DAPAC “visioned” Thursday night. 

The group advising the city and UC Berkeley about their hopes for an expanded downtown sat down with scissors, glue, markers, maps, colored paper and sheets of gold stars and proceeded to cut, paste, scribble and argue. 

The occasion was the latest meeting of the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee (DAPAC), created as a result of the settlement of the city’s suit over the university’s expansion plans through 2020. 

The colored sheets were filled with squares and rectangles signifying—among other things—the 800,000 square feet of new projects the university plans for the expanded downtown area, along with 1,000 new parking spaces. 

Other symbols represented the potential desiderata of DAPAC members, ranging from eight-story-plus apartment and office buildings to daylighted creeks that would replace block-long segments of streetscapes. 

Still more squares and rectangles symbolized—among other things—grocery stores, town houses, apartments (also up to eight-plus stories), social services, shops and restaurants, research and development facilities, the warm water pool, a hotel conference and retail center building of up to ten floors and parking (both public and private). 

Also included were squares for movie theaters, grocery stores and retail anchor (read “department”) stores. 

Committee members were split into four groups, and each was assigned a table along with city staff to assist and set to work at formulating their vision of what Berkeley’s downtown should look like two decades hence. 

By the time the sometimes-heated scissoring and sticking ended, no maps had been completed—there was far too little time for that—and only a modicum of consensus had been achieved among the four groups. 

“Our group is called The Dementos,” said James Samuels, one of the Planning Commission’s representatives on the panel. “People at one end of the table didn’t talk to those at the other end.” 

People sitting across the narrower middle of the Dementos table clashed, too—as when Landmarks Preservation Commissioner Patti Dacey and former City Councilmember Mim Hawley clashed over landmarks and potential landmarks along Shattuck Avenue. 

“Some of those just might have to go,” said Hawley. 

“Shattuck Avenue is a nationally significant street, eligible for the National Register (of Historic Places),” Dacey responded. 

“Have you looked down that street?” Hawley shot back. “It’s ugly.” 

Dacey raised her hands, then closed her eyes and shook her head. 

Planning Commissioner Gene Poschmann said his table was “a very, very cooperative group. The only place where we had unanimity was that no one wanted to get up and explain.”  

But the groups did reach several conclusions—sometimes not unanimously—starting with the basic fact that they didn’t have nearly enough time to complete their assigned tasks. 

All four groups favored plans to bring Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), AC Transit’s system for higher-speed bus service on urban thoroughfares—to Shattuck Avenue, though one group added a cautionary “if feasible.” The other three groups favored closing the eastern lanes of Shattuck where the street splits into one-way segments at Shattuck Square between Center Street and University Avenue. 

The groups also favored concentrating the bulk of the university’s development on sites the school already owns or is in the process of buying, with the greatest concentrations at the site of the state Health Department Building—which the university is now negotiating to acquire. 

The other sites picked for university expansion were on land the university already owns between Center Street and University Avenue and Shattuck and Oxford—the site already selected for the hotel and conference center complex and the museum complex—and the Tang Center parking lot at the southwest corner of the Durant Avenue and Fulton Street intersection. 

Planning Commission Chair Helen Burke said that her group also favored bringing the underground parking structure now planned for the site of Maxwell Family Field near Memorial Stadium down to the Tang lot to alleviate pressure on already congested streets in the southeast campus area. 

The groups all favored closing Center Street between Shattuck and Oxford Street, some with a daylighted Strawberry Creek as the dominant feature of the block and others with a plaza, with or without a creek. 

Juliet Lamont, an activist on creeks and other environmental issues, said her group couldn’t agree on daylighting the creek, and split between that concept and “the leave it open as a street plan.” The group did agree that any tall buildings should be stepped back from the street to preserve solar access and reduce the winds tall structures can generate. 

“We have lots of green,” she said, “but not as much as I wanted.” 

Samuels’ group favored moving the downtown BART “bandbox” from the west side of Shattuck and Center to the east side, to be situated near the UC hotel and conference center planned for the northeast corner of the intersection. 

Billy Keys, who spoke for the group that included Burke and DAPAC Chair Will Travis, said his group could not agree on whether or not to daylight the creek, but they agreed there needed to be “some grand entrance to the university. There is no grand entrance now. Just the ant hill entrances.” 

His group also agreed that development along Shattuck Avenue should be limited to four or five stories, and that new parking should be restricted to the periphery, to encourage people to walk the downtown streets. 

“If we’d had a few more hours, we probably would’ve finished,” he said. 

Dorothy Walker, former Assistant Vice Chancellor for Property Development at the university and a DAPAC member, said her group—which included Lamont—“showed more than 800,000 square feet for the university. We gave them choices.” 

Also in attendance were the two UCB representatives appointed to the panel by the City Council, Kevin Hufferd, a Project Manager/Senior Planner in the office of Capital Projects, and his colleague, Principal Planner Jennifer McDougall (formerly Lawrence). 

Also on hand were a variety of city planning staffers, including Matt Taecker, the planning officer hired specifically to ramrod the plan, Planning Director Dan Marks, Planning Manager Mark Rhoades and Principal Planner Allan Gatzke. 

After the final presentations, several members expressed concern that they weren’t going to be allowed to attend what as billed as a meeting of the technical advisory committee of professional staff from the city and university who are working on the plan. 

“It can be closed,” said Taecker. “The law is pretty clear on that.” 

He described the session as “an issue-focused presentation for staff members to present their insights” which would help the committee in their work. 

“Who is actually writing the plan?” asked DAPAC member and city Housing Commissioner Jesse Arreguin. 

“You’re the body making the decisions,” said Taecker. 

Asked why the city has already issued a call for consultants to prepare the plan’s environmental impact report (EIR) when the plan isn’t due to the City Council until November 2007, Taecker said “a lot of questions have arisen about transportation and historic resources and sub-consultants to the EIR will help with background information.” 

Taecker said that the EIR team won’t be brought on board “until later this year or early next year.” 

DAPAC’s next meeting is scheduled for May 17 and will focus on environmental issues.?

There have always been leftovers at People’s Park, be it food, clothes, shoes, plants, or anything else people want to donate to those in need. 

But when Berkeley naturalist Terri Compost turned up there last Saturday to carry out her usual work-day routine of planting and spreading wood chips, a UC Berkeley police officer came up to her and said that she could no longer block access to the driveway for delivering food and garden supplies or leave food on the stage. 

Compost was also told that two officers were going to be policing People’s Park for the next month to “strictly enforce” the park rules.  

According to a flyer handed out by the People’s Park office, the park rules include the following: “No person shall bring, leave, or dump furniture, mattresses, or other household items in People’s Park. Large personal belongings or large amounts of personal belongings, that is, anything other than what can be reasonably carried on the person or reasonably used for recreational purposes, may not be brought or kept in the park at any time.” 

Thursday afternoon, when a group of People’s Park activists brought out a mobile free box to celebrate the Park’s 37th anniversary, the celebrants said that UC police informed them it was a violation of the park policy which states that “no unauthorized carts, carriages, trailers, or other vehicles of conveyance ... shall be allowed in People’s Park at any time.”  

When the group refused to comply, eight back-up UCB officers were called in, they said. According to Michael Delacour, who claims to be the man behind the idea of a People’s Park, the officers started taking pictures and videotaping the crowd’s actions. “I guess they left when they realized that there were just too many of us,” he said. 

Compost was also informed by one of the officer that any clothes or leftover food kept on the park’s stage or premises would result in a verbal warning from the officers and then ticketing.  

“This escalation on the part of UC threatens our right to share with each other and the historical use of the park,” Compost said. “As far as what has gone on and what is the norm clothes and food have always been shared at People’s Park. It was somewhat surreal to hear that if someone comes by with a bag of clothes to give to the homeless, they would be threatened or given a ticket. Even after the free box was torn down in November, the park has remained an important resource for sharing, a means of exchange. I would hate to see that go.” 

Irene Hegarty, UC Berkeley’s Director for Community Relations, said steps like this are taken from time to time to ensure proper law enforcement at the park. 

“The two cops who will be patrolling the park everyday now are there to enforce laws and rules,” she said. “They will check drug peddling and other crimes.” 

Hegarty continued, “We are not against food distribution in a healthy manner. In fact Food Not Bombs and a few other organizations who distribute food to the homeless are still coming everyday. We just don’t want the leftovers to create a rodent or a pigeon problem.” 

With respect to blocking access to the driveway, Hegarty said that 35 days of continuous rains had created a rut and damaged the decomposed granite driveway. “We don’t want it to be used as a parking lot,” she added. 

Compost, however told the Planet that the decomposed granite driveway is not harmed by driving on it. Compost said the driveway was an important access point for the community that tends People’s Park.  

“It is used by all the groups that share meals with the community, it is used during concerts and events, by groups delivering free socks, soaps or bag lunches and it is needed to drop off gardening supplies,” she said. “We did get an agreement that the cops would let Food Not Bombs come in to drop off or maybe stay during the meals. But it is a total threat to have cops sitting there telling people it is illegal to share in the park now.”  

Martin Brooks, a volunteer for Food Not Bombs, was handing out lentil soup and rice at the park on Wednesday. He told the Planet that a couple of cops had come up to him and said there would be tickets issued for littering the stage with leftover bread or food. 

“We always leave bread on the stage after distributing our free meals. This is policing people selectively. Would they do the same to church groups?” he asked.  

Sal, who cooks for Food Not Bombs, said it would be a loss for the park if no more clothes or bag lunches could be dropped off at the park. 

“First they said no free boxes, now this,” he said. “It’s a shame, people enjoyed it a lot.” 

Raymond Palmiero and Teddy Mead, who call themselves activists for People’s Park and are regulars at the free lunches, said that they were going to inaugurate the mobile free box this Sunday, during the park’s anniversary celebrations. It would be taken around the park at specific hours for collecting and distributing clothes. 

“We don’t have UC’s permission yet, but we are hoping for the best,” Mead said.  

Carrie Guilfoyle, assistant site coordinator for the People’s Park office, said she was trying to enforce the rules by telling people not to leave donations in the park. 

“I tell them to drop it off at Bing Dry and Wash,” she said. “They have a box there. The clothes pose a big problem for us and we eventually have to throw them away.” 

Capt. Mitch Celaya of the UC Berkeley police told the Planet that the two officers had been positioned at the park since April 14 to “actively enforce all park rules” and not any one rule in particular. 

“We did this back in December in order to clean up the illegal drug and alcohol activities going on in the park and it really cleaned up the place,” he said. “Now that the weather is better, we want to have the added police presence for at least a month.” 

Celaya said that dumping items in the park was a violation. 

“Our first act would be to inform them of the park rules and seek their compliance,” he said. “If they refuse we would be required to go on to the next level and issue them a citation.” 

He added that in the week the officers had been in the park so far, “no one had been issued citations for trespassing or violation of the park rules.”?

Don’t like a development proposal? In Alameda, that could cost you more that $10,000.  

At least it did for three residents who filed appeals to a local theater project and rang up a $10,725 bill as a result.  

Alamedans Ani Dimusheva and Valerie Ruma appealed the design of an eight-screen multiplex and 350-space parking garage slated for development in the city’s downtown district last summer. The two residents, members of the ad hoc group Citizens for a Megaplex-Free Alameda, each forked over $600—$100 for a flat fee and a $500 deposit—the maximum the city would hold them responsible for, they thought.  

Instead they received an invoice for $5,500, on top of the $1,200 they already paid, with 10 days to pony up or risk referral to collections. Charges were based on planning department staff time and materials needed to process the appeals, averaged at $100 an hour, details they were never told, Ruma said.  

The statement arrived in the mail just weeks after Citizens for a Megaplex-Free Alameda sued the city over failure to commission an environmental impact report for the project.  

Bob Gavrich, another member of the citizens’ group, appealed the project’s use permit in October, and received a comparably steep bill for $3,425. Like Dimusheva and Ruma, he had already paid $600 upfront. 

“I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry,” Gavrich said. “No other city in the state or in the country, to my knowledge, charges these kinds of fees. That constitutes a violation of the First Amendment. You are keeping poorer groups from redressing grievances.” 

Gavrich admits he knew could be on the hook for an excess of $600, but that permit technician Nancy Souza told him he could also recoup some of that money. 

The same clerk allegedly told Dimusheva and Ruma that charges over their pooled $1,200 would be the responsibility of the other party, the project developer. Souza declined to comment for this story.  

Planning and Building Director Cathy Woodbury doesn’t believe staff would give out misinformation.  

“I would doubt very much they made an error,” she said. “Our staff are trained, they know what their job is.” 

But when the city conducted an internal investigation, it was revealed that Dimusheva and Ruma had not been properly informed of the fee schedule. 

City Manager Debra Kurita subsequently absolved all three residents of time and materials charges, though they will not recoup the $600 flat rate and deposit.  

Communications snafu notwithstanding, the fees levied were perfectly legitimate. In the 2002-2003 fiscal year, the cost of time and materials was added to a $125 base rate for filing an appeal. The following year, the Alameda City Council unanimously passed the current configuration as a consent item: a $100 flat rate, a $500 deposit plus time and materials. 

Councilmembers say they don’t recall passing the resolution.  

The rationale for an hourly rate, which includes the price for staff to compile reports, conduct research and attend public hearing, is to recover costs to the agency, Woodbury said. Because of the complexity of the theater project, fees exacted on Dimusheva, Ruma and Gavrich were especially stiff. 

Generally, however, the amount earned through appeal fees is a pittance in the planning department’s budget. The department has an annual budget of $3.5 million, but in the last two years, the city has processed just 13 appeals, averaging $1,061 each. Other fees, for permits for example, account for a greater portion of the budget. 

Other Bay Area studies deal with appeal fees in a variety of ways. Many distinguish between whether an applicant, like a developer, or a non-applicant--a resident for instance—files the appeals. 

To appeal a project in San Jose, for instance, a developer could shoulder a $1,925 bill, whereas a resident pays nothing. In San Rafael, non-applicant residents pay up to $303; all others pay as much as $2,730. Hayward applicants pay $1,200 plus time and materials while non-applicants pay a flat rate of $50.  

Emeryville and El Cerrito levy flat fees on all appellants in the $100 to $209 range.  

On Tuesday, the Alameda City Council considered three proposals to amend the existing resolution, all of which could have imposed costs of as much as $1,000. 

City Councilmember Frank Matarrese floated a fourth option: a $100 flat rate. 

“$100 is large enough to make a person pause to think if they’re being frivolous,” he said.  

The proposal passed unanimously. 

Though resolved, the incident has exacerbated distrust between residents and the city, Gavrich said. 

“I don’t trust any of them anymore,” Gavrich said. “They are an extremely developer-friendly City Council, planning board and staff.” 

The theater project first came up for consideration in 2000, when the city’s Economic Development Commission requested a proposal to revitalize downtown Alameda’s defunct movie theater, built in 1932. The project expanded to include a seven-screen 58-foot-tall cineplex and parking garage at the corner of Oak Street and Central Avenue, an area largely dominated by low-slung commercial buildings. 

Residents decried the project as a behemoth that would ruin Alameda’s small town charm. Citizens for a Megaplex-Free Alameda, a band of private citizens who say they have no economic interest in the development, formed in opposition. After a series of heated public meetings, the planning board approved design and granted developer Kyle Connor a use permit. Construction on the project has not begun. 

If the citizens’ group successfully wages war against the city in court, all decisions will be void. The lawsuit is expected to go before an Alameda Superior Court judge April 27. 

Local historian Woody Minor says divisiveness over the theater reflects the public’s general wariness about city expansion. 

“The city of Alameda right now is going through one of those periods where development pressures are impinging on the consciousness of the city, so there’s this climate of rancor,” he said. “We’re a polarized community.” 

Issues on Tuesday night’s City Council calendar brought an overcapacity crowd—and a handful of police officers to enforce fire rules and keep anyone without a seat out of the council chambers. 

Berkeleyans had come to hear discussions on items as diverse as sewer fees, closing Derby Street, funding a wheelchair ramp at a student co-op and adopting the barn owl as the city bird. 

More than 100 had signed up to speak, placing speaker cards into a lottery, hoping they’d be chosen to address the council. Only 10 were picked, in accordance with council rules that limit public comment to 30 minutes. 

Library staff grievance 

On behalf of library workers, Service Employees International Union Local 535 brought a letter expressing a vote of no confidence in the library director. 

“It is an unacceptable irony that the management of the Berkeley Public Library would ignore the American Library Association policy on workplace speech and seek to silence and harass workers in an organization whose mission is to foster the free flow of ideas and information in our community,” said library worker and union representative Andrea Segall, reading the union statement to the council. 

The tenure of the library director was not before the council, however, as the Library Board of Trustees oversees the library director and staff. 

Sweat-free law 

Russell Kilday-Hicks, vice chair of the labor commission, spoke in support of a resolution asking the council to write a “sweat-free” ordinance that would prohibit the city from purchasing goods made in sweatshops, made by children or made by prison labor. 

“It’s time to step up to our beliefs,” he said.  

While his name was not drawn, former state Sen. Tom Hayden was spotted in the council chambers and invited to speak. A leader in the coalition promoting anti-sweatshop legislation around the country, Hayden pointed to the students in their baseball uniforms who had come to lobby the council for a regulation-size baseball field. Hayden told the young people that the apparel was likely made “by people their own age in sweat shops in Bangladesh” or elsewhere. 

The council passed the anti-sweatshop resolution on the consent calendar, unanimously and without discussion. Staff will write the ordinance, which the council will be asked to approve at a later date. 

Gaia Building, barn owls, sewers and parking 

An item looking into cultural uses at Patrick Kennedy’s Gaia Building, for which the developer was allowed to build two extra stories, will be discussed next week in closed session because Kennedy has threatened a lawsuit on the issue. 

No one opposed Councilmember Betty Olds when she endorsed the tyto alba, otherwise known as a barn owl, as Berkeley’s official bird. 

“A mother who can get 13 rats a night to feed her babies—how can anyone have anything against it?” she asked. 

Olds also had something to say on the sewers issue. The proposed ordinance was very misunderstood, she said, adding, “I don’t know why people are so upset about that—to me, it’s more important than a lot of other things.”  

At issue was a $150 sewer certificate fee, to be obtained by homeowners at the time a house is sold or $100,000 of work is done. The homeowner hires a plumber to video the private sewer lateral—the part of the sewer connecting a home and extending to the public sewer lateral near the property line. 

Then the homeowner takes the video to the Public Works Department where the film is inspected to make sure the sewer is intact; sometimes an inspector will examine the sewer on site. If there are problems, which is likely when a sewer lateral is 20 years old or more, the homeowner must have it repaired or replaced. The ordinance was passed with all councilmembers voting approval except Councilmember Kriss Worthington who opposed the fee. 

Permit parking keeps all-day parkers out of neighborhoods that request the permits. New permit parking areas approved by the council on Tuesday night were Hearst Avenue between Acton and Short streets on the north side of the street and Wheeler Avenue between Ashby Avenue and Prince Street. 

Block grants 

More than a dozen people came to a public hearing scheduled to examine the $4 million in federal money dedicated to low-income persons, known as Community Development Block Grants. 

The long list of funded projects included foster care, home rehabilitation, disabled services and more. But most of the people who spoke were at the meeting because the list did not include full funding for a $45,000 ramp needed to make the Hillegass-Parker House, part of the University Students’ Cooperative Association, accessible for disabled people. Staff said they thought they could find funding for the ramp and also for a roof for the James Kinney recreation center, which was also left off the list of fully-funded projects. The council will be asked to approve the CDBG expenditures next week.  

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Six dozen kids, most garbed in sports uniforms, came to the Berkeley City Council Tuesday night to ask for the closure of one block of Derby Street to provide space for a regulation-size baseball field and other sports. 

After heated discussion, the council majority agreed to move toward this option. 

While welcoming the development of fields on the school district-owned city block surrounded by Derby, Milvia, and Carleton streets and Martin Luther King Way, neighbors of the proposed project asked the council, before closing the street, to require discussion with those affected: residents, the Ecology Center which runs a Tuesday farmers’ market on Derby Street and alternative school students, whose school is on property south of Derby. 

In the end, a slim council majority voted in favor of a resolution that moves the city closer to approving closure of Derby Street. The vote requires the Berkeley Unified School District to hold a public workshop to discuss alternatives to closing the street before beginning the environmental impact report (EIR), a formal process that details the impacts of large developments on the community and mandates community input. (The city will pay for half the EIR, expected to total $200,000.)  

The resolution also said the new configuration must include space for the popular Tuesday afternoon farmers’ market. 

Councilmember Laurie Capitelli authored the resolution and was joined by Mayor Tom Bates and Councilmembers Linda Maio, Max Anderson and Dona Spring. The other councilmembers abstained. 

The question of closing Derby Street between MLK Way and Milvia Street has dragged on for more than seven years. The high school has no space for a regulation-size baseball field on its campus and so the players go a distance to San Pablo Park to practice. 

Calling the fields “much-needed practice space,” Berkeley High Athletic Director Kristin Glenchur spoke during the council public comment period, pointing out that in addition to baseball, the soccer, lacrosse, field hockey and other teams would use the field. 

Peter Waller, who attended the council meeting with about a dozen other neighbors of the proposed field, called for a community process. 

