have something to do with the way their recent deal has been hammered in our opinion pages? 

The business manager of the Daily Cal said this in an e-mail: “The Daily Cal has a licensing agreement with the regents which provides exclusive newspaper distribution rights on campus to the Daily Californian.” Do the regents really have the right to create a press monopoly? We can’t afford to litigate it, so we don’t know.  

And an eagle-eyed reader tipped us off that City of Berkeley employees confiscated three of our boxes on College Avenue which had been there for years. The person in City Hall who is responsible for policing boxes had previously promised to let us know if there were problems before seizing the boxes, but he didn’t do it. He now says he’s sorry, but the boxes aren’t back 

The Berkeley Bowl (a frequent topic among our contributors) and Cody’s Books on Telegraph have recently banned our wire racks with flimsy excuses. When we went into Cody’s on Friday looking for Navasky’s book, an employee told us that it was because metal racks set off the security devices at the door. There still were two wire racks for out-of-town papers next to the security device, however, though ours was gone. And no, he said, there was no other place in the store for copies of the Planet. It’s ironic that a business which makes much of the virtue of supporting local booksellers has no room at the inn for the local press. (We found the book at Moe’s, a loyal Planet advertiser, unlike Cody’s, and they have a nice wooden rack for all free papers right by their front door.) 

P.S. Jakob Schiller, our prize-winning news photographer and reporter who started with us as an intern, is particularly good on labor stories, with great pictures of picket lines, including some at the Berkeley Bowl. 

B

FRIDAY, JULY 15 

“Eyewitness in Iraq” with Sheila Provencher, an American who has spent the last year and a half in Iraq doing humanitarian work, at 1:30 p.m., Fireside Room, Starr King School for the Ministry, GTU. 928-4901. 

Celebration in Opera and Song for Options Recovery Services with Lisa Houston, mezzo-soprano, Daniel Lockert, piano and Leland Morine, baritone at 8 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker Church, 1640 Addison St. Suggested donation $30. 666-9900. www.optionsrecovery.org 

Contientious Projector Film Series will show “Beyond Treason” at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Unitraian Universalist Fellowship Hall, 1924 Cedar St. at Bonita. 528-5403. 

Harry Potter Midnight Costume Party to celebrate the release of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” at 12:01 a.m. (Sat.) at Mrs. Dalloway’s Literary and Garden Arts, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

Harry Potter Book Release Party at 8 p.m. at Barnes & Noble, Bay Street, Emeryville. Crafts, trivia contest. Come dressed as your favorite character. Book will not be released until 12:01 a.m on the 16th. 655-4002. 

Thinking of Becoming a Doula? at 2 p.m. at Change Makers, 6536 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Free. 728-8513. 

Salsa Dancing at “The Beat” Dance Studio at 8:30 p.m. Lessons with Joseph Gallardo. 2560 9th St. at Parker. 472-2393 www.wildsalsanights.com 

Berkeley Chess Club at 8 p.m. at the East Bay Chess Club, 1940 Virginia St. Players at all levels are welcome. 845-1041. 

Women in Black Vigil noon to 1 p.m. at UC Berkeley, Bancroft at Telegraph. 548-6310. 

SATURDAY, JULY 16 

Harvesting for the Hungry Do you have fruit trees? Village Harvest and Spiral Gardens are teaming together to harvest backyard fruit trees for the hungry. If you live in the Berkeley area, have a large amount of fruit and are unable to harvest it yourself, call 888-FRUIT-411, joni@villageharvest.org www.villageharvest.org 

Fix Our Ferals Fundraiser at 4 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church, One Lawson Road, Kensington. Silent auction, food and wine. Cost is $35. www.fixourferals.org 

Edible and Medicinal Plant Walk with Terri Compost at 1 p.m. in People’s Park. Meet at the west end. 658-9178. 

