Sucha Singh Banger had a hard summer, and life isn’t getting any easier for him. -more-

“Let’s all visit Berkeley for the first time,” Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee (DAPAC) Chair Will Travis declared Saturday before a group set off on a downtown walking tour. -more-

The long-running saga of the Drayage is nearing an end with the sale of the West Berkeley building to the development firm Hudson McDonald expected to clear some time next month. -more-

We invite our readers to submit personal essays, short fiction, poetry and pictures for our annual Reader Contribution Holiday Issue. Selected submissions will be published in the Tuesday, Dec. 27 issue. Deadline for submissions is 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 18. Send us your material at holiday@berkeleydailyplanet.com or to 3023A Shattuck Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705. -more-

Army National Guard Specialist Katherine Jashinski announced her opposition to war and refused deployment to Iraq last month at Fort Benning, Ga. -more-

The Berkeley public scoping meeting on plans for new construction in and around Memorial Stadium will be held Thursday, and not Tuesday as reported in the Dec. 2 issue. -more-

Controversial Derby Street Field Also on Agenda -more-

PARIS—Karim Baïla unlocks the door of his silver VW Beetle and we cram in. We pull out of chic central Paris, headed for the low-income suburbs and public housing districts where thousands of cars had burned since the youth uprising began two weeks earlier. Karim is something of an anomaly. Born to illiterate Algerian parents, he is now one of few French Algerian reporters who make regular appearances on national TV. -more-

To view Justin DeFreitas’ latest editorial cartoon, please visit -more-

OAKLANDS LAND AND SOULS -more-

Nasty swing -more-

Lately we’ve been hearing from City Hall that when the council settled the city’s lawsuit against the university last May, it got UC to agree to buy more goods and services from Berkeley businesses. -more-

“Brown?” asked our friend Darren. “Why brown?” -more-

There are two options on how to construct the playing fields at East Campus. One option is to build an open-street field, which has been crafted by community meetings with the WLC architects. This plan includes a multi-purpose field, basketball courts, and most importantly, an open street. This field benefits sports teams at Berkeley High School like the lacrosse team, the field hockey team, the rugby team, the soccer team, and could be used by the baseball teams for infield and batting practice. -more-

I’m a parent of two children who Berkeley public school students. My youngest is a freshman at Berkeley High. I’ve supported a “field of dreams” at Derby Street from the beginning, 15 years ago, and have been involved with hundreds of like-minded families raising their children in Berkeley. A recent comment by Councilmember Linda Maio struck me as she responded to e-mails on this issue. She stated: -more-

I would like to clear up some misinformation I have read recently in the Daily Planet regarding the possibility of Derby Street closing and its effect on the Tuesday Berkeley Farmers’ Market. While it is true that the current proposed site for the Farmers’ Market in a closed-Derby Street scenario contains more square footage than currently occupied, the market’s needs are more complex than the physical space of asphalt given to us. -more-

To Daily Planet letter-writer Michaela Bowens: I’m sorry that someone has filled your head with lies about the Ecology Center position on playing fields for kids. We have always supported the development of a multi-use field at Derby Street. We find it appalling this site sat empty for so many years while it could have been used by both girls’ and boys’ soccer, rugby, field hockey, and lacrosse teams. We have participated at deep levels of planning and engagement to those ends. We believe that physical education and team sports in particular are critical components, along with nutritional education and access to fresh fruits and vegetables, in addressing Berkeley’s unacceptable health disparities and the national obesity crisis. We have done much in this arena to work with BUSD both in and out of the classroom. We are concerned that any changes at Derby Street fully accommodate the needs of the thousands of shoppers, dozens of vendors, food justice organizations, and restaurants that depend on the South Berkeley Farmers’ Market as a thriving community resource. As for your comments about us sending kids to war or jail, please keep the dialogue respectful, not irrational. In the future, before you go passing judgment and publishing misinformed opinion about the Ecology Center, please check your facts. -more-

Whether saddled with a case of the holiday blues or just tired of the usual Nutcracker-Christmas Carol-Child’s Christmas in Wales go-round and seeking something more offbeat for seasonal family entertainment, there’s a remedy: Send in the clowns. -more-

TUESDAY, DEC. 6 -more-

Anyone else remember the Firesign Theater’s record “Everything You Know is Wrong”? You get that feeling if you follow science at all closely. One day the earth is solid and stable; the next, the continents are whizzing around the mantle like bumper cars. You learn that the dinosaurs went extinct 65 million years ago, and then it turns out you just had one for Thanksgiving dinner. It’s what the historian of science Thomas Kuhn called the paradigm shift, and it just keeps happening. -more-

TUESDAY, DEC. 6 -more-