“There may be an alternative short of closing Derby,” he said, pointing out that the EIR process is “long, expensive and divisive.” 

A defeated motion, authored by Anderson, called for first developing the fields without closing Derby Street, then setting up a community “visioning process,” which would become the foundation for a plan to be analyzed by an eventual EIR. 

Anderson and councilmembers Spring, Maio and Kriss Worthington supported the motion; Councilmember Darryl Moore abstained; the four others opposed the measure. 

In support of his resolution, Capitelli said the community will provide input through a well-publicized workshop and through the EIR planning process. 

“I’m hesitant to commit to an open-ended public process,” he said. 

But Anderson called the workshop “an event, not a process,” and advocated community dialogue from which a compromise solution would emerge. 

“There are genuine and legitimate concerns and needs on both sides of the issue,” he said, adding that conducting an EIR prematurely “cuts out community.”  

At a workshop, “all we’ll get is confrontation, not discussion,” Anderson argued. 

Another wrinkle in the project is that, according to City Manager Phil Kamlarz, the school district has only $1.3 million of the $6 million needed. 

“That’s a pretty significant gap,” Kamlarz said. 

In a phone interview Wednesday, School Board President Terry Doran, a strong supporter of closing Derby Street, disagreed with Kamlarz’ figures. He said the school district’s analysis brings the total cost closer to $4 million. Moreover, people want to raise private funds, but cannot do so until the city promises to close the street, he said. (The council will vote on street closure after the EIR process.) 

Further, Doran pointed out that the play fields would comprise only two-thirds of the land, which means the community can use the rest for its needs, including space for the farmers’ market.  

Doran said he hopes that out of the process approved by the council, all would be able to sit down and share their concerns. “What would (opponents) need to close the street?” he asked. 

Photo by:By JUDITH SCHERR

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It has survived heated criticism, a curriculum overhaul and a new name, but Freshman Seminar can’t stand up to Academic Choice.  

Following a 4-1 vote by the Berkeley Board of Education Wednesday, students enrolled in the Academic Choice enrichment program at Berkeley High School are no longer required to take the concentrated ethnic studies and social living course required of freshmen, known in recent years as Freshman Seminar.  

Instead, they will enroll in a year’s worth of ancient civilization and geography that will make time for a month-long social living segment as mandated by state law. Ethnicity and identity studies will be dispersed throughout the program’s four-year arc. The new curriculum goes into effect this fall.  

“We’ve been struggling for years to provide a meaningful social studies course,” said Berkeley High School Principal Jim Slemp. “Since I’ve been there, we’ve been working on it and not succeeding. … There may be better ways to meet those goals than what’s currently being offered.” 

Freshman Seminar, or Identity and Ethnic Studies (IES), as it was known pre-2004, provides lessons in identity, diversity, health. The curriculum has been a rite of passage for freshmen at Berkeley High since the early 1990s, but one that has earned mixed reviews. 

Some say the course lacks structure. Instructors are free to teach—or not teach—as they please. Bradley Johnson, who served as student school board director during the 2003-2004 school year, complained that the ethnic studies course victimized ethnic minorities, demonized white students and inculcated students to the teacher’s ideology. 

In 2004, the board approved an IES curriculum revamp and conferred the new name Freshman Seminar. But most agree the program is still flawed. 

“Some people like the program. Some love it. But a lot of people really hate the course,” said school board Vice President Joaquin Rivera. “It has been extremely controversial. We’ve tried to improve it in many ways and with a few exceptions, it has not been successful.” 

Susan Helmrich, one of more than a dozen Academic Choice parents who attended Wednesday’s board meeting in support of the new courses, described her son’s Freshman Seminar as “an absolute disaster.” 

Another parent quipped that her child watched movies and learned how to play poker in IES. 

Others expressed concern that the existing curriculum does not offer UC credit to Academic Choice freshmen. Academic Choice is a program within Berkeley High School for high achievers.  

The newly approved freshman course offers one semester of world geography and cultures, and one semester of ancient civilization, both of which are designed after UC-approved courses. There is no guarantee they will earn accreditation, however.  

Support for the curriculum is not unanimous. The proposed course was submitted to the Berkeley High School Shared Governance Committee, comprised of school site council representatives, faculty, staff and students, three times, and never received a two-thirds majority approval.  

On Wednesday, School Board candidate and Berkeley High School parent Karen Hemphill spoke out against the course.  

“I think the proposal is a short-sighted answer to a long-term problem,” she said, detailing the benefits of coursework that emphasizes identity development, ethnicity and diversity. “Lack of academic rigor is not due to course content, but due to lack of accountability for teachers.” 

Student Board Director Teal Miller agreed teachers make the course, but that doesn’t mean other possibilities should be dismissed.  

“I had an amazing IES teacher, however the more I talk to students at Berkeley High over the past three years, the more I realize I was in the minority in having a phenomenal teacher,” she said. “Taking it from a different perspective is important because of the other students I talked to who sat for a year and did nothing and I think that’s really unfortunate.” 

School board directors Rivera, Shirley Issel, John Selawsky and Nancy Riddle approved the new Academic Choice curriculum. Terry Doran opposed it, saying he did not feel world history was necessarily appropriate at the freshman level, and preferred a contemporary course. 

Only one other program at Berkeley High, the International High School—a small school slated to open this fall—provides an alternative to Freshman Seminar. Students at the other small schools and the comprehensive high school are still required to take Freshman Seminar.  

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With the state-controlled Oakland Unified School District narrowly averting a one-day teacher strike, and the mayor of Los Angeles requesting the state Legislature to give him control of that city’s schools, the Oakland mayoral campaign took an educational turn this week. 

Candidates held debates at Skyline High School and Merritt College that focused, in part, on education issues, and one candidate—City Councilmember Nancy Nadel—renewed her call for the office of Oakland mayor to take over writing the Oakland public school budget. 

The Oakland mayor’s office once had more control over city schools than the mayors of most California cities. In the spring of 2000, Oakland voters approved a four-year experiment to allow Mayor Jerry Brown to appoint three additional members to the seven-member OUSD school board. That authority expired in May 2004, however, and Brown did not return to voters to ask for a renewal of that authority. 

After the state seized the Oakland Unified School District three years ago, Oakland’s schools have been operated by the State Superintendent of Schools’ office through appointed administrator Randolph Ward. The elected seven-member school board operates in an advisory capacity only, with no power to set policy. 

Nadel’s proposal would leave the elected school district undisturbed, allowing it to return as the district’s policy-making body when local control is eventually won back from the state. 

But while she told audience members at a Skyline High School debate this week that “I’m not talking about the mayor taking over the schools,” she said that the mayor’s office should be responsible for writing the school district budget as well as that of the Port of Oakland. 

Currently, the port’s budget is written by a board of commissioners appointed by the mayor. 

“We need to have one person looking holistically at all of these government institutions in the city,” Nadel said. 

She added that the mayor’s office could look at overall city priorities, taking money from the more prosperous areas such as the port and giving it to areas such as the schools which need more resources. 

“It’s wrong for the port commissioners to be sitting up having big meals at fancy restaurants while teachers in our schools have to scrounge for paper clips,” she said. 

On her campaign website, Nadel has expanded on the idea, writing that she is suggesting giving the Oakland mayor the same responsibility for the school budget as the mayor’s office has with the city budget. 

“Currently,” she writes, “the mayor develops the city budget with the city administrator and presents it to the council for review, modification and adoption. The charter change I suggest would give similar power to the mayor with respect to the OUSD budget as well as the port budget, with the final budget decisions still in the hands of the democratically elected school board, and port commissioners. This new role for the mayor would insure that someone in the city is thinking holistically across the major functions in the city. … This charter change will allow the mayor to coordinate expenditures to achieve economies of scale and coordinate like services.” 

Speaking days before the state administrator and the Oakland Education Association teachers union reached a tentative agreement on a new teacher contract, mayoral candidate Ignacio De La Fuente said at the Skyline debate that teachers were “the most unrewarded of our professionals,” and deserved a pay hike. But he questioned how much city government could do to help out. 

“How would we pay for it?” De La Fuente asked. “We could use the resources of the city to share revenues with the school district, but we have to be realistic. That would mean that we would be neglecting the areas such as public safety that city government is obligated by our charter to perform.” 

But De La Fuente said that the mayor could act as a powerful advocate for the schools, helping to bring in outside resources and coordinating city efforts with the school district. 

“When I was first elected to City Council, every school in my district was a year-round school, every school was overcrowded,” De La Fuente said.  

The City Council president noted that he used his considerable influence to help get the Cesar Chavez Educational Center built on the grounds of the old Montgomery Ward building at 29th Avenue and International Boulevard, one of the first new schools built in the city in several decades. Preservationists and developers had wanted to convert the Montgomery Ward building into housing, but De La Fuente said “I helped fight them off, because what we needed was a new school.” 

That’s the model he said he would bring into his job as Oakland mayor if elected, pledging that he would appoint the “first deputy mayor for education” in the city. 

At the Merritt College debate, which De La Fuente did not attend, candidate Ron Dellums called for a quick end to state control of the Oakland Unified School District, saying that “we need to take back our schools.” 

He said that the schools should be the center of social delivery service in the city, “where we wrap around such services as health care, mental health, housing, and tutoring.” He called on city leaders and other adults to “start listening to our young people. If we do so, they’ll provide us with a lot of the answers to our questions.”  

But none of the Oakland mayoral candidates come close to asking for the kind of power over city schools asked for this week by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. 

In his annual State of the City address, Villaraigosa said he was requesting the state legislature to set up a council of mayors in Los Angeles County to run the Los Angeles public schools on a six-year trial basis. Set up on a proportional basis so that Los Angeles, which has the largest population in the county, would have the largest representation on the council, Villaraigosa proposed that the council of mayors hire and fire the Superintendent as well as approve the district budget. 

The superintendent would take the traditional responsibility for directing personnel and managing the instructional program, but would take on the added role of granting charters, a powerful position following the passage of the national No Child Left Behind Law that favors charter school development.  

But while Villaraigosa’s proposal would retain the elected school board, it would significantly reduce its rule in the decision-making process, relegating board members to “reviewing complaints, creating and issuing school accountability report cards, conducting an annual survey of parents, and making recommendations based on the results.” 

In addition, the Los Angeles mayor suggested the “ultimate charge” of the school board should be to “help parents navigate through the system and solve problems with their kids’ schools.” 

If the proposal is adopted by the Legislature, that would make the role of the Los Angeles Unified School District board similar to that of the Oakland Unified School District board under state control: advisory only. 

If passed, the Los Angeles proposal would set a precedent for other school districts in the state. It is expected to receive significant opposition, particularly from teachers’ organizations. 

It was billed as a day of victory. After marathon negotiations, the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) reached a tentative contract agreement with the teachers’ union Wednesday and averted a one-day strike. 

But on Thursday, the school community was more divided than ever. 

Union leaders, teachers, students and parents gathered at Peralta Park in Oakland to celebrate the long-awaited end to a two-year battle over contracts negotiations. But the event quickly turned sour when state-appointed OUSD Administrator Randolph Ward showed up, and was subsequently heckled out of the rally. 

“Hey hey, ho ho, Randolph Ward has got to go!” teachers called out as they surrounded him, waving flyers in his face, and trailed him back to OUSD offices.  

Ward was appointed to head up the financially strapped school district in 2003, and many fault the state administrator for escalating bitterness surrounding teacher contracts. 

On Wednesday, students were instructed to stay home from school in the event of a strike scheduled for the following day if a settlement wasn’t reached. But late Wednesday night, Ward and union President Ben Visnick announced a tentative agreement, the terms of which have not been officially released. 

District spokeperson Alex Katz would only say, “The important thing is people are going to have bigger paychecks every month.” 

Union negotiators last called for a 6.5 percent salary raise and an employee contribution of no more than half a percent to increases in medical premiums, among other requests. 

Visnick would not comment on whether those demands were met, only that the agreement is for three years, retroactive to last year, and that it is within the parameters a neutral fact-finding report released in January.  

“This is not a perfect contract,” he said. “This is not an excellent contract—we still need more to educate our students—but it is a fair contract.” 

The OUSD released a statement late Thursday that confirmed that the three-year agreement would provide a 2 percent salary increase retroactive to last July, a 2.5 percent increase beginning this July and a 1.75 percent increase for the following year. The statement did not include details of benefits. 

Rumors about the tentative agreement circulated at the rally. Edna Brewer Middle School teacher Mark Airgood told the Daily Planet that, based on conversation with members of the union bargaining team, employees would have to split the cost of future health care increases, which he says would be more than the 0.5 percent contribution that teachers initially agreed to pay. 

A paper drafted by OEA Executive Board Member Tania Kappner also said the agreement makes concessions on health care. Further compromises were made on counselor-student ratios and teacher seniority rights, the paper said. 

Neither union nor district officials would confirm that. 

At Thursday’s rally, employees were still in the dark about settlement details. Many turned their frustration to union brass. 

“I was hoping to hear him [Visnick] say what the concessions are, and he hasn’t,” said Ife Hill-Roy, who held a sign “OEA, don’t sell us out!” 

Meanwhile, union leaders mounted the park’s stage, praised those involved in the bargaining process and sang songs of solidarity, though only about half the audience joined in.  

“They’re yahooing up there and we don’t know jack-shit,” said parent Stephanie Pearl. Pearl attended the rally with her daughter Kiley, who stayed home from school Thursday in anticipation of a strike. 

Other teachers were confident the union made a sound decision, though they weren’t sure what that decision was. 

“Both sides had to back down somewhat,” said Russell Cohen, a first-grade teacher at Lafayette Elementary School. “That’s the nature of compromise.” 

Cohen said he was “ecstatic” the two sides reached a tentative agreement, and firmly believed the union drafted a good deal, otherwise it would not have held out for so long, he said. 

The union’s executive board met last night after press time to work out details of the agreement. The board will take a vote in the next week, then send the agreement to the 3,200-member union, which include teachers, librarians, nurses and others.  

But the battle is far from over, said lead union negotiator David de Leeuw. 

“Many people are relieved it may almost be over, but it’s not all good,” he said. “It may not be ratified.” 

The last tentative agreement reached in the spring of 2005 was rejected by 84 percent of the voting membership, he said. 

De Leeuw has higher hopes for the current agreement. 

“It leaves us in decent shape on basic economics and other issues,” he said. “Nobody expected we’d get a fantastic contract.” 

Caustic assault 

Berkeley Police arrested a 45-year-old woman on a charge of assault with a caustic chemical after she allegedly threw cleaning chemicals at the clerk of the Berkeley YMCA April 6, reports Berkeley Police spokesperson Officer Ed Galvan. 

The desk clerk stopped the woman after she tried to sneak a guest into her room. The agitated woman responded by grabbing the chemical, which was stored near the desk, and hurling it at the clerk. 

The victim was treated for injuries at the scene by Fire Department paramedics. 

Spare change robbery try 

After a Berkeley woman turned down a trio of teens panhandling for spare change shortly after 1 a.m. on April 7 near the corner of Shattuck Avenue and Woolsey Street, the three surrounded her and made an unsuccessful try to grab her pocketbook before they gave up and fled in frustration in what their erstwhile victim believed to be a white 1989 Chevrolet Corsica. 

Strong-arm heist 

A strong-arm bandit robbed the clerk at Bob’s Liquors & Deli, 2842 Sacramento St., just before 7:25 p.m. on April 10. 

Clad in the usual dark hoodie, the perp sauntered into the store and told the clerk he was packing a pistol—though the said weapon was never produced. Ordered to empty his pockets, the clerk complied, and the robber departed with a small quantity of cash, said Officer Galvan. 

Lunch bagged 

A young man called Berkeley at 9:13 p.m. on the 10th to report that he’d just seen three other young men who had robbed him of his lunch bag six days earlier. 

By the time officers arrived in the 2500 block of Bancroft Way, the strong-arm trio was gone. 

Rape report 

Police were called to a Blake Street address at 12:45 a.m. April 11 after a Berkeley woman called to report that she had been sexually assaulted and beaten by her companion. The woman declined medical attention, and the case was referred to the District Attorney’s office. No arrests have been made, said Officer Galvan. 

Armed robbery 

The desk clerk at the Golden Bear Inn at 1620 San Pablo Ave. called police at 7:25 p.m. on the 11th to report that a tall, thin fellow wearing a black beanie and a green hoodie and brandishing a black handgun had just pulled off a stick-up. 

The gunman was gone by the time police arrived. 

Bewildered vic 

A hapless and somewhat bewildered pedestrian called police three hours later to report that a gunman in a black hoodie had just robbed him—though he couldn’t quite recall where. 

The 20-year-old victim said he’d been robbed somewhere on Telegraph or Hillegass avenues—“Getting robbed can be pretty traumatic,” said Officer Galvan—by a fellow who relieved him of his wallet and its contents. 

Another rape 

San Francisco police called Berkeley officers at 11:22 p.m. on the 12th to report that a woman had come in to report that she had been raped in Berkeley in the 1400 block of Hearst Avenue earlier in the day. 

A Berkeley investigator went to San Francisco to interview the woman with the help of a translator. 

No arrests have been made and the investigation is continuing. 

Forced oral sex 

Police are investigation a report that a Berkeley man was forced to perform oral sex on another man early in the morning of April 14. Officer Galvan said he could provide no additional information beyond the fact that it occurred on Cedar Street because of a policy set by the City Attorney’s office. 

Bottle bashers 

Police are seeking two men who attacked a 21-year-old Berkeley man as he walked along the 2500 block of Bancroft Way near the Urban Outfitters store just after 6 a.m. on the 14th. 

The victim told officers he was approached by two men, one of who hit him on the head with a bottle before the pair fled across Bancroft and onto the UC Berkeley campus. 

The injured man was rushed to a local emergency room for treatment of his injuries. 

Table leg attack 

Police rushed to a residence in the 1500 block of Tyler Street at 10:58 a.m. Saturday after a woman called to report that she’d been assaulted with a pipe by a 57-year-old woman who had just run out the door. 

The weapon turned out to be a table leg, and the victim refused medical attention. No arrests have been made, said Officer Galvan. 

Drive-by robbers 

A Berkeley woman was just getting into her car in the 100 block of Tamalpais Roads at about 6:45 p.m. Saturday when a car pulled up and a young man leapt out, grabbed her purse and jumped back into the car—a noisy older sedan with no license plates—which then sped off with an accomplice at the wheel. 

Armed robbery 

A tall, thin gunman, accompanied by another fellow, pulled a pistol on a 27-year-old Berkeley man who was walking in the 2100 block of Milvia Street about 1 a.m. Tuesday. 

After he handed over his wallet and watch, the robbers fled. 

Child molestation 

Berkeley police are investigating allegations of child molestation reported Tuesday morning by a young Berkeley woman. No other details are available, said Officer Galvan. ›

Librarians raised the pressure a notch this week in the two-year battle with their boss, presenting a statement of no confidence in Library Director Jackie Griffin Tuesday to the City Council and Wednesday to the Library Board of Truste es. 

“We find the management of the Berkeley Public Library as provided by Library Director Jackie Griffin to be a liability for the organization, and a misuse of the public trust,” the statement concludes. 

While to date 77 of the 120 library employees r epresented by the Service Employees International Union 535 have signed the statement, their names are not listed individually. 

Anes Lewis-Partridge, senior field representative with the union, said that is because there has been retaliation against empl oyees who speak out at the library. In fact, grievances have been filed on behalf of workers who claim they are facing retaliatory disciplinary measures. 

“The tactic of the administration is to target activists,” Partridge said. “It has a chilling effect.” 

The no confidence statement included some of the following points: 

• Library service hours have been cut. 

• Library materials are unavailable due to shelving backlogs. 

• Administrative and supervisory staff positions have increased. 

• An expensive, controversial radio frequency identification system was instituted. 

• Labor-management meetings have been costly and ineffective. 

• Reprisals against employees who have spoken out include loss of promotions, written reprimands, punitive work assignments, gag orders, loss of pay and more 

The Wednesday evening trustees’ meeting included a closed-door session to discuss the director’s evaluation. 

Griffin’s evaluation has been on the trustees’ executive session agenda in February and again in March. In early April, the trustees met behind closed doors to discuss a lawsuit the director’s attorney threatened to file if she is fired. 

Through the library spokesperson, Community Relations Librarian Alan Bern, the library director declined comment on these i ssues because, Bern said, “We do not comment on internal personnel matters.” 

At the union’s behest, the mayor, a councilmember, two trustees and union representatives will meet within the next two weeks, Partridge said. 

“We’re trying to come to some sort of resolution,” she said. “At this point, enough is enough—this union needs some answers.””

It’s a remarkable moment in Haiti’s 200-year history, one where both optimism and fear coexist. 

There’s the hope that Rene Préval, the popular president-elect, can take the country’s reins and provide the fundamental freedoms and neces sities of life, for which the people elected him. 

“After two years of an unelected U.S.-imposed regime, an elected president is scheduled to be inaugurated on May 14,” attorney Brian Concannon, director of the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, said Wednesday in a telephone interview from his home in northeastern Oregon.  

Concannon was referring to the ouster of elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in February 2004 and his replacement by an interim U.S.-backed government.  

The elected go vernment will “provide opportunities and dangers for Haiti,” he said. 