Children’s Zoo Grand Opening at the Oakland Zoo, with interactive experiences, and exhibits of lemurs, giant fruit bats, otters, reptiles and more. 632-9525. www.oaklandzoo.org 

SASSAFRAS Shotgun’s Annual Splendalicious Silent Auction Family Reunion and Soiree with performances and hors d’oeuvres at 7 p.m. at The Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. Cost is sliding scale $20-$100. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

SpiritWalking at the Berkeley Warm Pool Ability to walk on land not necessary. Sat. from 10 to 11 a.m., to Aug. 11. Cost is $3.50 seniors/disabled, $5.50 others. Bring a towel and deck shoes. 526-0312. well-being@pacbell.net 

Remodeling Workshop covering design options, working with professionals, permits and zoning, budgeting and scheduling and more. From 9 a.m. to noon at Truitt and White Conference Center, 1817 Second St. Free with advance registration. 558-8030. www.macbuild.com 

Planting for Shade Learn how to plant a woodland garden or a shady tropical garden, at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. 

Biodiesel Car Show sponsored by Berkeley Biodiesel from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Crissy Field, Mason St. in the Presidio, SF. 594-4000, ext. 777. www.berkeleybiodiesel.org 

Connecting Through Dance for the Visually Impaired A celebration and fundraiser with silent auction, dance demonstrations, and open floor for dancing and free dessert bar. From 7 to 11 p.m. at Lake Merritt Dance Center, 200 Grand Ave. at Harrison, Oakland. Tickets are $20-$25. 501-4713. www.connectingthroughdance.org 

Oakland Outdoor Cinema “West Side Story” with an introduction by Rita Moreno, at 8 p.m. on Washington St. between 9th and 10th Sts. Limited seating, bring chairs and blankets. 238-4734. www.filmoakland.com 

Free Sailboat Rides between 1 and 4 p.m. at the Cal Sailing Club in the Berkeley Marina. Bring warm waterproof clothes. www.cal-sailing.org 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden Sat. and Sun. at 2 pm. Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Tilden Park. Call to confirm. 841-8732. www.nativeplants.org 

Historical and Botanical Tour of Chapel of the Chimes, a Julia Morgan landmark, at 10 a.m. at 4499 Piedmont Ave. at Pleasant Valley. Reservations required 228-3207.  

Walking Tour of Oakland City Center Meet at 10 a.m. in front Oakland City Hall at Frank Ogawa Plaza. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. 

Oakland Heritage Alliance Walking Tour of the F. M. “Borax” Smith Estate. Cost is $5-$10. For details call 763-9218. www.oaklandheritage.org 

Loose Leash Walking for Your Dog at noon at RabbitEars, 303 Arlington Ave., Kensington. Cost is $35. Registration required. 525-6155. 

Car Wash Benefit for Options Recovery Services of Berkeley, held every Sat. from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lutheran Church, 1744 University Ave. 666-9552. 

SUNDAY, JULY 17 

Bay to Barkers Berkeley’s biggest dog walk and festival from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Cesar Chavez Park in the Berkeley Marina. Registration is $25-$30. Proceeds benefit the Berkeley East-Bay Humane Society. www.berkeleyhumane.org 

Rock N Roll at Wildcat Creek for ages six and up to explore a river-bed, gather stones, and learn how the land was shaped. Meet at 10:30 a.m. at the Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Summer Pond Plunge With dip-nets and magnifiers we’ll discover the denizens of the deep. For ages four and up. Meet at 2 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Bike Tour of Oakland A leisurely-paced tour covering the history of Oakland. Meet at 10 a.m. at the 10th St. entrance of the Oakland Museum of California. Registration required, 238-3514. 

Oakland Street Peace Festival from noon to 5 p.m. at Lakeside Park at Lake Merritt. Music, performances and speakers. For details see www.sourceoflight.com/streetpeace.html 

Oakland Heritage Alliance Walking Tour of Montclair Village. Cost is $5-$10. For details call 763-9218. www.oaklandheritage.org 

Free Speech Movement Poetry Festival, featuring Jack Hirschman, Paul Sawyer and others, from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Berkeley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Hall, 1924 Cedar St. at Bonita. 528-5403. 

Community Arts Awareness Workshops and Networking Bazaar, from 3 to 9 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Afternoon workshops are free, donations of $20 and up for the evening program. Sponsored by the Truss Project. 689-6771. www.trussproject.org 

Hands-On Bicycle Clinic from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. Free. 527-4140. 

Free Sailboat Rides between 1 and 4 p.m. at the Cal Sailing Club in the Berkeley Marina. Bring warm waterproof clothes. www.cal-sailing.org 

Children’s Film Series “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” at 11 a.m. at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Cost is $5. www.juliamorgan.org 

Social Action Forum “Stand Against Domestic Violence” a video, at 9:30 a.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302, ext. 306. 

Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace Peace walk around the lake every Sun. Meet at 3 p.m. at the colonnade at the NE end of the lake. 763-8712. lmno4p.org 

“Science and Religion: Issues For the 21st Century” with Dr. Robert Russell at 11:30 a.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. 

MONDAY, JULY 18 

“Uncluttering Your Life” with Jill Lebeau and Stephanie Barbic at 7 p.m. at the El Cerrito Library, 6510 Stockton Ave. 526-7512. www.ccclib.org  

Nature Writing Gathering Celebrate the literature of nature at 7 p.m. at Oakland Public Library, 161 41st St. 547-4082. 

Spanish Book Club, led by Ricardo Antonio Navarette meets at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books, Telegraph Ave. For title of book to be discussed see www.codysbooks.com 

Sisters of Song A week-long workshop for emerging poets, led by Yosefa Raz. Open to girls between the ages of 13-19. Mon. - Fri. from 9 to 11:30 a.m. at the Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center. 848-0237, ext. 130. karenc@brjcc.org 

Stress Less with Hypnosis A free seminar at 6:30 p.m. in Oakland. Registration required. 465-2524. 

TUESDAY, JULY 19 

Peach Tasting plus other stone fruits, from 2 to 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market, Derby St. at MLK, Jr. Way. Cooking demonstration at 11:30 a.m. 548-3333. www.ecologycenter.org 

“Creating a Non-Violent Peaceforce” with Mel Duncan at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Friends Church, 1600 Sacramento St. Donation $5 and up. 533-4732. 

Community Family Dance from 7:30 to 9 p.m. at Live Oak Park Recreation Center, 1301 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5 per peron or $10 per family. Sponsored by the Berkeley Folk Dancers. 841-1205. 

Healthy Eating Habits and Hypnosis A free seminar at 6:30 p.m. in Oakland. Registration required. 465-2524. 

Berkeley Salon Discussion Group meets to discuss “Craig’s List: Has it Changed Your LIfe?” from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. Please bring snacks and soft drinks to share. No peanuts please. 601-6690.  

Magic Show with Norman Ng at 7 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

Tuesday Tilden Walkers Join a few slowpoke seniors at 9:30 a.m. in the parking lot near the Little Farm for an hour or two walk. 524-9992. 

Parenting Class: Living with Ones and Twos, with Meg Zeiback, nurse practitioner at 7 p.m. at Bananas, 5232 Claremont Ave. Registration required. 658-7353.  

Fast-Packing An evening with GoLite founder Demetri Coupounas at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. Free. 527-4140. 

“A Fat Nation in a Thin World” video and discussion at 1 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5190. 

“Pain Relief through Guided Visualization” with Clinical Hypnotherapist Jerry Ziegler at the Berkeley Fibromyalgia Support and Education Group at noon at Alta Bates Herrick Campus, 2001 Dwight Way. 644-3273. 

Brainstormer Weekly Pub Quiz every Tuesday from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Pyramid Alehouse Brewery, 901 Gilman St. 528-9880. 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

Buddhist Meditation Class at 7 p.m. at The Dzalandhara Buddhist Center. Cost is $7-$10. For directions and details please call 559-8183. 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. At 11 a.m. Laurabeth Nelson will talk about the Asian Art Museum’s exhibit “Tibet Rooftop of the World.” 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, JULY 20 

Assemblywoman Loni Hancock will speak at the Current Events class at 1 p.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave., Albany. All interested community members are invited to attend this discussion on the Campus Bay toxic cleanup, Clean Money campaign, urban casinos and other local issues of interest. 524-9122. 

Walking Tour of Old Oakland “New Era/New Politics” highlights African-American leaders who have made their mark on Oakland. Meet at 10 a.m. at the African American Museum and Library at 659 14th St. 238-3234. www.oaklandnet.com/walkingtours 

Latin American Working Class Film Fest with three short films from Mexico and Argentina at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donations of $5 accepted. 415-642-8066. 

Arab Women Film Festival “Wild Flowers: Women of the South” at 7:30 p.m. at La Pena Cultural Center. Donation $5. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

“How do Independents Affect the Political Landscape?” with Harriet Hoffman of the Committee for an Independent Voice at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Gray Panthers, 1403 Addison St. 548-9696. 