Concannon and Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine, Haitian human rights activist and coordinator of the September 30th Foundation, will be in Berkeley at the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant tonight (F riday) speaking about “Haiti at the Crossroads.” 

The danger Concannon cites is the possibility that the United States and European allies will undermine Haitian democracy as they have before, through an economic embargo or political destabilization. 

Whe n Préval served his first term as president, 1996-2001, the United States enforced an embargo when he refused to institute many of the monetary policies demanded of him, such as privatization of all state-owned companies and lowering of tariffs, Concannon said.  

The political destabilization was more subtle. 

“What was happening was that the United States was propping up political parties that had absolutely no electoral legitimacy—they never got more than 10 percent of the vote,” Concannon said. 

Préval’s Feb. 7 victory was the continuation of a break with the past that began with Aristide’s first election in 1990, when Haiti’s poor majority understood that they could choose candidates who would speak for them, rather than the wealthy elite, Concannon said. 

The population appreciates “even very obvious things like candidates speaking Creole, which most Haitians speak, instead of French, which most Haitians don’t speak,” Concannon said. “The main thing the voters were looking for are progressive social and economic policies.”  

Much of the work of the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti is aimed at educating people in the United States about Haiti. If people understand the role of the United States in Haiti, they will put pressure on the U.S. government, Concannon said.  

He said that the average person lacks awareness of events in Haiti due largely to the media, which generally ignores or distorts what is happening there. 

“The media keeps repeating things until it’s believed,” Concannon said, pointing specifically to the notion, advanced in the press, that Préval was Aristide’s puppet when he governed. 

Préval brought in a whole new leadership team when he took over the presidency, Concannon said. And the emphasis of the two presidents was di fferent, although both concentrated on improving the lives of Haiti’s poor. While Aristide focused more on the urban poor, Préval, an agronomist, looked more toward the peasantry and land reform and developing agricultural production, he said. 

Préval’s r ule will surely be complicated by the situation in Parliament, he said. Runoff elections are scheduled for today (Friday) and will probably result in a legislature fragmented by multiple parties, he said. 

The most influential political movement since 199 0 has been Aristide’s party, Lavalas. Because the unelected government was ruling the country and the U.N. military was occupying it, Lavalas leadership decided to boycott the elections. 

The man who would have been the Lavalas candidate for president—put forward by grassroots Lavalas leaders—Fr. Gerard Jean-Juste, was thrown in jail.  

Préval created a new political party—the party of Hope. It will not have a majority in the legislature. 

“No party will have a near majority,” Concannon predicted. Préval will have to patch together a coalition. “It’s going to be a difficult collaboration,” he said. 

But the bigger danger is that foreign powers won’t allow Haiti to develop in the direction it chooses. 

“Préval has a chance to build the economy, but only if the United States lets it,” Concannon said, putting the burden on progressives in the United States. “Unless activists in the United States force our government to allow Haiti develop, it’s not going to develop. To me, that’s the key. It matters some wha t Préval does on the ground, but in the end, as long as the international community does not let Haiti develop along the lines it wants to develop, then it won’t do so.”› 

Brian Concannon, director of the Insitute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, and Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine, Haitian human rights activist and coordinator of the September 30th Foundation, will be in Berkeley at the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant at 362 Bancroft Way tonight (Friday) at 7 p.m. speaking about “Haiti at the Crossroads.” For more information, see the IJDH website is www.ijdh.org. 

What began as a fantasy, a “fairy-tale candy land” in the form of Sweet Dreams Candy Store 35 years ago on College Avenue is now a successful toy shop.  

“The best part about being an independent toy store is that you can be yourself,” owner Gary Gendel said. “Very few stores indulge in the kind of unique toys that we do.” 

Gendel said that Sweet Dreams had never felt the competition from larger toy-chains in the Bay Area like Toys ‘R Us or even chains such as Walmart and Target, which have recently added toy sections. 

“Independent toy stores are not just about rows and rows of merchandise,” Gendel said. “There is nothing wrong with having plastic stacked up with some neon lights for show, but that’s just not how we want to sell toys.” 

Berkeley’s independent toy stores are thriving at a time when the toy store business is not all fun and games. Toys ‘R Us, with an outlet in Emeryville, is reeling nationally from financial losses and has closed a total of 73 stores nationwide as of last month. 

“The majority of these stores were located in markets that have one or more additional Toys ‘R Us locations,” Bob Friedland, spokesman for Toys ‘R Us, told the Planet. “This included two Bay Area Toys ‘R Us stores in San Francisco and Vallejo.” 

Friedland said another dozen Toys ‘R Us stores will be converted to Babies ‘R Us stores this spring, including the ones in Colma and Emeryville. 

Friedland added that “these closings and conversions were a result of a comprehensive review of the Toys ‘R Us store portfolio across the United States and would help position the company for growth over the long-term.” 

Michael Sloan, co-owner of Games of Berkeley on Shattuck Avenue said that his store had seen some positive effect from the closure of the Bay Area Toys ‘R Us stores.  

“We saw a sudden increase in the sale of Scrabble, Apples to Apples, UNO, and Monopoly—games that were sold at Toys ‘R Us extremely cheaply.” 

Sloan added that Games of Berkeley didn’t need to compete with toy chains.  

“We don’t carry the same things that toy chains do. Chains carry maybe 15 percent of the stuff that we have on our shelves. We buy from around 400 vendors all over the U.S. A majority of them are hobby suppliers.” 

Sloan however acknowledged that in this age of X-Box and other electronic gizmos, the independent toy industry is something of a shrinking market. 

“The good news is that the number of people who carry independent toys are also shrinking,” he said. “So it is turning into a specialty item. As long as people want to play chess or hug a hand-made doll, business will go on. Our future depends on how people allocate their dollars.” 

In the past, several mall-based retail toy stores have gone out of business including Zainy Brainy and The Game Keeper chain owned by Wizards of the Coast. KB Toys filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2004 and closed 365 stores around the U.S. 

Sloan and his wife Janet Winters bought Games of Berkeley from its former owner Toy World in 2003 when the store was being closed along with 12 others in Northern California.  

Winters told the Planet that the store benefited from being located so close to the downtown Berkeley BART station. 

“Our Wednesday night open ‘Scrabble’ and Friday night ‘Magic: The Gathering’ played in our game room is a big favorite with the college kids and other regular customers. Our products are driven by customer requests. You won’t find our staff hiding in some backroom when customers are around,” she quipped.  

Peter Bernard, a resident of Oakland, is a regular at Games of Berkeley because of its expansive game collection. 

Marilyn Ornelas, a Berkeley resident, had brought her grandson Moses into the store recently. “Moses wanted a particular type of squishy toy that was only available here. Personally I prefer to do business in Berkeley and keep all my money in Berkeley,” she said. 

Johnny Williams, owner of Boss Robot Hobby on College Avenue said that dealing in independent toys was gradually turning into a struggle.  

Boss Robot sells radio controlled cars and trucks as well as model kits from the Tamiya and Kyosho brands that are imported from Japan. “It’s a lot of work involved in making customers happy,” he said. “Store variety and product knowledge needs to be far superior in order to compete with the bigger chains. We need to fill the niches that bigger chains are not interested in.” 

Pam Byars, who owns The Ark on 4th Street said that smaller toy stores added to a sense of community. 

“There is something special about seeing a child being born, growing up, and then coming back to the same store as an adult,” she said. “Target or the other chains won’t wrap up your toy with a bow and make it look all pretty—we believe in going that extra mile for all our customers. We believe in creativity, in being open ended, and in taking a child’s breath away.” 

UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism Dean Orville Schell announced Wednesday he will not seek reappointment this fall. 

Schell leaves the school to pursue his own writing, and has been offered a position at UC Berkeley as a special advisor on global issues, a press release said. Schell has been with the journalism school for almost 10 years. 

Schell is credited with introducing a prominent cast of characters to the graduate school for guest appearances and lectures, from Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw to Bill Clinton and the Dalai Lama. He also encouraged international travel as a method for students to hone their reporting skills. 

“It will be the end of an incredibly exciting era,” said Associate Dean Cynthia Gorney. “He is a guy of pretty extraordinary vision and ambition.” 

Schell is a specialist on China and the media, and has authored 14 books. He studied Far Eastern history as an undergraduate at Harvard College and Chinese history at UC Berkeley as a graduate student. 

He served as a correspondent and consultant for an Emmy-award winning episode of “60 Minutes” in addition to multiple “Frontline” documentaries. 

There are no obvious frontrunners to replace Schell, Gorney said. Schell plans to stay on until a new dean is appointed.  

The last dean, Thomas Goldstein, held the position from 1988 to 1996.  

The Berkeley City Councilmember representing the district of embattled Oregon Street homeowner Lenora Moore has sharply criticized the neighbors who brought a lawsuit in Small Claims Court against the 75-year-old grandmother, saying that their action involved a “revenge motive.” 

“I can’t bring myself as an African-American and an elected official, with a knowledge of that community, to declare that Mrs. Moore is a public enemy who needs to be removed from her home,” Councilmember Max Anderson said in a telephone interview. 

Anderson’s comments came a few days after Superior Court Judge Wynne Carvill issued an order upholding judgments for six of Moore’s South Berkeley neighbors. 

Last year, 14 of those neighbors filed nuisance claims against Moore in Small Claims Court in Berkeley, charging that several of her children and grandchildren have been operating a drug dealing gang out of Moore’s home for more than a decade. 

Last January, Alameda County Court Commissioner Jon Rantzman awarded $5,000 apiece to those neighbors. Moore appealed the award of six of those neighbors who lived a block away from her house, saying that they had not proved that the drug dealing and other nuisances they had suffered had originated from Moore’s property. 

Moore has not been charged with drug dealing herself. But her neighbors argued in court that she did not do enough to prevent her offspring from dealing drugs from the property. Moore testified in the earlier Small Claims Court action that she tried to stop the drug dealing, but was powerless to prevent it. 

Several of the plaintiffs said out of court that they were not interested in the $5,000 award called for in their lawsuit, but that their goal was to remove the drug problem in the neighborhood by forcing Moore to move. 

But Moore’s representative in the appeal, Oakland attorney James Anthony, said that even if Moore and her husband leave their Oregon home, “I don’t know if it will get the plaintiffs what they say they want.” 

Anthony noted that testimony in the Superior Court proceedings last month revealed that two of Moore’s offspring accused of involvement in Oregon Street drug activities were not living at Moore’s house, but were living within a block of her residence. 

“I don’t think that forcing [Moore] to move will stop the activities on Oregon Street,” Anthony said. 

The attorney said that he only represented Moore for the Superior Court appeal, and did not know what steps she planned to take in response to the new ruling and the original Small Claims Court verdict against her. 

“But I hope that she will be able to go to the neighbors and work out some sort of settlement, perhaps one in which they will drop the demand for the damages in return for her moving out of the neighborhood,” Anthony said. 

In his ruling on the appeal late last week, Judge Carvill wrote that “for years the drug activity on Oregon Street between Sacramento Street and Martin Luther King Way has been controlled by people operating out of or associated with [the Moore house] … and people related to drug activity travel both ways on Oregon coming to and from [the Moore house].” 

Carvill continued, “People known to ‘hang out’ on the porch, in the driveway and on the sidewalk in front of [the Moore house] travel up and down Oregon, engage in drug transactions up and down Oregon, post look outs as far west as Sacramento and as far east as Grant … and generally treat the entire area of Oregon from Sacramento to MLKW as their ‘turf.’” 

The Judge noted that the six residents who lived a block away from the Moore house on Oregon Street “reasonably view the drive west on Oregon as their natural egress to Sacramento, are subjected to increased auto and foot traffic by users and dealers going between MLK and [the Moore house], have to endure syringes, condoms, baggies and other drug-related paraphernalia on their street and in their yards, and live in constant fear of the drug dealers and users associated with [the Moore house], who have a history of harassing residents who try to stand up to them. All of this and more is ‘specifically injurious’ to these plaintiffs, establishes the necessary nexus between them and the nuisance at [the Moore house], and is a more than adequate foundation for their monetary claims.” 

Carville added that “there is no dispute regarding the fact that [the Moore house] currently is a center of drug activity in the southwest neighborhood of Berkeley and has been for many years.” 

The judge concluded that he hoped Moore would “begin to address the underlying cause of her current predicament: drug trafficking associated with [her home]. She needs to either actively manage the property so as to eliminate the nuisance or sell it. If she does neither, she should not be surprised if she finds herself a defendant in additional lawsuits.” 

According to Councilmember Anderson, however, putting legal pressure on Moore won’t help clean up drug activity in South Berkeley. 

Anderson called Moore a scapegoat. 

“She’s not being charged with any crime herself, and she hasn’t committed any crime, as far as I know,” he said. “Making her and her invalid husband homeless is not going to solve the problem in that neighborhood. What we need to provide in that community is better educational resources and better law enforcement techniques. Certainly, in Berkeley, we can find some alternate solutions to putting a woman out of her house. This action just seems to be aimed at punishing her.” 

Meanwhile, the lead plaintiff in the case, Paul Rauber, said that neighbors had been seeking a face-to-face meeting with Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates to help them with the situation. 

While Bates said by telephone that he had not received a request for a meeting with the Oregon Street neighbors, he said he would be “happy to meet with them.” 

Bates added that while the Moore property constituted “a real problem,” he believed that the court verdicts against Moore means that “the situation seems to be in hand” and the city doesn’t plan any independent action. 

“My hats are off to the neighbors,” he said. 

Bates said that Berkeley has been working on what he called “problem properties” in the city for several years. 

“We were one of the first cities in the area, after San Leandro, to pass an ordinance to take action against blighted properties, and it’s worked,” Bates said, adding that the city has had a Problem Property Task Force set up for the past three years that has forced 70 properties to be cleaned up, coordinating their efforts with inspections by the city’s Health and Fire Departments. 

In addition, Bates said that it was “reports by the police department over several years’ time” that allowed the Oregon Street neighbors to build their case against Moore in the Small Claims Court action and the Superior Court appeal. 

But Bates said he was happy to leave civil court action in the hands of Neighborhood Solutions, the Oakland-based group that advised the Oregon Street neighbors in their Small Claims Court lawsuits. Neighborhood Solutions is also advising several other Berkeley residents in similar Small Claims nuisance lawsuits. 

“I don’t think there’s a need for us,” to bring such civil court action, Bates said, adding that Neighborhood Solutions “has been terrific.”  

Berkeley officials have taken the first steps toward moving the city’s popular flea market, the market’s attorney said Monday. 

The Berkeley Flea Market is held every weekend on the western parking lot of the Ashby BART station, the site of a proposed housing and retail complex being urged by Mayor Tom Bates and City Councilmember Max Anderson, who represents South Berkeley. 

Osha Neumann, the South Berkeley lawyer who represents the flea market, said a representative of Korve Engineering contacted Errol Davis, the market’s general manager, on Friday. 

Davis declined to talk to engineer Fred Kelly until he talked to Neumann, the lawyer said. So Neumann talked with Kelly instead. 

“Kelly said he was directed to talk to the flea market by the city,” Neumann said. “He is doing a study of alternative locations for the flea market as one of the mitigations for the project.” 

Assistant City Manager for Transportation Peter Hillier said he had ordered the study, which is being conducted by Korve Engineering, a firm the city has on a $50,000 retainer. 

The firm is charged with looking into moving the market onto the section of Adeline Street between Ashby Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Hillier said. 

Davis has been critical of plans to move the flea market, which has become an East Bay institution at the current site, and he has ridiculed the proposal to hold it on Adeline, saying that merchants along the street probably wouldn’t be thrilled to have the market’s perennial drummer contingent just outside their doors. 

Hillier said he ordered the study to be able to provide answers for the mayor and Councilmember Anderson. 

“I’m responsible for determining whether the flea market could be relocated to occupy a portion of Adeline Street,” he said. “With the proposal to redevelop the westerly parking lot, there is a fundamental question of whether there’s a feasible alternative location for the market. In order to answer it, we need technical work, and it seem like a perfect task to give to our on-call engineering consultant.” 

Neumann is one of a large number of project area neighbors who have raised questions about the proposal. Neumann said he had turned down a nomination to serve on a board that is to outline the preliminary stages of the project. 

The development proposal is moving forward under the aegis of the South Berkeley Neighborhood Development Corporation, a nonprofit group that has selected Ed Church as project manager. 

The group is selecting a task force to outline the parameters for the city to use in selecting a developer for the site. 

Neumann said Kelly told him the city had selected his firm because the city is planning a transit village at the site, which allows increased density in the area surrounding the project and can preempt local zoning requirements in the surrounding area. 

Bates has denied that the city is planning a transit village. 

Neumann said he was alarmed that the city has moved forward with hiring consultants even though the task force hasn’t been approved and the state has yet to approve a grant for funding the planning process. 

Neumann said Kelly told him “the city is worried about the flea market merchants, so they want him to develop a report on other options than staying on the site.” 

“I told him it was not a fait accompli,” Neumann said. 

Reached Monday afternoon at his office in San Jose, Kelley said he couldn’t comment on the contract or say who at the city had authorized it. 

“I can’t discuss this issue any further,” he said. “This thing has spun completely out of control. I’m not the one who set this up.””

Former Berkeley Police Officer Sgt. Cary Kent, 53, pleaded guilty Friday to three felony charges: grand theft, possession of heroin, and possession of methamphetamine. 

Kent “stumbled,” said the officer’s attorney, Harry Stern of Rains, Lucia and Wilkinson in Pleasant Hill, describing his client’s actions moments after the plea. 

Stern negotiated with Deputy District Attorney Jim Panetta to give Kent, who had access to the drug evidence vault from September 2003 to January 2006, about five years of probation and no prison time in exchange for the guilty plea. 

Kent will be sentenced May 12 to a possible year in the county jail, Stern said.  

The joint police-district attorney investigation was limited to Kent and is closed. 

That troubles Andrea Pritchett of Berkeley Copwatch who is calling for an independent investigation of all police who had access to the evidence room. 

“The other [four] officers with access to the evidence room were not investigated,” Pritchett said.  

While investigators found 181 bags of evidence scheduled for destruction had been tampered with, Pritchett said investigators should review all the drug evidence that passed through Kent’s hands. One of Kent’s tasks was to check drug evidence into the evidence vault. 

The City Council should take a more proactive role in ascertaining whether the problem goes beyond Kent, she added. 

Calling the council responsibility in this case “pretty limited,” Councilmember Laurie Capitelli said he is satisfied with the council role. 

“This appeared to be an isolated incident,” he said. 

He further noted that the city is bringing in an independent agency—the California Commission on Peace Officers Standard of Training—to audit current police procedures. 

Mayor Tom Bates agreed that the council should play a limited role in investigating personnel matters, but said he wants the Police Review Commission to review “the whole way evidence is handled.” 

Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom after Kent pled guilty, Stern, a former Berkeley police officer, emphasized that his client had “scores of commendations,” and that he was now “on the mend.” 

Kent hurt no one but himself, Stern said 

“He took responsibility for a temporary lapse,” he said. “We’re all capable of making mistakes.” 

The almost 20-year Berkeley police officer, who was allowed to retire on March 14 “rather than cooperate with BPD Internal Affairs staff regarding the investigation,” according to a BPD statement, remains out of custody until he is sentenced. 

Panetta said he did not know if Kent would be placed within the regular jail population..

Cultural uses at the Gaia Building, sewer fees, and adopting the barn owl as the city’s official bird are just a few of the issues the City Council will address tonight (Tuesday) after its month-long spring break. 

The council will meet in special session at 5 p.m. to hear a report on health issues in Berkeley, then will meet at 6:20 p.m. as the Housing Authority—along with two community representatives—to look at the agency’s progress in remedying problems with its Housing Authority. The regular meeting begins at 7 p.m. 

During the public comment, library workers plan to present a petition stating the library staff’s “no confidence” in the library director. 

Gaia Building cultural use 

Councilmember Betty Olds put the thorny issue of “cultural uses” at the Gaia Building on the agenda because she said she wanted to give the council an opportunity to thoroughly understand the questions involved. Olds has asked for reports from the planning staff and city attorney to clarify the controversy. 

Further complicating the question, Gaia owner Patrick Ken-nedy has threatened a lawsuit against the city, according to a letter from his attorney, included in the council packet.  

When Kennedy planned the building at 2116 Allston Way, the city gave him permission to build two stories above the height otherwise permitted because he promised to dedicate the ground floor and mezzanine space to cultural uses. Former school board member, singer and entrepreneur Anna de Leon opened a jazz club on the ground floor.  

Kennedy leased other space to a management company, which rents out the space for cultural and other events. These events have included boisterous parties and concerts, which de Leon says interferes with the operation of her club. “That will destroy me,” de Leon told the Daily Planet. 

The city is questioning whether Kennedy’s use of the “cultural” space for private parties and receptions is appropriate. The Zoning Adjustment Board will discuss uses of the cultural space on April 27 and the planning department told Kennedy he is not to use the cultural space until after the ZAB meets. But Kennedy says cultural uses were already defined in writing by a previous planning director and he’s ready to take the city to court over the issue. 

“Given the extreme emergency situation that these city actions have caused, we will seek immediate judicial relief if this matter is not addressed and resolved on April 18th 2006,” Kennedy’s attorney Michael Patrick Durkee of Allen Matkins Leek Gamble & Mallory LLP of San Francisco, wrote to the mayor and council on April 5. 

Sewer fees 

Another issue that may prove controversial is the introduction of fees for inspection of sewer laterals and a mandate for their repair. Many sewers on private property are old and need repair and they overwhelm the treatment facilities, due to water entering cracks and through illegal downspout connections. 

The private laterals are the sewers that run from the structure to near the property line. The city is proposing that when a property is sold or when $100,000 of work is planned (or $50,000 that involves two or more plumbing fixtures), the homeowner must obtain a sanitary sewer lateral certificate. 

The fee for the certificate is $150, which pays to spot check the sewer and review a video of the private lateral—a private plumber will produce the video. If the lateral is judged defective, the homeowner will be required to repair it.  

Reducing stolen vehicles 

Pointing to the fact that 1,300 vehicles were stolen in Berkeley in 2003, Councilmember Gordon Wozniak is proposing an anti-theft plan and he’s asking the council to look at. The city would essentially help vehicle owners buy Geographic Positioning System devices for their cars. 

“Typically, cars equipped with such systems are recovered within 24 hours of their being stolen,” Wozniak says in his report.  

Barn owl honor, sweat free ordinance and more 

Councilmembers Olds and Dona Spring are asking the council to look at adopting the barn owl as the official city bird, which they call: “a graceful glostly bird that nests in palm trees and can locate rodents by sound and catch them in the dark of night.”  

The city may be purchasing a variety of goods made by child labor or people earning less than acceptable wages or working in unacceptable conditions. And so the Peace and Justice Commission and the Labor Commission are asking the City Council to develop a “Sweatfree Berkeley Ordinance. 

Other jurisdictions have adopted them including San Francisco. 

Computers donated by Homeland Security are not spying on people in Berkeley, an informational staff report says. They are intended to share geographical data with those responding to earthquakes or other regional emergencies. 

“No information is shared between City of Berkeley and Homeland Security at any level in connection with these computers, other than data that are available to them as members of the public,” the report notes. 

Two incumbents will vie to maintain their hold on the Berkeley Board of Education, while President Terry Doran says he won’t run again.  

Three of five seats are up for grabs this November, as Doran and Director Shirley Issel finish out their second four-year terms, and Director Nancy Riddle wraps up her first.  

Issel, a clinical social worker, and Riddle, the CFO for Monster Cable Products, have filed candidate statements of intent, City Clerk Sara Cox confirmed. 

No other official candidate statements have been submitted, but Karen Hemphill, the BUSD parent who narrowly lost a bid for school board in 2004, told the Planet Friday she plans to rerun. 

Two years ago, Hemphill ran in tandem with fellow parent Kalima Rose. Both were defeated by incumbents Joaquin Rivera and John Selawsky. Rose said she has no intention of running again, but Hemphill, who was edged out by 609 votes, reenters the political arena ready for battle. 

“There were members who said they would take up a strategic plan for student achievement. They have not,” she said. “I would bring a sense of urgency to the fact that we need an achievement plan: some new energy and vision that comes with my being an active parent for the last 10 years.” 

If elected, Hemphill, who works as the assistant to the city manager in Emeryville, would be Berkeley’s first African-American school board director in years. More than 30 percent of Berkeley’s public school students are African American, yet the district’s chief decision-making body is comprised of four white members and one Latino member. Many believe the board should more accurately represent the make-up of Berkeley student. 

“I have always encouraged and tried to solicit and support African-American candidates, and by having an African American on the school board, I feel the decisions would more closely resemble decisions of the community,” Doran said, while saying he would not support a candidate simply for being African-American.  

Hemphill weighed in on the role of an African-American leader on the board:  

“I think it’s incumbent on every school board member to represent the entire constituency. I don’t think that not being black absolves you of representing the African-American community,” she said. “At the same time, one African American can’t claim to represent the African-American community.” 

Though a relative unknown in the 2004 election, Hemphill earned endorsements from several public officials including Congressmember Barbara Lee (D-Oakland), Mayor Tom Bates, seven of nine councilmembers and Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson. Doran supported Hemphill in 2004. His high opinion of her has not changed, he said. 

Another possible candidate is Dan Lindheim, a longtime Berkeley resident who went through the public school system. His children are now following suit.  

Lindheim said he is considering a run, though he hasn’t decided just yet. Once a congressional policymaker for Ron Dellums, Lindheim currently volunteers full-time in various capacities: as a soccer coach, an issues consultant for Dellums’ Oakland mayoral campaign, and chair of the Berkeley Schools Excellence Project (BSEP) Planning and Oversight Committee. Two current directors, Selawsky and Riddle, are past committee chairs, and many deem the position a launch pad for a spot on the school board.  

In the November 2002 election, with three seats up for bid, Riddle raked in 25 percent of the votes, Doran received 21.1 percent and Issel earned 20.5 percent. 

This year, Issel follows the lead of board Vice President Rivera in chancing a third term. Rivera pursued and—with 27.4 percent of the vote—easily won a third term in 2004. The school board does not impose term limits; however, candidates historically have sought just two terms.  

The official nomination period for school board candidates begins this summer..

Warped lane configurations on Telegraph Avenue and a traffic analysis of proposed mixed-use development on University Avenue topped the list of hot button issues on the Transportation Commission’s agenda Thursday. 

The traffic report for a proposed retail and residential project at Martin Luther King Jr. Way and University, where Kragen Auto Parts stands, points to potentially significant car congestion.  

Developers plan to build a 156-unit apartment complex, a 13,515-square-foot Trader Joe’s and 875-square-feet of retail space, plus an underground parking lot at the site. 

The project would usher in potentially significant traffic at MLK and University, said the report, prepared by Oakland-based civil engineering and planning firm Korve Engineering. MLK and Berkeley Way would also suffer heavier gridlock, as shoppers would gain access to the project’s retail arm via a driveway on Berkeley Way.  

However, implementing measures such as adding and changing signals and reconfiguring lanes would reduce congestion, the report concluded. 

Berkeley Way is a residential thoroughfare running parallel to University that some residents say should not endure more car traffic.  

“There are young children on Berkeley Way,” said Steve Wollmer, who lives on the street. “If there is not a barrier on Berkeley Way, we will fight the project to the best of our ability. It is a bottom line, absolute.” 

Alternatives to the proposed configuration have been floated. One would forbid left turns out of the retail driveway on Berkeley Way; the other would close off a portion of the street. 

Wollmer also expressed distaste for the project’s potential impact on parking along MLK between University and Hearst Avenue, which he fears will slash patronage of nearby businesses. 

The development would usher in 1,304 new car trips to the area a day, adding bicycle and pedestrian safety to a list of concerns. Between 1998 and 2002 the second highest number of bicycle and pedestrian collisions in the city took place at University and MLK. In recent years, collisions have dwindled, but the intersection remains cause for alarm because a high percentage of injury accidents still occur. 

Commissioner Rob Wrenn said that’s not reason enough to reject the project, since mitigation measures can be implemented.  

“There’s nothing about the pedestrian and bicycle problem that can’t be fixed,” he said.  

Missing car spaces 

On Thursday, transportation commissioners will consider another contentious issue: the mysterious removal of about 20 car spaces on Telegraph Avenue between Dwight Way and the Oakland border. Spots were replaced with parallel motorcycle parking, and lane stripes were repainted as wavy, “psychedelic” lines. 

Many shopkeepers are up in arms, claiming that the new configuration negatively affects business. 

“Some folks thought they were having flashbacks to an acid trip,” said Councilmember Kriss Worthington, who represents the district, in a correspondence to the council in February. 

The City Council approved a citywide restriping initiative in 2004, and Telegraph was among the streets targeted for work. 

City staff took that opportunity to fix Telegraph’s bike lanes which, at four-feet-wide, were narrower than what state standards deem safe. 

To accommodate wider bike thoroughfares, some parking had to be eliminated and lane lines repainted. The decision was at the discretion of the traffic engineer and did not need the approval of City Council, said Peter Hillier, assistant city manager for transportation. Motorcycle spaces were selected because they fit the available space, he said.  

Worthington insists other alternatives were available, such as shaving off road medians or installing compact parking. Moreover, he rues the covert manner in which the spots were removed. 

“They didn’t have to remove the parking spaces to do the restriping,” he said. “But equally important, no one was told in advance. That’s a horrible way to treat small business people.” 

“No one in the city gave us any notification,” echoed Adam Shoehalter, owner of Zax Tavern on Telegraph, who has yet to see a motorcycle use the (now abundant) parking. “All the merchants there were screwed.” 

The commission will also discuss an upcoming community meeting to examine design plans for the proposed downtown Berkeley BART Plaza and Transit Area, the allocation of $200,000 payments from UC Berkeley for traffic management downtown, and a draft copy of the UC Berkeley Bike Plan. 

The Transportation Commission meets Thursday at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave., at 7 p.m..

Despite heavy rains experienced in Berkeley this year, two of the city’s emergency storm shelters have closed and a third has only a few more days of funding. 

The Oakland Army Base winter shelter, which houses 50 people from Oakland and 50 from Berkeley, shut down April 15. Funds ran out last week for the youth hostel that had housed about 40 homeless and transient youth since November. 

The emergency storm shelter at Trinity United Methodist Church, run by Dorothy Day House, has enough funding to last until around April 24, according to coordinator J.C. Orton. 

The city estimates that at any one time there are 836 homeless people in Berkeley of whom 254 are marginally housed..

Faced with a budget crisis, the Contra Costa Health Department has proposed $12.8 million in cuts that would eliminate 88 jobs and reduce some key services. 

The job figures don’t include cutbacks in positions filled by contract workers from private agencies and health care providers. 

The largest cuts—$5.5 million—would come from the department’s enterprise fund, moneys that can be used for a variety of program services. 

Other specific cuts of $2.7 million would come from mental health services, $2 million from public health and $811,853 from alcohol and other drug services programs. 

“The cuts were necessary because of a shortfall in anticipated county revenues,” said county Health Director Dr. William B. Walker. 

“The cuts will hurt, but they’re not a fatal blow. We are not closing any clinics or removing any people from eligibility,” he said, “although the cuts may result in longer waiting lists.” 

Contra Costa County is unique in California in the level of services it provides residents, offering a county health plan with a sliding premium scale that covers families and individuals at up to 300 percent of the official poverty level—or a $58,000 annual income for a family of four. 

“Residents can get care in clinics, hospitals and labs and prescriptions from our pharmacies. We had over 400,000 outpatient visits at our clinics last year,” Walker said. 

While the cuts come from funds allocated through the county’s general fund, the largest share of the department’s $684 million budget comes through mandated programs funded by the state and federal governments. 

The department employs a staff of 3,500. 

Similar cuts have been mandated in all other branches of county government, Walker said. 

County hospital staff positions earmarked for cuts include the Director of Nursing, the symptom control coordinator, the chief of CardioSupport Services, the head of the Clinics Dental, the assistant lab manager, two part-time anesthesiologists, three part-time surgeons, the ambulatory care clinic coordinator and seven hospital security officers (including the assistant chief). The proposal would also slash funds for hiring contract radiologists. 

Mental health cuts include: 

• Two mental health clinical specialists at the West County Children’s Mental Health Outpatient Clinic and three similar positions at the East County clinic. 

• Closure of Summit Center, a facility that provides court-ordered treatment for up to 20 boys with serious emotional disturbances—a measure that could wind up costing the county more through placement in private or state facilities. 

• Reduction in psychiatric services at the Chris Adams Girls’ Center, the Orrin Allen Boys’ Ranch and Juvenile Hall through the elimination of one psychiatrist, the reduction in hours for a second and elimination of a clinical mental health specialist assigned to juvenile probation. 

• Elimination of funds for art therapy and housing coordination services for the mentally ill in the East County. 

• Elimination of the program’s disaster plan coordinator. 

Public health positions and programs slated for cuts include: 

• Elimination of the equivalent of 1.25 public health nurse positions, which would eliminate home visiting services to 141 of the country’s most medically vulnerable infants. 

• Elimination of 2.8 community health worker positions would reduce outreach and enrollment programs for health coverage and cut plans to deliver the services through school districts and churches. 

• Cutbacks in the operation of the Health of Wheels program, a savings of $337,000 that would reduce immunizations, checkup and treatment of minor illnesses and injuries in Western Contra Costa County. 

• Reduction in public health nursing care for foster children and services provided by the Women’s, Infants and Children’s program 

• Elimination of 24 clients from the list of AIDS cases managed by the department and reduced testing for the disease. 

• A $226,000 cut eliminating 1.5 public health nurse positions that will result in decreased monitoring and follow-up of tuberculosis patients. 

• A $125,000 cut to the department’s Homeless Outreach program that would halve the services available to the urban homeless throughout the county and eliminate 2,000 contacts a year. 

Clerical and accounting positions are also slated for cuts. 

The county would also close outpatient pharmacies in Richmond, Pittsburg and Martinez, eliminating 16 positions in the process. Residents will still be able to receive their prescriptions through contracts arranged with private pharmacies, Walker said. 

One of the cuts for alcohol and drug abuse treatment programs is a $35,333 reduction in funds for Neighborhood House, a substance-abuse facility in North Richmond. The department’s substance-abuse program manager would also be eliminated. 

Another $152,000 would be taken from domestic violence programs education and training services. 

“Hopefully, we won’t have do this again next year,” Walker said. “State revenues and property tax funds were not increasing fast enough to meet projections.””

Efforts by Richmond environmental activists are playing a major role in reducing developer opposition to laws tightening regulations at contaminated sites. 

That’s the report delivered Thursday by San Francisco attorney Peter Weiner to members of the Richmond Southeast Shoreline Area Community Advisory Group (CAG). 

Weiner has been donating his services to Bay Area Residents for Responsible Development (BARRD), the group which has led the fight for tighter control at two key south Richmond sites—Campus Bay and UCB Berkeley’s Richmond Field Station (RFS). 

Weiner briefed the CAG of two laws now before the state Assembly, one from East Bay Democrat Loni Hancock and the other from Cindy Montanez, a San Fernando Valley Democrat. 

At the urging or BARRD and other East Bay activists, Hancock and Montanez conducted a Nov. 6, 2004, legislative hearing at RFS that ultimately forced a changeover in regulatory oversight at both Campus Bay and the UCB site. 

The two adjacent sites housed chemical manufacturing plants for over a century which left the soil and water beneath heavily contaminated with deadly toxins. 

Both sites had been under the jurisdiction of the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, an agency that has no toxicologists on staff and does not provide for public participation in formulating cleanup plans. 

Following the hearing, both sites eventually were transferred by the state Environmental Protection Agency to the Department of Toxic Substances Control, an agency heavily staffed with toxicologists and other scientists and which provides a public participation process in the form of CAGs. The Richmond CAG was formed after the handover. 

The two bills now pending in the state legislature face a much friendlier climate than similar measures that were stalled in committee last year, and Weiner told CAG members “this has happened because of you and this site.” 

Vapor intrusion 

Hancock’s AB 2092 focuses on sites where hazardous vapors—typically from a class of substances known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs)—pose a potential threat to people who live or work at a site. 

Now-stalled plans for a 1,331-unit high-rise condominium and apartment complex at Campus Bay called for fans to blow away vapors from spaces beneath the occupied floors of the structure—a proposal that alarmed activists. 

Hancock’s measure calls for the creation of a statewide database listing all sites with potential vapor intrusion problems, followed by formulation of plans to identify other potential problem sites, with orders to follow mandating testing of the sites, said Gayle Eads, legislative aide to the Berkeley assemblymember. 

Eads said that vapor intrusion effects are sometimes overlooked because their health consequences can take time to manifest. 

Existing information about sites is scattered throughout a variety of agencies, including the water boards, the DTSC, the state Integrated Waste Management Board and various city and county agencies. 

Under Hancock’s legislation, the information would be compiled in one data base and posted online under the supervision of the ombudsperson of the state Secretary for Environmental Protection. 

“We felt that would make it much easier to evaluate the extent of the problem,” Eads said. “Then we can figure out how to follow up. If we have all the information at one spot, then we can have all the agencies sit down at the same table and bring all of the different expertise to bear.” 

The information could be of special benefit to poorer counties and cities that lack the resources to evaluate the problem. 

Eads confirmed that the potential vapor problems at Campus Bay had played a major role in Hancock’s decision to draft the proposed legislation. 

Montanez bill 

The Montanez measure—AB 2144—authorizes the regional water boards to establish a public participation process during the formulation of plans to clean up contaminated sites. 

“Last year, the development community vociferously opposed” a similar measure, Weiner said, but because of the attention focused by problems at Campus Bay, opposition has largely dissolved. 

In the interim, he said the state Water Quality Control Board has issued directives to the local boards ordering them to provide the public greater opportunity to comment on proposed cleanup plans before they are adopted. The Montanez measure would formalize the process. 

“Basically, the bill equalizes the public participation process with the DTSC,” said Montanez legislative aide Michael Mendez. 

While current state law doesn’t require public participation in the formulation of cleanup plans and mandates a public comment period only after their adoption, Montanez’s measure mandates a public comment period—along with community notices in appropriate languages—for at least 30 days before a plan is adopted. 

The measure also provides for the formation of advisory groups—like the DTSC’s CAGs—which can be involved for longer periods through the cleanup plan formulation process. 

“CAGs aren’t appropriate for every site,” said Mendez, not does the DTSC form CAGs at every cleanup site. The Richmond group was formed as the result of a petition from community members. 

Weiner hailed the legislation as a major move forward.  

Other business 

CAG members also voted to recruit replacements for four of their members who have resigned, and to reduce their official quorum from 60 percent of members to half because of a shortage of members at recent meetings. 

Sherry Padgett, a CAG member and the leading BARRD member, reported on a recent meeting with UC Berkeley officials at the Richmond Field Station, where she stressed the need for signs along the Bay Trail and other parts of UC property. 

Padgett said she also emphasized to UCB officials the need for a complete survey of the site, which unlike the adjacent Campus Bay property, has never been systematically evaluated for contaminants. 

While the university had originally insisted that its own staff would handle all aspects of the cleanup at the site, the university has retained a consulting firm—Tetra Tech, Inc., based in Pasadena—to prepare a soil management plan for the site. 

Barbara J. Cook, DTSC’s Berkeley-based chief of Northern California coastal cleanup, said the plan will focus on providing guidelines for university employees excavating soil in areas known to harbor contaminants. 

A survey of soil at the West Shores site at Marina Bay, where Toll Brothers plans a condo complex, revealed more antimony into two samples, but only one was above the agency’s screening levels, Cook said. The agency is currently evaluating a new plan prepared to manage soil at the site, she said. 

Cook also said that her agency hasn’t ruled out the possibility that radioactive contaminants might be buried at Meeker Slough between the Field Station and the Marina Bay housing complex. 

A survey conducted earlier this year after CAG member and retired UCB employee Rick Alcaraz reported that he and other works had dumped barrels of possibly radioactive material at the site turned up no evidence of the barrels, but Alcaraz said the dig was too shallow and possibly at the wrong location. 

Cook said she will meet with Alcaraz and see if further work is needed..

The Secretary-Treasurer and Finance Committee Chair of the Alameda County Medical Center Board of Trustees abruptly resigned from the board last week, leaving the board without a key financial expert at a time when the center is facing a fiscal crisis and questions about board oversight of its fiscal management. 

Former Pleasanton mayor Tom Pico, a certified public accountant, said in a telephone interview this week that he resigned “for health and personal reasons. I needed to take a little different direction in my life. My health is not going to allow me to be on any outside boards.” 

Management consultant Stanley M. Schiffman, who Pico succeeded as Board Finance Committee Chair when the board reorganized on the first of the year, will resume the chair duties on a temporary basis. 

Shortly after taking over the chairmanship of the board’s Finance Committee, Pico had asked former trustee Gwen Sykes to join the committee. Sykes had been a frequent critic of the center’s management and hiring practices. She was removed from the ACMC board last March in a disputed voice vote by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors. 

The medical center runs several public medical institutions in Alameda County, including Highland Hospital in Oakland and Fairmont Hospital and the John George Psychiatric Pavilion in San Leandro. 

Pico’s resignation came one day before ACMC Chief Executive Officer Wright Lassiter told a joint meeting of the ACMC Board and the Alameda County Board of Supervisors that despite increased revenues, the center is still projecting an $11.5 million deficit for the current fiscal year. 

Lassiter called the budget situation a “fiscal crisis” and said his management team is taking immediate steps to close the budget gap. 

A month ago, when Lassiter made the same projection to ACMC trustees, Pico suggested that the budget problems were being underestimated. At that meeting, Pico called the $11.5 million deficit figure “the best possible case. A more realistic assessment is that we will have a deficit of another $2.5 million to $5 million above that unless we get a handle on expenses.” 

At that March meeting, trustee Daniel Boggan Jr. said that there were “major structural problems with this budget” and added that “when I was asked about it by a senior county official after this budget was passed, I thought we were underbudgeted by $1 million per month.” 

Boggan said at the time that while the board “has to give the administration time to fix this problem, we can’t just put a band-aid over it.” 

At Monday’s joint meeting, Lassiter told trustees and supervisors that sales tax revenue is running higher than budgeted figures from several sources, including Measure A, the half-cent transaction and use tax overwhelmingly passed by Alameda County voters in 2004 primarily to aid the medical center. 