“Fellowships and Grants for Writers” A panel discussion sponsored by the American Society of Journalists and Authors at 6 p.m. at India Palace, 2160 University Ave., upstairs banquet room. Cost is $5-$10. Please RSVP to 530-6699. laird_harrison@hotmail.com 

Insects for Kids A free class for children ages 5-10, at 9 a.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. www.barringtoncollective.org 

Parenting Class: Potty Training with Meg Zeiback, nurse practitioner at 7 p.m. at Bananas, 5232 Claremont Ave. Registration required. 658-7353.  

JumpStart Entrepreneurs share information at 8 a.m. at A’Cuppa Tea, 3202 College Ave. at Alcatraz. Cost is $5. 541-9901. 

“Don’t be Six Feet Under Without a Plan” Learn more about creating a Living Will, Powers of Attorney, and making final arrangements at 6 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave. Oakland. 562-9431. 

American Red Cross Blood Drive from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Albany YMCA, 921 Kains Ave. To make an appointment call 1-800-448-3543. www.BeADonor.org 

Stitch ‘n Bitch Bring your knitting, crocheting and other handcrafts from 6 to 9 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198. 

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets every Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze Market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Everyone is welcome, wear comfortable shoes. 548-9840. 

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Action St. 841-2174.  

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at the Berkeley BART Station, corner of Shattuck and Center. Sing for Peace at 6:30 p.m. followed by Peace Walk at 7 p.m. www. 

geocities.com/vigil4peace/vigil 

THURSDAY, JULY 21 

Berkeley Communicators Toastmasters welcomes curious guests & new members. Meets at 7:15 a.m. at Au Coquelet Cafe, 2000 University Ave. at Milva. 435-5863. 

LeConte Neighborhood Association meets at 7:30 p.m. at the LeConte School. Agenda items will include the Berkeley City/UC Agreement, Proposed Changes in the City’s Preservation Ordinance and Traffic Circle Garden guidelines. No meeting in August. The next meeting will be on September 15. For more information call 843-2602.  

Quit Smoking Class meets for six Thurs. evenings from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. To register call 981-5330. quitnow@ci.berkeley.ca.us 

Parenting Class: Sleep for new and expecting parents at 10 a.m. at Bananas, 5232 Claremont Ave. Registration required. 658-7353.  

Parenting Class: Choosing a Preschool at 7 p.m. at Bananas, 5232 Claremont Ave. Registration required. 658-7353.  

World of Plants Tours Thurs.-Sun. at 1:30 p.m. at the UC Bot 

anical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $1-$5. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

ONGOING 

Summer Camps for Children offered by the City of Berkeley, including swimming, sports and twilight basketball, from June 20 to August 12, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. 981-5150, 981-5153. 

Free Lunches for Berkeley Children beginning June 20, Mon.-Fri., 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Frances Albrier Center, James Kenney Center, MLK, Jr. Youth Services Center, Strawberry Creek, Washington School and Rosa Parks School. 981-5146. 

Albany Summer Youth Programs including basketball, classes, bike trips and family activities. For information see www.albanyca.org/dept/rec.html 

Bay Area Shakespeare Camp for ages 7 to 13, two week sessions through Aug., at John Hinkle Park. Cost is $395, with scholarships available. 415-422-2222. www.sfshakes.org 

CITY MEETINGS 

Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board meets Mon. July 18 at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers, Pam Wyche, 644-6128 ext. 113. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/rent 

City Council meets Tues., July 19, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Citizens Humane Commission meets Wed. July 20, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Katherine O’Connor, 981-6601. www.ci.berkeley.ca. us/commissions/humane 

Commission on Aging meets Wed. July 20, at 1:30 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. William Rogers, 981-5344. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/aging 

Human Welfare and Community Action Commission meets Wed. July 20, at 7 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Kristen Lee, 981-5427. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/welfare 

Design Review Committee meets Thurs., July 21, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Anne Burns, 981-7415. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/designreview  

Fair Campaign Practices Commission meets Thurs., July 21, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Prasanna Rasaih, 981-6950. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/faircampaign 

Transportation Commission meets Thurs., July 21, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Peter Hillier, 981-7000. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/transportation