But Lassiter said that salaries are busting the budget. With 138 more employees than projected, the center is running $3 million over budget each month on personnel costs, including salary and benefits. Overtime costs are running 40 percent over budget. 

Personnel costs make up 65 percent of the medical center’s budget. 

Asked by supervisors to explain how the center could be so far overbudget on its personnel costs, Lassiter gave one example, saying that misreading of state hospital personnel regulations contributed to the problem. The CEO said that the budget had project a 1-to-6 nurse-patient ratio for the John George Psychiatric Pavilion, but the Pavilion actually had to staff based upon the higher, state-mandated 1-to-5 nurse-patient ratio. 

Public hearings on the fiscal year ‘06-’07 budget by the ACMC Board of Trustees Finance Committee are expected to begin next month.  

Lassiter had no hand in drawing up this year’s medical center budget. That document was developed by Cambio Health Solutions, the Tennessee-based company hired by the medical center in early 2004 to analyze ACMC’s finances. Cambio’s involvement with ACMC ended when Lassiter was hired last September.  

During her two years on the board before being ousted by the supervisors, Sykes often complained that trustees were asked to approve salaries for high-level hires at the center without knowing the full cost of the contracts. 

“The board would be asked to approve a hiring contract based on a one-page summary, without being given the actual contract itself,” Sykes said in an interview with the Planet. “That’s one of the reasons we ended up overbudget.” 

Sykes said that in October of last year, for example, she wrote to ACMC management, asking that the Human Resources Committee, of which she was the co-chair at the time, be provided “with all information…related to the hiring” of a management staff member. “I do not recall receiving a CV, salary offer package nor reference information.” 

Sykes wrote that she had earlier told board members that the employee “was provided an offer outside of the budgeted range, which concerns me in light of our difficulty in managing the existing budget and directive to staff to adhere to the budget determined solely by the board.” 

She said that while nurses and other lower-paid workers got much of the blame for the center’s budget woes, the real problem was in doctors’ salaries. 

“The center was doing a lot of hires that they didn’t need, at costs they couldn’t afford,” she said. “It was irresponsible.” 

At the March meeting in which CEO Lassiter first reported the projected $11.5 million budget deficit, Sykes told trustees that the center needed to impose a moratorium on new high-level hires. 

“We need nurses, and that’s it,” she said. “If it’s not nurses, I don’t think we need to be hiring anybody.” 

Sykes is considering legal action to attempt to restore her position on the board.  

The Public Information Officer for the medical center has been out of the office since last week and was not available for comment.  

In other ACMC news, registered nurses are currently considering a contract offer by the medical center that would boost their salaries 4 percent this year and 4.5 percent the following two years. Voting on the package is scheduled to end this week..

Just when it seemed impossible for relations between the United States and Iran to get any worse, they have deteriorated once again. The rhetoric and counter-rhetoric over Iran’s nuclear program sounds serious and substantive. However, a little reflection reveals this situation for what it is: a continuing piece of high-stakes political theater that principally benefits the leaders of both nations by shoring up their lagging political fortunes. 

It would be easy to dismiss this absurd scenario if the consequences were not potentially so ominous.  

Both the Bush administration and the Iranian clerical regime are reeling from historic low support figures from their constituent populations. United States politicians know that attacking Iran is a sure-fire political winner with the American public. Iran has become America’s all-purpose bogeyman. 

Foolish declarations, such as the State Department assertion that Iran is America’s “greatest security threat” are received uncritically by voters throughout the nation. Similarly in Iran, the United States can be freely demonized without serious question. The leaders of the Islamic republic regularly blame the United States for their own failings in managing economic development, border control and corruption.  

The issue the two sides have seized upon for the last three years is Iran’s nuclear development program. For U.S. politicians, nothing gets the attention of the American public more reliably than the threat of nuclear weapons being deployed against the United States. This frightening prospect was effective in convincing the nation to support the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. Merely suggesting that Iran poses a nuclear danger is enough to convince many Americans that the suggestion is based on fact.  

For Iran, the fact that the United States has led an international campaign to halt its 35-year-old nuclear energy development program—a program started with American blessing—is an affront to national pride. Indeed, the specter of violent military attacks on Iran from the United States or Israel if Iran does not stop uranium enrichment is met by defiance from Iran, where the enrichment program continues unabated. 

As Iran’s U.N. ambassador, Javad Zarif declared before the United Nations Security Council on March 29, “Pressures and threats do not work for Iran. Iran is allergic to pressure and threats and intimidation.” Consistent reports from Iran state that even Iranians who are opposed to their own government support continued nuclear energy development. 

The ominous rhetoric from both sides masks the weakness of both nations’ positions. 

U.S. and British officials when pressed admit there is no hard evidence that an Iranian nuclear weapons development program exists. They also admit that Iran’s nuclear energy development program is their right under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to which Iran (but not Israel, Pakistan or India) is a signatory. 

Moreover, Seymour Hersh, writing in the New Yorker about U.S. plans for military strikes against Iran, emphasizes that high-raking U.S. military advisors oppose the idea of any kind of military action against Iran’s widespread nuclear development laboratories as impractical, ineffective and likely to create a greater problem than it would solve.  

Iran’s posturing, which included an amusing set of festivities on April 11 with folkloric performers dancing while hoisting vials of enriched uranium against the backdrop of hundreds of flying white doves, conceals the fact that Iran is years away from producing enough nuclear fuel to power a generator, much less in the quantity and purity level that would allow it to construct a nuclear weapon. However, that has not stopped Iran from showing off a new set of conventional weapons designed to counter an American attack.  

This makes American and Iranian assertions and counter-assertions appear rather ridiculous. Indeed, the danger in this situation could be dismissed if there were other leaders in power. However, in both nations the leadership needs this conflict. 

President Bush and the Republican party face defeat in November without an issue to galvanize the voting public behind their assertion that they are best able to protect the United States from attack—the only point on which they have outscored Democrats in recent polls. 

President Ahmadinejad also needs public support for his domestic political agenda —an agenda that is paradoxically opposed by a large number of the ruling clerics in Iran. Every time he makes a defiant assertion against the United States, the public rallies behind him.  

This creates what political scientist Richard Cottam termed a “spiral conflict” in which both parties escalate each other’s extreme positions to new heights. It is entirely possible that Iran could goad President Bush into a disastrous military action, and that action would result in an equally disastrous Iranian reaction.  

The resulting conflagration would likely engulf the region, and then the world.

The following is an excerpt from Richard Schwartz’s Earthquake Exodus, 1906: Berkeley Responds to the San Francisco Refugees. This is the last in a series of four installments from the book. 

In spite of all normal life in Berkeley being suspended by the damage and the flood of earthquake refugees that had covered the town, it was odd how “normal life” kept poking through like blades of grass that had been covered but still found their way to the light in spite of it all. 

Students, though living lives as cadets, guards, food servers, cooks, nurses assistants, etc., still needed to finish their school somehow, someway, sometime.  

Regular life kept reasserting itself, mixed in with this most extraordinary time.  

Graduation Day, 1906  

On April 28, UC Berkeley President Benjamin Ide Wheeler announced that because students and faculty had been helping with the relief effort, exams would be canceled, and students’ final grades would be based on their work during the spring term. 

The seniors may have not mourned the cancellation of exams, but they missed some of the pleasures routinely enjoyed by graduating classes. One of them was a yearbook. The 1906 Blue and Gold was about to be printed at Sunset Press in San Francisco when the earthquake struck. The yearbook burned along with the press’s other publications in the fire. 

Graduation ceremonies for more than four hundred seniors took place at the Greek Theatre on May 16.  

President Wheeler delivered a stirring address that acknowledged recent events: “Class of 1906, I give you my blessing and send you forth. You will never forget these days of vehemence through which you issue into life. It may be you have learned more in them concerning the things that are real than in all your college courses. You have learned the exceeding blessedness of helping others, you women who toiled devotedly in relief and care, and men who faithfully through hours of horror guarded the doors of the unprotected. You saw the things that men counted the real stay and foundation of life vanish to the winds; even the crust of mother earth was no longer firm beneath her feet; but out of the ruin and dismay you saw emerge a surer foundation shapen in the mind of the Eternal Real, and there composed is not land or gold or steel, but the blessed loyalties of human brotherhood and the tender mercies of human love.” 

Sarah Bernhardt Performs Benefit 

People needed a break—an escape from survival and the urgent tasks they were performing on a daily basis, many for very long hours. They needed to forget all that had happened for a bit. 

A month after the earthquake, many Berkeley residents and San Francisco refugees came to the Greek Theatre to be entertained in the grandest style by the grandest lady of the stage.  

On April 26 Sarah Bernhardt performed a concert in a huge tent in Chicago to benefit the San Francisco relief effort. It was a huge success. The next month she came to Oakland and appeared at Ye Liberty Playhouse in Oakland.  

Then, on May 17, she starred in the play Phedre at UC Berkeley’s Greek Theater. Admission was $1 or $2 for reserved seats, and 10 percent of the proceeds went to benefit the refugees. By the time the curtain rose at 3 p.m., an audience of 5,000 had packed the theater. They were ready for a respite from the events of the previous month.  

Bernhardt had expressed an interest in performing at the Greek Theater after reading about it. 

“It has always been a dream of mine to play Phedre sometime in the open air,” she told the Oakland Enquirer. 

According to one review, “Her Phedre, though a tragic figure in a tragedy-haunted community, supplied the first big breathing spell that the fire-sufferers had enjoyed.” Bernhardt’s voice “cooed and soothed and sobbed through the lines ... and as she left the amphitheater in an open carriage without a veil, she was cheered enthusiastically by thousands of people who had lingered on the heights among the trees, or along the campus to wave and shout her an enthusiastic farewell.”  

Bernhardt later said, “There in the Greek Theatre of the University of California at Berkeley I played Phedre, as it has never been played before, under blue skies and in a classic theatre of the Greek type. There sat before me 8,000 folk, of whom more than half had been made homeless by the terrible fire of San Francisco, and they forgot—yes, I believe they forgot all.” 

Earthquake Exodus, 1906 is available at local bookstores. See www.richardschwartz.info for speaking dates. 

Today (Tuesday, April 18) at City Council Chambers, the public is invited to a 3:30 p.m. ceremony at which Richard Schwartz will present Mayor Bates with a Certificate of Honor to the citizens of Berkeley from San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. Also, following the ceremony, BAHA will sponsor a lecture on the 1906 Berkeley Earthquake Relief effort and the book at the Berkeley City Club at 7:30 that night. Contact BAHA for tickets, at 841-2242.

There is a 62 percent chance of an earthquake of a magnitude of 6.7 or greater striking the San Francisco Bay Area before the year 2032, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. 

Apart from generating structurally damaging ground motions from the eastern margin of the bay through the East Bay hills, and from Milpitas in the south to as far north as Petaluma, such an earthquake would also cause structural damage in San Francisco’s Financial District, and severe shaking throughout the Santa Clara Valley and eastward into the San Ramon and Livermore valleys. 

According to Jeff Lusk, chief of the Earthquake Program for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, USGS has predicted that a major rupture of the Hayward Fault would probably be the most devastating East Bay event in history because it would occur within the highly developed Interstate 880 corridor.  

According to a July 2004 assessment, an earthquake of magnitude 6.9 on the Hayward Fault with Berkeley as the epicenter could displace between up to 12,000 households, leaving hundreds injured or dead. 

“This quake is long overdue,” Lusk said. “When it occurs, gas, water, transportation, and communication will all be disrupted. If the father works in Albany, the mother teaches at Cal and the kid goes to school somewhere else, there is a chance that they might be separated for days, even weeks. Medical and emergency services will be overwhelmed. In a word, the situation will be extremely chaotic.” 

He added that the one good thing that came out of the hurricanes in the Gulf Coast last year was increased awareness of the potential of natural disasters. 

“Not just Berkeley, but California as a whole is no longer in denial,” he said. “People realize that this is going to be a catastrophic disaster. They realize that government services will not be able to help them for the first 72 to 96 hours. They will have to have adequate food and water stocked up to last for at least five days.” 

Berkeley Assistant Fire Chief Gil Dong said that in the aftermath of a major earthquake in Berkeley, lack of water could become a cause for concern.  

“Residents should store up on a gallon of water per person per day for at least five days,” he said. “We are working with neighborhoods on earthquake preparedness through Community Emergency Response Training classes and Neighborhood Network Discussion programs that will teach neighbors to start a neighborhood network focused on disaster preparedness.”  

Since Hurricane Katrina, the city’s Office of Emergency Services has given disaster preparedness talks to more than 1,500 Berkeley residents.  

Jesse Townley, chair of Berkeley’s Disaster Council, said that his office supported the OES by advocating for proper funding as well as volunteering to teach the training classes, fill emergency caches in the Berkeley schools, and be vocal about the need for residents to be ready to survive on their own for at least five days after the next big quake. 

“We also work on other initiatives and laws to safeguard our city, like working with the Planning Department and the city manager’s office on the unreinforced masonry, soft-story, and seismic retrofit programs,” he said.  

The structures in the city that face the most danger from earthquakes are the unreinforced masonry buildings and soft-story buildings.  

“Embarrassingly enough, one of the few unreinforced masonry buildings left is a city building in the corporation yard that houses the city’s backup radio system,” Townley said.  

Soft-story buildings—usually apartment buildings built over an open parking area on the ground floor—face a higher risk because of their design.  

The implementation of a new city law requires owners of these buildings to retrofit the buildings to make sure that they stand up long enough for people to safely escape when an earthquake occurs.  

According to Townley, because the law does not affect structures with four units or fewer, the next step needs to be tenant and landlord education. 

“Finally,” he said, “much of the Berkeley flatlands are built on landfill which will liquefy in a strong earthquake. If the quake is strong enough, houses will be flattened and it’ll depend on the strength of retrofit work if occupants will be able to exit before the house collapses.” 

Townley also said he wants to install part or all of a curriculum like the Red Cross’ Masters of Disaster program in the public schools. 

Should a large-scale disaster occur, Berkeley will be requesting mutual-aid through the State Mutual Aid System.  

“Through the mutual aid system, all resources including food, water, emergency personnel, building inspectors, etc., can be requested,” said Assistant Fire Chief Gil Dong. “The city is also finalizing a memorandum of understanding with the American Red Cross, Berkeley Unified School District and UC Berkeley that will identify potential shelters in a large scale disaster.”  

Today, on the 100-year anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, UC Berkeley—along with regional partner agencies such as the City of Berkeley, City of Albany, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Alta Bates-Summit Medical Center, Bayer Health Care Corporation and others—plans to carry out a Shockwave Centennial Disaster Training Exercise to simulate the 1906 San Andreas Fault Quake.  

Tom Klatt, manager of Emergency Preparedness at UC Berkeley, said the university has always served as a model for other universities when it came to disaster resistance.  

“In 1999, we became the first disaster resistant campus in the country,” he said. “However, you can never be prepared enough for an earthquake. There is always more to do in terms of updating disaster preparedness procedures.” 

The university carries out one earthquake drill every year and has two satellite phones on campus for use in case of major communication disruption, Klatt said. Although buildings on campus are being strengthened to reduce casualties and damages from a future quake, students are strongly encouraged to be self-sufficient.  

Klatt added, “Since each campus building has a designated evacuation area it is important for students to find out where these Emergency Assembly Areas (EAAs) are for their residence hall and classroom buildings.” 

For further information on earthquake preparedness see www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/fire/oes.html, www.72hours.org, or call the Office of Emergency Services at 981-5605. 

A little bird dropped off at the Daily Planet office a document entitled “Survey on Economic Development in Berkeley—Preliminary Materials,” dated April 9. It is described as “proposed categories and question [sic] for an economic development survey,” to be converted by a professional survey company into the appropriate format to reach 400 potential Berkeley voters. It purports to be an attempt “to discover how Berkeley residents feel about a variety of public policy challenges confronting the city in spring, 2006.” 

The birdie suggested that the survey will probably be paid for by some combination of the Downtown Berkeley Association (sometimes called the Downtown Business Association), the Seagate property development corporation that’s been swallowing up big chunks of Berkeley, the Chamber of Commerce, and maybe the city’s Economic Development Department. A laudable idea, perhaps, asking what people think and developing policy as the people wish. Or maybe not. 

There are at least two kinds of opinion polls. Some polls are open-minded, genuine attempts to get information. Others, however, are not. These are the notorious “push” polls, the ones that attempt to suggest to the respondents what they ought to be thinking. These have been recently employed by, among others, the far right supporters of the Bush administration, and they’re an ugly business.  

Based on the document we saw, it looks like downtown interests are planning to inflict a push-poll on the citizens of Berkeley, a very poor idea indeed. Why do we think this? 

Well, let’s start at the top.  

I—Questions Regarding Street Behavior 

1. Lying Ordinance 

a. Do you favor a stricter enforcement of this ordinance? 

b. What enforcement tool should police have?  

c. Are you familiar with James Q. Wilson’s “Broken Windows,” Atlantic Monthly (March,1982)…? 

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the codes embedded in this question, a brief primer. Berkeley’s “lying ordinance”—prohibiting various forms of prone posture on public sidewalks—was designed to clear the streets of unsightly beggars without actually violating their constitutional rights. The “Broken Windows” theory is one of the most persistent of absolutely unprovable urban legends, that if you make cities look nice by cosmetic alterations such as fixing broken windows, cleaning off graffiti and hauling away unsightly beggars, crime will disappear and property values will rise.  

As it happens, Thursday’s Los Angeles Times contained an excellent article by University of Chicago Law Professor Bernard Harcourt, refuting, once again, for the umpteenth time, the broken window legend. Here’s how he describes it:  

“The theory was first articulated by James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling in the Atlantic magazine in 1982. They argued that minor forms of disorder—such as graffiti, litter, panhandling and prostitution—will, if left unattended, result in an increase in serious criminal activity. Clean up minor disorder, they said, and a reduction in major crime will follow.” 

He then goes on to cite at least six major social science studies since 1982, including a recent one of his own, which completely refute Wilson’s theory. His conclusion: 

“Everybody agrees that police matter. The question is how to allocate scarce police dollars. Should cops be arresting, processing and clogging the courts with minor-disorder offenders or focusing on violence, as well as gang and gun crimes, with the help of increased computerized crime tracking? The evidence, in my view, is clear: Focusing on minor misdemeanors is a waste.” 

Property owners in Berkeley’s modest, somewhat seedy old downtown shopping district have traditionally blamed panhandlers for their business problems, and they have a First Amendment right to do so—even if they’re mistaken. But when they use a push-poll and discredited pseudo-science to promote public demand for more policing in their own arena, something’s wrong. Drug violence is severely impacting Berkeley neighborhoods, and that’s where police dollars are needed. 

And here are more proposed questions, designed to lead the respondent to a predetermined conclusion: 

II, 6. If you knew that at least a million square feel of land in West Berkeley that is zoned for light industry, has been sitting empty for long periods of time, and has been contributing nothing to the tax base, would you favor rezoning of that area so that it could be used commercially in a different way which would make a significant contribution to the city’s tax base? 

And:  

II,13. If you were told that the city of Berkeley has a substantially higher percentage of buildings landmarked than any other surrounding city, and that such landmarking was impairing economic development in Berkeley, would you support a change in the landmarking process?  

If you were told that pigs could fly, would you support the City of Berkeley’s requiring them to file flight plans?  

This kind of loopy question continues for six closely spaced pages which contain many more outrageous and erroneous assumptions. Berkeley citizens deserve to know who’s paying for this folderol, whether any public funding is involved, and how sponsors plan to use it. Influencing the November city election is one possibility.  

Gluttons for outrage can see the full text of the proposed survey on our website: www.berkeleydailyplanet.com. 

—Becky O’Malley›

Traditional summer school isn’t working. 

Rather than give it the heave-ho—the popular choice of most students—the Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) is exploring alternative models.  

According to Neil Smith, district director of educational services, research suggests that standard summer school fails to adequately improve student performance. 

“We’ve been trying to come up with a different method for years,” said district spokesman Mark Coplan. 

The solution was to charge principals with the task of revamping summer school, under the premise that site-specific programs will best address student needs. 

For the pre-elementary school lot, Rosa Parks will offer a five-week bridge program starting July 24. Funded by Alameda County First 5, the program will give literacy exposure and medical screenings to 36 students who have not completed pre-school. Parent training is also included in the program. 

Three elementary schools will extend the school year for continuing students who struggle in reading and math. Cragmont students will undergo a six-week, all-day academic support and enrichment program, and teachers at Thousand Oaks plan to hold an Institute for Special Education students from June 19 to July 14.  

At Rosa Parks, 20 continuing students will take part in a new course that fuses intensive academic intervention with professional development. About 10 teachers will participate in instructional workshops, then practice what they’ve learned in the classroom. 

“We’re trying to provide a high quality intervention environment and do something new with teachers,” said Tom Prince, a literacy intervention teacher at Rosa Parks. “The staff development portion will help with the quality of instruction, and because there are extra teachers, the kids will get more individualized attention.” 

Berkeley’s three middle schools will host four weeks of math and English instruction, four hours a day, to students who have failed those classes, in addition to special education courses. 

Summer school at Berkeley High School won’t change—students who need credits will still take standard courses—but administrators are considering an option for students to attend evening classes starting this fall. 

Summer school programs are estimated to set the district back $350,000; $300,000 will be covered by intervention funds, and the remaining $50,000 will come from school site fundss. 

The Berkeley Board of Education is slated to approve the new batch of summer programs Wednesday..

Due to a reporting error, remarks made by another source were incorrectly attributed to Robert Lauriston in the April 14 story “Controversy Surrounds Ashby BART Task Force.” 

Lauriston did not criticize project director Ed Church for “actively soliciting specific people” or claim that nominees to the task force were required to endorse the project. 

••• 

In an April 14 story on KPFA’s new interim general manager, Local Station Board Chair Richard Phelps should have been quoted as saying he hoped KPFA would hire a permanent general manager with radio experience.

OREGON STEET 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

Max Anderson should be ashamed of himself for racebaiting his constituents (“Oregon Street Neighbors Win Appeal, Criticism,” April 18). I and scores of other neighbors on Oregon Street and surrounding streets have been working for years to deal with the drug dealing and violence at 1610 Oregon St. We have now won four straight court victories against Lenora Moore, and hope there doesn’t have to be a fifth. But we will persevere in our civil actions, because we have been abandoned by our councilmember and our mayor. The city of Berkeley has it in its power to clean up with what the courts have deemed a public nuisance, but they have chosen to abdicate their responsibility and either hide behind the skirts of the neighbors (Bates) or taunt and racebait them (Anderson).  

Why is our councilmember siding with the drug dealers against his constituents?  

Paul Rauber  

• 

STOP THE DEALING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Max Anderson misunderstands the concerns of the Oregon Street residents: They don’t want Grandma Moore to move, they just want folks to stop dealing drugs out of her home.  

Max Anderson assaults the sensibilities of folks who don’t like drug dealing in their neighborhood, which certainly includes African-Americans, when he suggests that his status as an African-American is a basis for his outrage at the small claims filing of nearby residents. Is he suggesting that it is racist to not want drug dealers, who may be of African-American descent, dealing drugs in their neighborhood?  

Mr. Anderson’s time might be better spent working on solutions for the young men in that neighborhood who don’t have enough opportunities in our post-industrial economy rather than suggesting concerned neighbors are behaving outrageously in pursuing their small claims actions against a house that has indisputably sheltered drug dealing for years.  

Paul S. Lecky 

• 

GENERIC LINK 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I share Berkeley City Councilmember Max Anderson’s consternation at the Berkeley community’s willingness to address the drug problem at 1610 Oregon St. by making two elderly blacks homeless. 

However, has anyone made the generic link between pockets of drug activity on Oregon Street and the apparent refusal of Berkeley Bowl, just up the street, to hire blacks? No? I didn’t think so. Probably the lack of black faces I see there, which causes me not to shop there, is just my imagination. 

Jean Damu 

• 

ZELDA FOR MAYOR 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

You’re on your own.   

That’s Tom Bates’ basic message to Berkeley residents threatened by drug houses.   

According to the April 18 Daily Planet, the mayor says that “the city doesn’t plan any independent action” on the Oregon Street drug house and congratulates the neighbors for having successfully sued the owner of the problem property in small claims court. 

It’s unconscionable for Tom Bates to tell the neighbors of drug houses that their main recourse is to solve the problem themselves. Two weeks ago, after testifying in court, one of the Oregon Street plaintiffs received death threats at her house. As another of the plaintiffs, Paul Rauber, told the Planet, “Guys with uniforms and guns should be handling these problems, not amateurs and neighbors like us.”  

This is a job for the police—and the city attorney.  In Oakland, City Attorney John Russo has set up an award-winning Neighborhood Law Corps that directly assists neighbors. Instead of ordinary citizens having to face down drug dealers, the deputy city attorneys in the Law Corps build cases against drug houses and other public nuisances and file lawsuits in superior court.   

Berkeley needs a Neighborhood Law Corps. But most of all we need a mayor who understands that government has an obligation to do all it can to keep the community safe. 

Zelda Bronstein 

• 

ACT OF KINDNESS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Interesting to read that on one corner of Berkeley, your car gets “booted” if you park and walk off the lot. On my corner of Hopkins and Monterey, for the last five years, I’ve been permitting people to park on my lot and shop nearby as a courtesy, hoping that a little goodwill may flow back. Also interesting is the fact that during this time, not one merchant has acknowledged or thanked this courtesy from which they’ve benefited. Sometimes I guess no good deed goes unpunished. 

Tim Cannon 

BerkeleyHome Real Estate 

• 

ASHBY BART 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

If, as Mayor Bates promised on Feb. 11, “everything is on the table” regarding development on the Ashby BART west parking lot, why has the city commissioned a study of whether moving the Flea Market to the middle of Adeline Street is technically feasible (“City Hires Firm to Study Ashby Flea Market Move,” April 18)? Should the community-based planning process decide that any appropriate development at the site must preserve enough open space to accommodate the Flea Market, this study will have been a waste of scarce tax money. 

Robert Lauriston 

• 

TASK FORCE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Richard Brenneman’s article on the formation of a task force to plan a housing development at the Ashby BART (“Controversy Surrounds Ashby BART Task Force,” April 14) lists me as an applicant for a position on the force. I have not applied. My name was placed in nomination by someone else without consulting me. The first I learned about it was when I received an e-mail from Ed Church, on behalf of the South Berkeley Neighborhood Development Corporation. It informed me that I had been nominated, and asked, 1), whether I had read an attached flier and 2), “Do you endorse the process?” I am not in the habit of signing loyalty oaths, even if accompanied by the not quite reassuring statement that “Non-endorsement of the process might not disqualify your candidacy, but I believe it is a salient factor for the board of SBNDC to consider.” I declined the nomination. I do not, in fact, endorse the process, which has not been open to consideration of whether it is in the interest of South Berkeley to consume the last open space in the community with a multi-story development that will, despite protestations to the contrary, be the death of the Flea Market.  

Osha Neumann 

• 

MACARTHUR  

TRANSIT VILLAGE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I have mixed feelings about Robert Brokl’s April 18 commentary, “Another Transit Village in the Pipeline.” 

On one hand, I am happy that so many people realize that higher density around transit is needed to stop global warming and wars for oil. I hope that Brokl is not exaggerating and that this “smart growth rhetoric” really did dominate discussions in Oakland as completely as he says. I only wish that the discussion in Berkeley were equally idealistic.  

On the other hand, I sorry to see that the idea of smart growth is being used to justify a 20- and 22-story building at MacArthur BART. Most people do not want to live in an impersonal, high-rise city of the future. If highrise development is the only alternative to sprawl, then most people will choose to live in sprawl.  

Traditional European cities are the right model for smart growth. Santana Row in San Jose, modeled on Milan and Barcelona, is a good local example of new development in this style.  

If they build at this sort of European density around BART stations, everyone will see that smart growth makes these neighborhoods more attractive and more human-scale than they are now, cut up by parking lots. But if they build high-rises around BART stations, it is likely to lead to a backlash against smart growth.  

Brokl is certainly wrong to say that smart growth is a fad that will be forgotten in a few decades. Cities and towns have always been dense enough to allow people to walk—from pre-historic times until the 20th century, when we first began building suburban neighborhoods so low density that they are totally auto-dependent.  

Auto-dependent neighborhoods are the temporary fad. We can see now that they have failed in environmental terms and in human terms. The only remaining questions are how much damage auto-dependency will do before we decide to build more walkable neighborhoods, and whether the reaction against sprawl will bring us high-rises or traditional pedestrian-scale neighborhoods.  

Charles Siegel 

• 

GAIA BONUS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I got a good laugh out of the April 18 article by Judith Scherr titled “Council to Examine Gaia Bonus.” It mentions Mr. Kennedy’s lawyer threatening the city with a lawsuit. Well, I am not a big believer in lawsuits, but I do believe in grand jury investigations. Which leaves me wondering: Just how many affordable housing units were we promised and how many are there now? Just how did it get to be 116-feet tall when the use permit only allows 87 feet. Just where did those offices on top of the building come from and how were they permitted? How come the planning file is now so thin? Seven floors? Just how many buttons are there in the elevator anyway? Mezzanines? Just how big are the rooms they open up into? And this is just one property. So many questions, so few answers. Yes, I am definitely in favor of investigations. 

Tim Hansen 

• 

SCHOOL DISTRICTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

J. Douglas Allen-Taylor’s April 14 UnderCurrents column (“History Lesson: Making a Mess of Our School Districts”) correctly points out that county Superintendent of Schools Sheila Jordan is to be blamed. Another actor in the drama is the Fiscal Crisis and Management Team (FCMAT). That semi-secret organization was created by the Legislature in 1991 when there was an alarm about more and more school districts going bankrupt. 

It assigned to the county superintendent of schools the authority to closely watch over the spending of local school districts. But, as the Alameda County Grand Jury has pointed out, elected county superintendents of schools need not have—and most don’t—any experience in school finance or administration. That shouldn’t be surprising, because other politicians need not have qualifications to run other than to be a resident of their electoral districts. 

The Alameda Grand Jury pointed out that county Superintendent of Schools Sheila Jordan had allowed Emery and Oakland go bankrupt. She got her five-person $750,000 public relations department to churn out denials, blasting the Grand Jury and blaming the local school boards—and in the case of Oakland, Superintendent Dennis Chaconas—for giving her false data.  

She then called in the cavalry—FCMAT—to do the job she should have done. They, in turn, hire consultants without going out to bid. Of course, guess who picks up the bill for all this? Yes, we taxpayers. 

It’s all a very “old boy/girl” network: The county superintendent falls down on the job, then calls in FCMAT. They cover for each other. For example, when Jordan in a dilatory fashion allowed Hayward Unified School District to almost go bankrupt, she finally called in FCMAT. After it made its study, it had a press conference congratulating Jordan for doing such a fine job! 

Ernest Avellar 

Hayward 

• 

DRILLING IN THE  

ARCTIC REFUGE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

So the Republican-controlled Congress is at it again. The are determined to seek an amendment to any legislation that would allow oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Why they are in a zealous move to drill in a site which is home of the Gwich’in people is beyond me, other than letting greed cause them to do the bidding of oil companies. 

People should understand that the Gwich’in people are a sovereign people who live their own way of life. Also, they know how to preserve water and take the animals there. What would oil drilling in the Arctic accomplish? Nothing more than having the water be toxic with oil. That catastrophe will wipe out the Gwich’in people as a whole. 

The mainstream media should be held accountable for not focusing on the concern of the Gwich’in people who will be painfully impacted by oil drilling in their homeland. I urge people who are concerned about preserving the Gwich’in people’s way of life in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to fight Congress’ attempt to drill for oil there. 

Billy Trice, Jr. 

Oakland 

• 

HEALTH SERVICE CUTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I was shocked to learn of the proposed $12 million budget cuts in Contra Costa County’s health services. If the budget reductions are enacted, the county’s health services will be decimated. The loss of almost 90 full-time positions will be a disaster for the most vulnerable Contra Costa residents. 

As a West County resident, I am particularly concerned about the proposed cut of two positions at the Richmond-based Intensive Day Treatment program. The impact described on the website (“loss of art therapy services”) fails to describe the deleterious effect the loss of these two positions will have on the program’s clients. During the 25 years the Richmond Center has served the West Contra Costa County community, the expressive arts therapy program has played an integral role. The program’s primary purpose is to help people who are facing severely challenging mental and emotional crises to achieve or return to a fuller, more satisfying life in the community. The 40 hours per week of innovative therapy that only these two positions can provide are essential. They have helped the program’s consumers stay out of the hospital and off the street. The expressive arts component of the program is the core of the center’s program. There is concern that without it, the center itself will ultimately close. 

West Contra Costa County is one of the poorest, most disenfranchised and violent communities in the Bay Area, and needs programs like this. It will be very short-sighted if the Board of Supervisors approves these proposed cuts. Short-term savings will be replaced by long-term suffering by clients and higher taxpayer costs to pay for emergency treatment and hospitalization. 

It is difficult for the people receiving treatment at the Richmond Center to advocate for themselves. 

The Richmond Center art therapy staff provides an invaluable service. The program is a beacon among community mental health programs. Everyone should oppose the proposed budget cuts. 

Glenda Rubin 

El Cerrito 

• 

WAR ON IRAN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Recently in response to a question about a nuclear attack against Iranian nuclear sites, President Bush stated that “all options are on the table.” Some may consider this a diplomatic ploy to strengthen the United States’ hand in negotiations. But given Bush’s past actions and his belief that god directed him to launch attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq we should be wary. 

While keeping Iran from obtaining the bomb is the window dressing that is being used to prepare us for war against Iran, the real reason for the war is regime change. Bush states, “The world cannot be put in a position where we can be blackmailed by a nuclear weapon.” But what he really means is that the United States intends to maintain its dominant position in the world. In order to do that it must control the vast petroleum reserves of the Middle East, which is also a strategic location at the intersection of Africa, Asia and Europe.  

For Bush and those that advise him, nuclear war is just one of many options for projecting U.S. power in the Middle East.  

In 2001 a panel sponsored by the National Institute for Public Policy issued a report that recommended the treatment of tactical nuclear weapons as an essential part of the U.S. weapons arsenal. It stated that such weapons are particularly useful “for those occasions when the certain and prompt destruction of high priority targets is essential and beyond the promise of conventional weapons.” Unfortunately several of the signers of this report are now high-level officials in the Bush Administration. Chief among them is Bush’s National Security Advisor, Stephen Hadley. They also include Under-Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Stephen Cambone and Under-Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, Robert Joseph. These are some of the people now advising Bush about Iran. 

The policy wonks describe such tactical nukes as “bunker busters” and consider them useful in attacking underground sites such as those they claim are hiding Iran’s nuclear facilities. But if such an attack were to occur it would be a disaster for the people of Iran and the world. We must do everything possible to prevent such a tragedy by driving the Bush regime from power now. The world cannot wait to see whether Bush will launch pre-emptive war against Iran, either nuclear or conventional. The consequences would be far worse than those already being seen in Iraq. 

For more information about this subject and also how to drive the Bush regime from power, please see worldcantwait.net. 

Kenneth J. Theisen 

Oakland 

• 

ANOTHER WAR 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It hardly seems credible that this administration would consider military action against Iran in the wake of the disastrous and constantly unraveling occupation of Iraq. Our government here in the United States at this particular point in history, whatever faith it may profess, has no faith in diplomacy. They seem to believe that bombing is justifiable when it is carried out on a massive scale by our own troops, but abhorrent when carried out by others. It is abhorrent in either case. It is time we insist that the United States stop asserting a global double-standard. It is time we step down our own nuclear weapons program, so that as we negotiate for a less dangerous world, those negotiations may be taken seriously. 

Clark Suprynowicz 

• 

AXIS OF EVIL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

On Jan. 29, 2002, President Bush, in his State Of The Union Address, employed the term “Axis of Evil” and referred explicitly to Iran, Iraq and North Korea. After our invasion of Iraq, is it any surprise that both Iran and North Korea would refuse to consider surrendering any nuclear weapons they might already possess or to forgo seeking to perfect whatever processes are involved in developing a stock of nuclear weapons? What other defense might they have against the juggernaut that is a United States whose Commander and Chief happens to be George Bush? 

Irving Gershenberg 

• 

POLICE BLOTTER 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Why does the writer of your Police Blotter seem to think it’s all so funny? I doubt that he has he been knocked to the ground and had his teeth kicked in by a gang of Berkeley thugs yet? Or has he, and suffered brain damage? I have a suggestion; Maybe a more direct, plain style of writing would be more appropriate- just imagine how a real journalist would write about crime and the victims of crime, there you go, not so difficult is it? So please save the insensitive and ill-advised attempts at humor for some other subject. 

Alan Jencks 

• 

CESAR CHAVEZ 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As we approach Earth Day, a big thank you to reporter Santiago Casal for reminding us of Cesar Chavez’s commitment to the environment, as well as to social justice (“Cesar Chavez and Environmentalism,” April 14). 

Daily Planet readers should also be aware that Chavez was himself an ethical vegetarian committed to social justice for animals as well as humans. Consider this excerpt from a letter that the great man wrote to me on Dec. 26, 1990 (copies available upon request): 

“Kindness and compassion towards all living things is a mark of a civilized society. Conversely, cruelty, whether it is directed against human beings or against animals, is not the exclusive province of any one culture or community of people. Racism, economic deprival, dog fighting and cock fighting, bullfighting and rodeos are cut from the same fabric: violence. Only when we have become nonviolent towards all life will we have learned to live well ourselves.” Words to live by.  

R.I.P., Cesar. You are sorely missed. 

Eric Mills, coordinator 

Action for Animals 

P.O. Box 20184 

Oakland, CA 94620 

652-5603 

FACT-FREE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The recent letters of John Gerz and Dan Spitzer are virtually fact-free. Israel, thanks to hundreds of billions from the American taxpayer, is the fourth strongest military power today. Not only has Israel never been in danger of annihilation but it is the Palestinians who have faced such a process beginning with the expulsion of over 800,000 residents in 1947-48. Even at that time “little Israel” had three times the armed manpower of the six pathetic Arab “armies.”  

In 1956 Israel colluded with the UK and France in an illegal invasion of Egypt which was condemned by the US and the UN. In 1978 and 1982 Israel illegally invaded Lebanon causing tens of thousands of civilian casualties and displacing hundreds of thousands. Only in 1973 did Egypt and Syria initiate the war and that was strictly for the purpose of trying to remove Israeli Occupation from their lands. Israel sponsored Hamas over twenty five years ago in an attempt to sidetrack the secular PLO. Now the chickens have come home to roost! Hamas, for all of its rhetoric, represents not the slightest military danger to Israel. Israel’s apologists did everything they could to discredit the PLO and thus open door for Hamas. 

The salient fact to remember here is that Israel is illegally occupying the Palestinians, not vice-versa. 

Clinton’s 2000 deal left the West Bank truncated into several Bantustans, gave Israel full control over water rights, left many settlements intact and gave Israel veto power over all decisions of the rump Palestinian governing body. 

Israel’s fanatical partisans resemble the old Stalinists of the Soviet era who were similarly diligent in defending their “Holy” State. The New Republic serves as a prime example here of backing both bad causes. 

I would urge the Editor not to be intimidated by these ugly apologists for Occupation. 

Kris Martinsen 

P.S.: For an excellent history of the Arab-Israeli conflict see The Iron Wall:Israel and The Arab World by Israeli historian Avi Shlaim. He demonstrates that much of the intransigence in this conflict has been generated by Israel from the beginning. 

• 

MIDDLE EAST 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Since time immemorial, enemies of the Jewish people have plied their prejudice through allegations that Jews engaged in conspiratorial efforts to corrupt good offices. Unfortunately, this justification for bigotry may also be seen in the DailyPlanet’s letters’ pages. 

On April 7, R.W. Davis used that old anti-Semitic code word “cabal” when referring to what he believed to be the undue influences of Israel on US policy. And in the Daily Planet’s April 14 edition, Palestinian propagandist Joanne Graham wrote of what she alleges to be the local “Jewish lobby": “A small, unelected Group is distorting city policy by exerting undue influence and would do so no matter who is in office.” Readers with any sense of history understand fullwell the dark place from which Ms. Graham is coming...  

On another matter, in his last column for the Daily Planet, Conn Hallinan cites a study by an Indian professor who maintains that currently in the subcontinent, “the per person food availability is lower now than it was during the horrendous Bengal famine of 1942-43.” Now how could that be, when the horrific famine to which Hallinan refers led to the starvation of 6-8 million Bengalis and today in India there is nothing remotely approaching that unspeakable tragedy? 

If the Daily Planet is going to run future columns by that old Commie Conn (surely I am not the only one who thinks his name is a most apt “double entendre"), won’t it be wise to diminish that ideologue’s copious errors through the employment of a fact-checker? Just a friendly suggestion, lest the Planet continue to maintain a credibility level rivaling KPFA’s News Department. 

Dan Spitzer 

Kensington 

• 

HAMAS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Those who say they were surprised by Hamas’ victory at the polls, recently, have not been paying attention to the events of the world. They obviously are not aware of what happened in South Africa and how Mandela became a household name. He and his party the ANC, were labeled terrorists, murders, rapists and all the other names the Palestinians are called by America and Europe now. 

However, immediately after Mandela’s release from prison, still under some unrevealed circumstances, there were elections and his party won. Mandela and the ANC formed South Africa’s first democratic government. America and Europe immediately forgot that Mandela and the ANC were the most wanted terrorists in South Africa, no, in the world, dropped all their labels, poured money into South Africa and supported Mandela. George Bush invited Mandela to America in June 1990 after Mandela’s release from prison on Feb. 2, 1990. But before his arrest in 1962, Mandela headed Umkhonto we Siswe, an underground military wing of the ANC.  

Hamas is exactly in the same position as the ANC was in 1990. Before the elections, Hamas was merely asking to be included in the decision making of Palestine. After the elections, Hamas is now the decision maker for the whole country. These are two separate positions which use different methods of operations because their purposes are different. Hamas has been democratically chosen by the Palestinians, and as the decision maker, Hamas is now fighting a different war, which includes diplomacy both abroad and at home, working with international communities, international politics and international economics. This is one of the major political or survival lessons demonstrated by the Mandela and ANC presidency. 

Interestingly, when the ANC took power in South Africa, America and Europe never demanded that ANC should first denounce violence before they would accept its legitimacy as the ruling party. ANC never announced to Europe and America that it had denounced or it would never be violent again. Neither did the Boers when they were in power. Indeed, up to this day, South Africa is still one of the most violent places in the world, committed by all kinds of people—ANC or not. But accepting Mandela and the ANC’s leadership was the only way to bring economic stability and some sense of security. Similarly, the acceptance of Hamas by Israel and the west, maybe the only option available to give both Israel and Palestine the much needed peace and security. Thus, America and Europe must follow President Putin’s courageous lead and accept Hamas as the legitimate government of Palestine.  

Gaeage Moetse Maher 

El Cerrito  

• 

OPEN LATER 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Dear Mayor Bates and City Councilmembers: 

At last night’s City Council’s regular meeting, Andrea Segall, vice-president of SEIU Local 535, told you that she represented “the entire membership” of 500 Local 535 members who wished to submit a vote of no confidence in Library Director Jackie Griffin. You have seen in the local press and heard remarks by Local 535 officials in the past year about how Jackie Griffin has failed the Berkeley Public Library. It’s now time for those of us who feel differently to be heard. 

I have been the Administrative Secretary at the Library for the past seven years, and have worked closely with Jackie Griffin for four-and-a-half years. This is what I know about her: she’s honest to a fault, she’s ethical, and she cares deeply about providing the best service to the patrons of the library. She works on the Information Desk on Sundays along with the rest of the staff. She’s out there asking the community what they want from the Library, and she’s acting on that information. She examines seriously the issues facing our library both on local and national levels. She was among the first to speak out  

against the Patriot Act and the dangers it posed to the privacy of library patrons. She is extremely careful about the stewardship of public funds – in fact, she asked the City Auditor to carry out an audit, and made sure that the Library staff put the Auditor’s recommendations in place as quickly as possible. She has built a management team that works well together, and who have in common a desire to make the Berkeley Public Library the best of its kind. She has had an open-door policy for all staff from the first day she started working at the Library; as her secretary, I encouraged staff to walk in whenever her door was open, and made appointments whenever they asked for one. Her open, frank manner, and her sense of humor are qualities that many staff appreciate. 

I have, in 18 years of working in the Bay Area’s public libraries and public library cooperatives, seldom met a Library Director who so clearly had all the right attributes. It is a terrible shame that her reputation has been slandered both locally and in national library publications. It’s time for Local 535 officials to treat her respectfully, professionally, and honestly. 

One last thing: despite the April 11 article in the Berkeley Daily Planet, no staff were laid off in order to pay for the RFID system. This may be easily ascertained by contacting the City of Berkeley’s Human Resources department. 

Yvette Gan 

My limited experience in Oakland is that police officers are mismanaged and poorly trained. The problems of mismanagement and lack of accountability affecting officers extends well beyond their ranks and into city, county and state government. It’s not ex citing, but fostering basic, functioning systems is what is needed for our schools, police, transit, DMV among other services. 

As someone who bought a house three years ago in West Oakland, I hear gunshots routinely, have light aircraft buzzing over my h ouse well below the 1000-foot requirement, daily witness people blasting through the stop sign in front of the house, have half full paint cans, old tires, furniture and assorted garbage dumped illegally in front of my house (or in front of neighbors’ hom es and businesses). I have found human feces on my property, had my home broken into and now have the “honor” of, two out of three years, deducting the dollar value of stolen property off my income taxes. Previously having lived in Manhattan and then Berk eley, I never had the misfortune to be aware of this tax write-off until moving here. 

Oakland citizens who are victims of crimes have to do their own criminal investigations and hand results to OPD if we expect them to be involved. Vigilante cops like th e Riders, run amok and when caught, the courts bungle the process and they walk. Peaceful protesters are brutalized by OPD and tax payers are penalized with settlements. 

Anyone with brains would think three times before accepting a job here as a police o fficer. 

In January 2005, the car I was driving was hit in the rear while making a turn by an uninsured driver with a suspended license in Oakland. The OPD officer who arrived on the scene couldn’t comprehend the physical evidence. He was too busy chattin g up the assailant who was wearing a miniskirt. I had to go through OPD Internal Affairs and retrieve documented testimony from a CHP officer who also witnessed the accident scene to get the OPD report revised to be factual. On top of being nearly serious ly injured by a driver that, in a world that had any sense of justice would have sent him to jail, I was insulted by having to waste significant time and energy in my defense. The assailant is probably still racing her SUV on the wrong side of the road he re in Oakland. 

In March 2006, I made plans to meet a friend in downtown Oakland for dinner. She took the train in from Lafayette. I drove from my home to meet her. When I arrived she was already at street level and we made eye contact and waved to each o ther. She was on the opposite side of the street and I pulled my car over at the corner, put my hazard signal on, and she crossed with the next green light and climbed into my car. I never left my vehicle and it only stood there for about 90 seconds. As we pulled away, Alameda County sheriffs appeared from behind, pulled me over and gave me a semi-legible ticket ($25, $75, some other sum?) for the infraction of “stopping” in a bus zone. I had to keep a straight face and say “yes sir” as the young officer tells me the ticket is for my own good because I could be crushed in my car by a speeding bus if it pulls up to the bus stop. The bus stop at 12th and Broadway is large enough for multiple buses to park at the same time. I’m in more danger when someone fl eeing a shooting races down my street through all the stop signs. 

The friend I had just picked up told me that, as she waited for me to arrive, she witnessed those cops attempting to pull someone else over, presumably for the same reason. But that driver had the forethought to flee and speed away. The cops just let them go. I guess there’s no income, and lots of danger, in chasing someone for a “stopping” ticket. I figure the fugitive must be one of the tough guys shooting guns at the corner liquor store in my neighborhood. So much for protecting citizens from rampant lawlessness. They aren’t here in Oakland to protect citizens from gross lawlessness, just to harvest citations. To top it off, AC Transit employs a private firm that mishandles the payment process to jack up these citation fees as an apparent fund raising scheme.  

In my new neighborhood, the Title and Registration Department at the DMV couldn’t successfully deliver the documents I paid for three times in a row in 2004 (they did manage to c ash the check). The DMV refused to address the system error and ultimately hand processed the documents. When the problem occurred again in 2005, I was flat out ignored by the governor’s office. I contacted my Rep. Wilma Chang to force the DMV to address the system issue. Although her office was responsive, the DMV still refused to address the system issue and hand addressed my particular situation again. They blame it on my zip code and their computer. What will they do this year? 

The message in Oakla nd is loud and clear. Criminals run amok and those that follow rules are punished. Let your car registration expire and run from the cops if they try to pull you over. Kill and rob with impunity because cops are too busy chasing easy money from people who actually have something to lose. And those administering these governmental systems are too busy engaging in careerism and searching for the next promotion to pay attention to the task at hand. And no one is accountable. 

Our politicians fail to attend t o the broken systems which sustain us. For every drug deal gone bad that ends in murder, there are 12 beatings. For every assault there are 12 incidents of robbery that went un-investigated. For every robbery there are 12 drivers with suspended licenses t hat drove away. For every 12 suspended licenses there are 12 people who got so fed up with a school system and DMV that doesn’t work they said, “why bother?” This is a crime pyramid that will not be broken until the suspended licenses, illegal dumpers, st op sign runners and other quality of life criminals are brought to justice. That task isn’t easy or glamorous and apparently doesn’t serve political re-election campaigns. 

Based on what happened in New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina, and what we’re seeing here in Oakland, we’re fools to not arm ourselves and take matters into our own hands when the time comes for “police” activities. 

There’s no one to blame but the body count in this town but the elected officials who enable and justify broken sys tems for their personal gain and the individuals at the top of this “crime pyramid” who murder. 

Oakland resident Vince Rubino will vote against all Oakland city incumbents and any Oakland bond measures for anything doing with city services. They’re frauds. 

?

Since taking office, the Bush administration has waged what amounts to a war on science. On issues ranging from climate change to contraception to AIDS prevention, policies based on sound science have routinely been cast aside in favor of policies that fa vor the economic interests of corporate contributors or the ideology of right wing supporters. 

While the competition is stiff, it is difficult to find an area where science has suffered more at the hands of the Bush administration than that of protecting the environment. 

April 22 marks the 36th annual celebration of Earth Day, a time when, around the world, people reflect on our commitment to preserving and protecting the planet we live on. 

On the sixth Earth Day under the Bush administration, it is pa st time to commit ourselves to putting the science back into our environmental policies, and returning to policymaking for the common good, not political pandering. 

Over the last five years, through legislation and rule changes, the Bush administration h as weakened or rolled back an array of environmental laws that were originally enacted to protect public health, air quality, water quality, plant and animal wildlife, the global climate, or the environment—effectively gutting the regulatory infrastructur e for environmental protection. 

By and large these environmental rollbacks have prioritized the short-term economic needs and interests of businesses over the long-term interest of public health and the people. 

Under Orwellian names like “Healthy Forest s” and “Clear Skies,” they have opened up millions of acres of public lands to logging, grazing and drilling, exempted polluters from a host of regulations to reduce their toxic emissions, and made it easier to contaminate our nation’s rivers, lakes and w etlands. 

These rollbacks of our most basic environmental protections are having a devastating impact on the health of communities across our country, particularly low income communities of color. The Bush administration’s attacks on longstanding pollution controls are contributing to increased rates of asthma, heart disease and other conditions that have been scientifically linked to exposure to harmful substances in our air and water.  

Children who live in West Oakland, a low income community of color located right here in the 9th Congressional District, are estimated to be seven times more likely to be hospitalized for asthma than are children anywhere else in the state due to a high volume of local goods movement activity and truck traffic. Despite the existence of similar public health crises in communities throughout the United States, the Bush administration continues to strip away environmental health protections and drain income, in the form of health expenses, from the most vulnerable among us while the wealthiest of his corporate supporters become even wealthier. 

That is why next week I will be introducing the “Environment and Public Health Restoration Act of 2006.” This bill is designed to return to environmental policymaking that is based o n sound science. It will require an unbiased scientific review by the National Academies of Science of eight rule changes made during the Bush administration to the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and the National Forest Management Act, as well as the so-c alled Healthy Forests Restoration Act, and the President’s proposed Clear Skies Initiative to asses the impact on public health, air quality, water quality, wildlife, or the environment. 

The NAS will submit a publicly available report to Congress and the relevant departments and agencies that recommends either the restoration of the pre-existing rules or laws, or proposes improvements upon them in whole or in part. The administration will then have six months to report to Congress with a plan that implem ents the recommendations of the NAS. 

Science provides the basic foundation for the creation of policies that serve the common good, not just the interests of a powerful few. The decisions about how much mercury goes into the air, or whether mining or ind ustrial waste can be dumped into lakes and rivers should not be up to the polluters. We should not undermine our children’s health or the future of our planet just to line the pocket books of the president’s polluting friends. 

Congresswoman Barbara Lee r epresents California’s District 9. 

›r

BERKELEY BOWL WEST 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In response to the Auerbach, et al. commentary (“Supporting the Bowl...with Reservations,” April 11-13), Berkeley Bowl is such an obvious asset for West Berkeley that I am ashamed for my city at the delays in getting this wonderful project launched. 

As you know the Bowl will be investing very large amounts of money in a business they know well and to insist that the project be larger or smaller is likely to fatally interfere in a carefully considered plan. 

It’s quite obvious that there will be impacts, and auto traffic for one is not really avoidable. Perhaps this new store will decrease parking pressure on the Shattuck store and this I believe is part of the Bowl’s plan. 

The Bowl has every incentive to create an environment that works for the community which of course includes their customers. We can and should look forward to a wonderful store equal to any in the county or it can go away and we will have a huge office building on the site that certainly won’t serve the local community and maybe won’t even need a land use variance for, say 150,000 square feet of offices. Isn’t this a simple choice? 

Phil Wood 

• 

THE CALL OF DUTY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Like many Berkeley residents, I was outraged when Gordon Wozniak shamelessly voted for the secret, backroom settlement deal that will not only increase traffic in our neighborhoods, but that did not meet the requests and needs of students, UC staff or the neighbors. 

Three members of the City Council have asked the city manager to consider allocating $1 million to the affordable housing trust fund—and I’m outraged once again that Gordon Wozniak recently “pulled” this item from Tuesday’s City Council consent calendar. 

This item is just a referral for the city manager to consider—it doesn’t actually cost the city any money. 

As a resident of District 8, I demand that Mr. Wozniak represent his constituents and rise to the call of duty and support the housing trust fund referral to the budget process. 

Jason Overman 

• 

MOORE HOUSE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I was part of a neighborhood group that sued the Moore family in the 1990s. We won a judgment then, even on appeal. We had evidence of serious criminal activity going back generations to Mrs. Moore’s husband and sons as well as grandchildren (and I imagine now great-grandchildren). This is not some nice, sweet old lady being victimized by out-of-control young people. This family has been a major source of crime in that neighborhood for decades. I was fortunate to be able to move. Many residents there do not have the ability to do that.  

Sharon Toth 

• 

GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As a now retired for seven years school librarian from both Oakland and Berkeley public schools, I can comment on Berkeley’s public libraries. I came to Washington school in 1967 have seen many changes over almost four decades. My students at Washington School loved to walk up to the Main Library and have storyhours with Martha Shogren in the late ’60s; Mr. Russ Jacobs used to come up from the branch at MLK and Russell to tell stories at (my) Washington School Library, 1967-69. We were a mutual admiration society. Over the years I took my son to North Branch, the same one Ms. Gail Todd complained about in the April. 11 Daily Planet regarding a lack of personal service. Yes, that is sad.  

However when I visited the branch at Benvenue and Ashby last week, I was so pleased with the friendly service of all personnel there at lunchtime with my son who now lives in that neighborhood. Yes, one has to stamp her own books, but that’s fine; my right hand is pretty arthritic due to shelving and stamping thousands of books for three decades and to me self-checkout in itself doesn’t make the library visit any less fun. We know so much more about ergonomics these days and OSHA laws are much better than the federal so-called standards. I remember when the new Main Library opened—what a glorious celebration. Yes, the taxpayers keep funding bond issues for schools and libraries—hooray. I also recall some years ago due to proposed staff cuts, Alameda County public librarians voluntarily cut their own hours in order to save the jobs of their fellow workers. Your cover story tells of Director Jackie Griffin her $131,494 salary plus $66,000 in fringes; once that legal matter is settled I’d hope the next director hired doesn’t make many times as much as the lowest paid librarian who has a MA in librarianship and deserves every dime earned. 

Sylvia P. Scherzer 

Albany 

• 

SPELL CHECK 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

In response to a letter in the April 14 edition, I must point out that my spell check provides no suggestions when I type the name Sulzberger. Perhaps my software is out of date. 

However, it does offer “paranoid” as a substitute for “Edna Spector.” 

Steve Reichner 

North Oakland 

• 

CREEKS TASK FORCE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Berkeley’s Creek Task Force was convened in response to the outrage of property owners who learned in September 2004 that their property was subject to regulations, initially enacted in 1989, about which they had received no prior notification. These regulations prevented rebuilding in the face of damage or loss of a home and prevented re-modeling if the home was situated within 30 feet of an open creek or an underground culvert. The Berkeley City Council responded to this outrage by amending the 1989 Creeks Ordinance so as to allow re-building under specified circumstances and by establishing a Creeks Task Force whose charge was to develop recommendations for the revision of the city’s existing Creeks Ordinance. 

The Creeks Task Force has now been meeting for over 14 months and has a budget of $100,000, not to mention staff and other city resources devoted to the development of the requested recommendations. This has been an exercise in utter folly. To develop a policy designed to protect creeks in the absence of an overall watershed management policy quite simply puts the cart before the horse. In so doing, the goal of the city and the task force has become manifestly clear. It is to regulate property owners whose homes are near open creeks and/or culverts and to once again establish Berkeley as a front runner in a misguided environmental effort. 

The views of property owners have been overlooked and dismissed as representing narrow monied interests by the task force. The need for a Creeks Ordinance to be placed within an overall watershed management policy that is inclusive of storms drains, culverts as well as open creeks has simply been ignored despite its logical priority. This entire effort has been a colossal waste of taxpayer dollars and leaves Berkeley residents with storm water management issues unresolved. 

The Planning Commission and the City Council should revoke the current Creeks Ordinance, dissolve the Creeks Task Force and establish a new deliberative body whose clear goal is to develop a comprehensive watershed management policy for the city in the context of which creeks and culverts should be considered. 

Genevieve Dreyfus  

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HOUSING AUTHORITY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Regarding Judith Scherr’s recent article about the Berkeley Housing Authority: 

Let me get this straight. The Berkeley Housing Authority could throw a 70-year-old mentally ill man off Section 8 because he got mixed up about reporting his piddly little GA check and/or BHA could throw a granny out in the street if her grandkid had a joint in her pocket (they call it “one strike rule”), but if a guy beats up his wife and she manages to escape, that creep abuser gets to stay there on Section 8?! 

No wonder they’re having problems at BHA; it’s bad karma. 

N. Gagnon 

• 

TRANSIT LOCATIONS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The most important point about the transit location in downtown Berkeley is the distance bus passengers have to walk to get to and from BART. 

In Toronto, bus passengers take about two steps to get to the escalators. 

Here in Berkeley, it’s a block from Allston; it’s 50 yards at North Berkeley; and quite a bit at Rockridge.  

We paid for undergrounding BART through Berkeley and it came in under budget. But it could have been built for far more convenient access. 

Charles Smith 

• 

MARIJUANA LAW 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I just want to thank the Daily Planet for the article that clarified Berkeley pot law. We are approaching 70 years of the Devil’s Weed being illegal while policies of war, poverty and racism go unabated. It’s reassuring that at one time Berkeley citizenry rallied together to make a (symbolic) stand. What dim knowledge I had of the lowest-priority busting ordinance was puzzling and was not helped by a lack of elders to connect the dots.  

Please continue this line of reporting as well as the nature pieces. The endnote of the article was particularly apt, if not radical. I remember an article you ran a while back that spurred a bunch of pro-police letters. As if no none has ever been maltreated, denigrated or punished (illegally) by the “protectors of the peace.”  

The point is that no one is immune from corruption and should be treated as such, especially if those people earn their bread from keeping a corrupt power structure in place. But I guess the reading public on that one didn’t want to think of the realities past their evening news slant and Cops TV show. For me, I’m watching the streets, and the Planet when it hits the ground. 

Robert Eggplant 

• 

ONLY IN BERKELEY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The story about the Ward Street house throws up a separate and tantalizing avenue of inquiry. 

The photojournalist who found the graffiti says that “my dog led me to it.” Did the dog recognize the graffiti for what it was and approach its owner with a look of “come and see what I found”? Is this a case of another “only in Berkeley” dog story? 

So many questions. Can we have a few answers? 

Ross Norton 

• 

KRAGEN’S PARKING LOT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Drive into the Kragen’s parking lot at University and MLK. Make a purchase for your car. Then walk across the street and pick up your dry cleaning. Immediately return to your car. All this has taken only a few minutes. You find a boot on your tire. A woman with a key demands $60 cash to release it. She says if you refuse, the car will be towed at a cost of $150. So you pay. This goes on all day. Think of the income.  

To be correct, this is legal. There are warning signs around the lot. This operation is run by American Parking and Patrol Inc. A Berkeley company with an attendant placed quietly on the lot, with no verbal warning, boots the cars.  

The lot is a large holding room for; many cars. Kragen is the only current tenant since the Pet Food Express closed. The lot is never more than a quarter full. Again, it is legal because this is private property, but is this being a good friendly neighborhood business? Or is it pure greed, just another way to make extra income? Evidently the community’s good will is not important and a few lost customers is not important. 

John Aronovic 

While Ed Church and the South Berkeley Neighborhood Development Corporation claim that on Dec. 13 the City Council authorized them to organize a task force to make recommendations to the council regarding development of the west parking lot of the Ashby BART station (“Development Corp. Seeks Task Force,” March 24), in fact the council did no such thing. Neither the resolution passed that night nor the Caltrans grant application it endorsed says anything about a task force. The cover memo from Planning Department Director Dan Marks to the City Council said that the SBNDC suggested that Mayor Tom Bates and City Councilmember Max Anderson appoint a task force, but in its discussions the council rejected that proposal, and took no action to endorse any of several proposed alternatives. 

Is the SBNDC an appropriate organization to handle this task? It may not in recent years have been conducting itself as it should. In theory, as I understand it, it is a membership organization with an elected board of directors whose meetings are open to the public. In reality, the board has for some time been a self-selecting group and its meetings are private and unannounced. The SBNDC has sublet its Adeline Street office and has no staff. It does have a phone number with an answering machine, and an e-mail account, but no one has returned my messages asking how to join, where I can see the minutes, time and place of the next board meeting, and so on. 

In the event Caltrans awards the city and SBNDC the $120,000 grant, Ed Church, a professional “smart growth” promoter, will be in charge of spending that money. In theory, the SBNDC would oversee his work, but since he himself recruited two new SBNDC board members and seems to be in charge of its e-mail and new Web site, it seems likely that he would have a completely free hand. 

He certainly seems to have a free hand with the task force nominations. Two of my nominations do not appear on the list; did they decline to serve, were they disqualified, and if so for what reason? When is the SBNDC board going to meet to appoint the task force? What criteria are they going to use? Will that meeting be public? Has it already occurred? If this were the open, transparent process we have repeatedly been promised, I would not have to ask these questions. 

Nevertheless, despite the profound flaws in this arguably illegitimate process, I disagree with those who say we should boycott this task force. Given the nominees (see nabart.com for an annotated list), the SBNDC could appoint a group that includes all stakeholders and points of view. If they do, and if the task force is free to set its own direction, and its meetings are public, and Mayor Bates and Max Anderson stick to their promise that “everything is on the table,” the task force’s report to the City Council should honestly reflect the community’s vision. 

So long as that remains a possibility, I will support the task force, and encourage everyone else to do so—while remaining alert to any attempt to manipulate it into rubber-stamping plans for the kind of massive for-profit condo project described in the 2004 feasibility study. 

Robert Lauriston maintains nabart.com, where you can find all the referenced documents and other relevant information. 

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At a March 15 EIR Scoping Meeting, Oakland City Planning Commissioner Michael Lighty described the recently unveiled plans for yet another transit village—this one at the MacArthur BART station—as “radical.” He wasn’t being strictly dismissive, defending developments at BART stations as “logical.” But even he allowed that this project with “signature” twin towers, one 20 stories, the other 22, abutting Hwy. 24—was a bold move by BART, the City of Oakland redevelopment agency, and a private development company headed by Shea Homes.  

The project contains some 800 units of housing. In addition to the exclusive twin towers of for-sale condos, 20 percent of the housing units will be rental units priced “below market rate” in a separate building. BART would lose half of its 600 parking spaces, but another 1,030 parking spaces for the housing would be created. Thirty thousand square feet of retail is envisioned—fast food outlets are the norm at the prototypical Fruitvale Transit Village.  

As with the Ashby BART project, the hype about the crying need for the project—“The hole must be filled, the original violation caused by BART MUST be fixed”—is cloaked with self-righteous smart-growth rhetoric. Certainly there are reasons to question why the MacArthur/San Pablo/Broadway Redevelopment Area was created in the first place in the early 1990s. with little fuss. It was not, as state law requires, an area “so irredeemably blighted that neither government financing nor private investment could fix the problem.”  

But, since bureaucrats need to bureaucrat and developers must develop, their next move is to really lock in redevelopment by issuing bonds and incurring debt. And what better way to do that than for a massive housing project?  

And what better time to do it with our nation at war over oil, and people quite rightly concerned their flatland home may become beach front property. Lighty’s comments were made at the first stage of the long EIR process, in which the impacts of a proposed project must be identified, and alternatives and mitigations to harmful impacts considered. Shadows cast by the twin towers seven stories higher than the downtown Oakland Federal Buildings, loss of parking, increased traffic, a project that’s oriented to the more upscale Telegraph side and that turns its high rise back to the less gentrified San Pablo side, etc. are some obvious problems.  

But many of the speakers in support, and several commissioners, could only focus upon the oil crunch and the supposed cure-de-jour: density. One speaker said the towers could be even taller “ since over ten stories you didn’t really notice anyway.” Commissioner and attorney Anne Mudge grew positively lathered up over the need for more density because of the gasoline shortages to come. Pro-redevelopment advocate Christopher Waters, the operator of the Nomad Cafe, allowed that a long-term solution needed to be found to cure our dependence upon foreign oil, but that density was the only remedy in the short run. The more the better.  

The starry-eyed density huggers might have at least Googled Shea Homes before leaping into bed with them. Shea Homes is the largest privately owned home builder in the United States. The BART project is a departure from their specialty of single-family and attached homes in “new home neighborhoods” (read “sprawl”) on such areas as wetlands, prairies, ridges, and ranches, concentrating on such Sunbelt areas as Southern California, Arizona, and Colorado.  

Their Shea Parkside project at Huntington Beach close to the border with Mexico is being fought by advocates for restoring the area for coastal wetlands and watershed, as a filter for polluted urban run-off. Their Highlands Ranch—” the largest master-planned community in Colorado”—on former prairie (and eradicated prairie dogs) southeast of Denver, covers 22,000 acres with over 80,000 residents. The July 21, 2003 Denver Business Journal quotes the June/July issue of Denver’s 5280 Magazine describing Highlands Ranch as “Denver’s worst housing development. It’s just plain ugly. Highlands Ranch is the symbol of what’s wrong with sprawl in Colorado.” Shea Homes also touts their McMansions at Adeline’s Farm near Temulca and their 50 gated, “executive ranches” on Hunter’s Ridge in Fontana: “Panorama—the name says it all! Ideally situated atop a ridgeline...occupying the last and best location...”  

There’s no correlation between densifying the urban core to save agricultural or wilderness land and curb sprawl—Shea Homes does it all happily!  

After such a warm embrace of high-rise density, Shea Homes, BART, and the redevelopment agency must be kicking themselves they haven’t asked for even more towers and units. None of the supporters mentioned the additional burdens placed upon the school system in receivership with teachers currently threatening to strike, the controversially understaffed police force, and a bus system that’s already inadequate and doesn’t go to Costco or other places the residents—many of whom have presumably and patriotically given up their cars—might need to go to.  

Colland Jang, an architect member of the Planning Commission, did soberly suggest the EIR must consider other alternatives for the site such as office development but, in reality, the only brake on the project is the market. After all, Oakland Planning Director Claudia Cappio told this writer not that long ago that “Oakland was not in a position to say ‘no’ to projects.” Jerry Brown came into office as mayor fighting the Landing condo project that he considered too close to his “We the People” building at Jack London Square, even arguing the case in court as co-counsel with environmental attorney Susan Brandt-Hawley. He lost that case, The Landing landed, he moved, and in his ongoing reinvention jumped on board the development bandwagon: promoting the “10K” influx of new residents downtown and the flood of condos. Only developer/lender unease about whether the market for condos is already tapped out will put the chill on this BART project.  

But then, in the current climate, buildings pop up like mushrooms after a rain, and disappear without lament as quickly. In 30 years or so, if this latest transit village is built as planned and the market shifts and it becomes an eyesore, well, something else can take it place. And the rhetoric about “smart growth,” “green,” and urban density will likewise have been replaced by other catchwords that well-meaning urban strategists have devised and that developers and profiteers commandeer for their own ends.  

Robert Brokl is a North Oakland resident. 

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Although we live in a dense urban environment, I think we all support conservation. Fortunately, our predecessors did as well. They’ve given us the East Bay Regional Parks—90,000 acres of natural habitat laced with miles of creeks. And here in Berkeley we have access to natural creeks in many public parks and on the UC campus. But these are urban creeks flowing through urban neighborhoods and must be viewed differently from those in natural preserves. 

I enjoy hiking. Over the years I’ve hiked Tilden Park, Briones, Diablo, Sibley, Chabot, and more. To minimize driving in these energy-conscious times, I step out my front door twice a week and hike a few miles around the North Berkeley hills—quiet streets lined with ever-surprising architecture and interconnected by hidden paths. My favorite place is John Hinkle Park where Blackberry Creek forms a natural falls over a stone face, across the trail, and down a ravine—a beautiful secluded spot. Over the years I’ve hiked through that park hundreds of times, but apart from special events when people were gathered for a performance or a picnic, in all those times I’ve seen another person on the trail perhaps three or four times.  

Our creek advocate friends remind us that the creeks are important to our quality of life, and I agree with them—but they should not delude themselves, or try to delude us, into believing that most Berkeley residents are yearning for a glimpse of a creek. When they appeal to us to “save our creeks”—ask them when they last took the time to explore a creek in Berkeley. Most people don’t even know where the creeks are—much less care about riparian habitat, riprap, or a few stray fish. They’re quite content to leave it to those of us who live on the creeks to pick the trash out of them and make sure they don’t threaten our homes or our neighbors’ homes. We’ve been doing it for years. 

And what do we ask in return? Just to make repairs and improvements to an existing structure, as well as reasonable additions, so long as none of these intrude further into a defined creek setback, and to rebuild a structure, when necessary, to its original form.  

It was the issue of rebuilding that provoked a massive confrontation of the City Council by homeowners two years ago and led to the creation of the Creeks Task Force, which is now recommending revisions of the Creeks Ordinance to the Planning Commission and City Council. Since this contention has been widely publicized, I expect that it will continue until it is resolved by a revision of the Zoning Ordinance as well, which also places restrictions on rebuilding. Homeowners will not be content until we have a Municipal Code, including a Creeks Ordinance and a Zoning Ordinance, that asserts that any structure on private property that is damaged or destroyed for any reason may be rebuilt by right (with no Zoning review) to the same height and bulk and on the original footprint.  

Another contentious issue is that of culverted creeks. Many culverts predate any documentation and have been hidden and unknown on private properties through many owners. They are a fact of life that The City must deal with now that they are in decay. Those culverts carry the runoff from the entire watershed and thus serve the entire community, whether they cut through private property or not. The city must accept the responsibility for locating, maintaining, repairing, and, with the property owner’s consent, daylighting those culverts. Since the daylighting process is intrusive and disruptive, it must be done, when desired, at the property owner’s initiative.  

There is debate about whether the issue of culverts should or should not be part of the Creeks Ordinance. That’s the wrong question. Regulations for open creeks and for culverted creeks should be separate and equally important parts of an overall watershed management plan. They pose different problems and involve different authorities, but they are obviously related because culverts and open creeks interface with each other. Addressing them separately under a watershed umbrella will allow cross-referencing of regulations where appropriate. 

It has been suggested that an ordinance for open creeks could be stated in three sentences: 

1. You may not allow trash or pollutants to go into a creek. 

2. No additional culverts will be permitted. 

3. No additional roofed construction or impermeable surfaces will be permitted within 30’ of the centerline of a creek or within 10’ of a culvert.  

That may look too simple, but very little more is needed. The Creeks Task Force was heavily packed with appointees who are closely associated with creek advocacy organizations, and most of the detailed and sometimes arcane language they’ve proposed for the ordinance can be replaced by common sense and reliance on a suggested watershed guidebook—an excellent task force idea. 

Berkeley faces serious and costly problems: collapsing culverts, crumbling streets, loss of commercial revenue, a bloated work force, and a traffic control system fifty years out of date. The real question for the Planning Commission and the City Council is this: Will you allow a small group of creek extremists and their Sierra Club sponsors to pressure you into spending our resources on their obsession? 

Jerry Landis is a Berkeley resident. 

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It was a shame to once again read in the Daily Planet an inaccurate and one-sided account of the proposed revision of the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance (“Preservationists Vow to Take Landmarks Law to Voters,” April 11).    

To begin with, the opening sentence stated “Mayor Tom Bates’ proposal to weaken the city’s landmarks ordinance” as if that were undisputed fact. But the reality is different. The mayor’s proposal is a balanced one that represents a careful compromise of the different views in the community. Though it does propose some constraints on new structure of merit designations, the proposal also adds significant new protections: a guarantee that for the first time every building over 50 years of age that’s subject to a permit application will be reviewed for potential historic status, a new “request for determination” process that would help focus development interest away from historic properties, and the reduction by half of the number of signatures required for an historic initiation by the public. The resulting ordinance may not make extremists happy, but as an acceptable civic compromise it will net increase the city’s overall ability to protect its historic resources. 

In the story, LPC member Carrie Olson misremembers history by claiming that “at the very last minute he [the mayor] added structures of merit only in historic districts.” The facts are different: this proposed change to structure of merit was included in Mr. Bates’ original LPO proposal dated November 29, 2005, more than two months before the council’s vote, and it has been well discussed ever since, including at the first public hearing. It was a solid council majority, not just the mayor, that voted to return it to the proposal as an amendment. 

We have not yet even seen the markup language of the proposed LPO revision, which is due from city staff in early May. Wouldn’t it be reasonable that the hyper-preservation community look at what the council may actually pass before threatening an initiative to replace it? Or are they simply trying to intimidate the council into not approving the consensus ordinance by making this narcissistic and misguided threat? 

The LPC majority is being cynical and disingenuous in now praising the merits of “the LPC proposal” to revise the LPO, which would be the basis of their initiative. After slowly working on that proposal for more than five years, last June the LPC voted to withdraw it from council consideration because the commission majority could no longer support its recommendations. If it was unworthy of LPC approval last June, why should we consider it worth implementing today?  

We should note that the mayor’s proposal, with some amendments from councilmembers, received a 7-2 approval by the City Council—hardly a sign that Berkeley citizens should consider it extreme or dangerous. The two councilmembers who voted against it—Dona Spring and Kriss Worthington—mostly expressed concern that the new ordinance still focused too much on protecting fancy buildings by renowned architects and not enough on “vernacular” buildings and streetscapes in ordinary flatlands neighborhoods. Councilmember Capitelli’s approved amendment to the proposal, calling for careful study of “neighborhood conservation districts,” would directly address that concern and potentially add additional protections. 

Fortunately, we will soon have a chance to take a close look at the actual language of the proposed new ordinance before it comes before the City Council for a public hearing and vote. All of us involved in this revision know that the devil is in the details, and we do expect that a good deal of further conversation will be needed to ensure that the ordinance meets its objectives without introducing loopholes or adverse unintended consequences. Structure of merit will certainly receive detailed council reconsideration along the way. Helpfully examining and perfecting the final ordinance will require cooperation and a sense of good will across a wide spectrum of the community— good will which the extreme preservationist community seems consistently interested only in poisoning. 

Alan Tobey, a Berkeley resident since 1970, worked for the original passage of the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance and has closely followed its proposed revision for the past two years.

Unless Democrats win control of either the House or the Senate, nothing is going to change in Washington. There will be no meaningful shift in Iraq, ethics, or economic policy until there is real debate on Capitol Hill. According to veteran DC prognosticator, Charlie Cook, there are seven Senate seats in play. In order to prevail, the Democrats will have to win at least six. 

Rather than treat all Democratic Senatorial candidates equally, I’ve focused on the closest races, usually those that Cook rates as a “toss up.” Within the tightest races, I’ve clustered the candidates into three groups: solidly anti-war, sorta anti-war, and incomprehensible. To have the BB “solidly anti-war” rating you have to say something like, “I was always against the war and now I support John Murtha’s position.” To have the BB “sorta anti-war” rating you say something like, “We need a timetable for withdrawal.” To be rated incomprehensible, your web site either doesn’t mention Iraq or says something vacuous, like “I support our troops.” 

Solidly anti-war 

In Ohio, Democratic Rep. Sherrod Brown is running against embattled incumbent Mike DeWine. Brown was against the invasion and argues that the occupation has hurt the hunt for Osama bin Laden and the overall war on terror. He wants an exit strategy and troop withdrawals that begin in October of 2006. This race is a toss up. 

Minnesota has a vacant Senate seat because Democrat Mark Dayton is retiring. The primary will be held in September; the leading Democratic candidate is district attorney Amy Klobuchar. She opposed the invasion of Iraq and says, “We must change our course in Iraq. We must draw down our forces in a responsible way.” The race is a toss up. 

In Vermont, Independent Jim Jeffords is retiring and will, no doubt, be replaced by Independent Congressman Bernie Sanders. He’s been against the war from the beginning. The primary is Sept. 12. Sanders is favored to take this seat. 

The Rhode Island primary won’t happen until September, but the battle is shaping up to be between embattled Republican incumbent, Lincoln Chafee, and Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse (real name). Whitehouse supports “a rapid and responsible withdrawal” of troops and believes that most can be out by the end of this year. The race is a toss up. 

Sorta anti-war 

The most highly publicized Senate race is in Pennsylvania, where Conservative Christian poster-child, Rick Santorum, is in trouble. Polls show him tied with, or running behind, the Democratic challenger Bob Casey, Jr. Iraq is not the centerpiece of Casey’s campaign; it’s public morality—the ties between Santorum and K-street lobbyists. Casey believes that more should be done to train Iraqi security forces so our troops can come home, sooner. Casey is controversial, among Democrats, because he is pro-life. This race is a toss up. 

Incomprehensible 

An interesting race is shaping up in Missouri where State Auditor Claire McCaskill is running strong against Republican incumbent Jim Talent. She has yet to take a clear position on Iraq. 

Another interesting race is in Montana, which used to be solid red state but elected a Democratic governor in 2004 and now seems poised to dump Neanderthal Republican Sen. Conrad Burns. The primary is in June. 

There will be an open Senate seat in Tennessee because Bill Frist is retiring to run for president. The primary will be held in August and the Democratic challenger is likely to be Harold Ford, Jr. Ford is a handsome, articulate, African-American Congressman. He has yet to take a clear position on Iraq. 

Other Senate races 

In Maryland, Democrat Paul Sarbanes is retiring. The primary is in September and whichever Democrat wins, will probably win the November election. 

All the other races involve incumbents: there’s a possibility that Arizona Senator John Kyl’s seat might be challenged, by Democrat Jim Pedersen. Democrats face stiff challenges in several states: In Florida the incumbent, Bill Nelson, will probably face the loathsome Katherine Harris. In Michigan, Debbie Stabenow will have a tough race, as will Nebraska’s Ben Nelson, New Jersey’s Bob Menendez, Washington’s Maria Cantwell, and West Virginia’s Robert Byrd. 

If the Iraq war is your big issue, then you might want to check out the four anti-war candidates that I’ve highlighted. If all you care about is that the Dems take back the Senate, then all the candidates in close races merit your attention. 

The bottom line is that Democrats have a reasonable chance of talking back the Senate, but it is far from a slam dunk. Please let me know if you feel that I’ve overlooked or misplaced a Senatorial candidate. 

Bob Burnett is a Berkeley writer and activist. He can be reached at bobburnett@comcast.net.

They adopted an unusual questioning format at this week’s mayoral debate at Skyline High School, which solicited an all-too-usual reply from one of the candidates. But at least it advanced a necessary dialogue. 

The debate organizers, the Skyline PTSA, di d away with the usual moderator, and had questions coming directly from the audience. Two of them—a Castlemont student and a teacher—chose to focus on the proliferation of guns on Oakland’s streets, with the student saying that half of the middle school s tudents she had surveyed told her that they could get a gun within 24 hours, if they needed to. It was a chilling commentary. 

In response, mayoral candidate Ron Oznowicz, a former Oakland police officer and now ombudsman for the OPD, said he believed tha t people carry guns because “it’s powerful” to do so. “It’s status.” He added that “very few people carry guns in Oakland for defensive purposes. They’re for offensive purposes.” 

My guess is, this is the prevailing opinion in high places in Oakland, at least in police circles, and in the circles where many of the powerful people gather to make the decisions that run this city. 

The extension of that point of view is that Oakland is being overrun by thugs, violent young predators who are roaming the dark streets, glock in pocket, looking for their next victims. Getting rid of those people so-labeled as predators—with a combination of various forms of police crackdowns and a drying up and squeezing out of the neighborhoods where this violence springs from, thus forcing the targeted people to leave the city—has been the prevailing policy in Oakland in recent years, certainly during the administration of the current mayor, Jerry Brown. It’s part of his resumé in his attorney general campaign. 

The problem wi th this type of tactic, of course, is that standing on the corner or walking down the street, those hard-core, violent predators look no different than the average sagging, throwback-jersey, hoodie-wearing young Latino or African-American adult who deserv es protection, rather than crack-down. Too many times over the years, Oakland police and Oakland public officials have confused looks with actions, a process commonly known as racial profiling. And so we have ended up with such things as the “sideshow zon es” in East Oakland, where police are authorized (by city ordinance and practice, but not by either the state or federal constitutions) to enforce laws differently than they do in other parts of the city.  

The reality that there are too many guns on Oakl and’s streets, and too easily obtained, has also fueled a drive among the city’s more progressive elements to go after the gun dealers themselves. In answer to the same set of questions at the Skyline High debate, mayoral candidate Ron Dellums suggested t hat the city “come down on the gun stores,” and said that he would support an “enforceable law that traces gun sales back to their source. We need gun control.” Candidate Nancy Nadel agreed, adding that the Oakland City Council—of which she is currently a member—has already taken such steps. “We have closed all the gun stores in Oakland,” she reported, and added that Traders, the notorious gun store that sits on East 14th Street just across the San Leandro border, is under investigation for gun sales violations. Some portion of the weapons used in recent Oakland violence has been traced back to legal sales at Traders. 

A year ago, rapper Chuck D told participants at the Malcolm X Consciousness Conference at Laney College in Oakland that the proliferation of guns has not only increased the level of violence in African-American communities in particular, it has also helped to obliterate the sort of “folk wisdom” levelheadedness that used to keep those communities on a positive path. 

“Twenty years ago, you had gang-bangers and athletes and college students hanging out together on the corners or in barber shops in the ‘hood,” he said, “and if somebody said something really ignorant—like ‘the sky is purple,’ or something like that—everybody would tell him to shut up. And if he got belligerent, he might even get an asswhipping. But nowadays, if someone says something ignorant on the corner, all the smart people shut up and don’t challenge him, because they’re afraid he might go to his car and come back with a 9-millimeter and wipe out the corner. So in the black neighborhoods, ignorance is allowed to go unchallenged, while intelligence has to keep quieter and quieter. That’s one of the reasons why you’re seeing so much ignorance coming out of our communities.” 

But if a proliferation of guns on the streets is one of Oakland’s major problems—which seems to be the consensus across political and social lines—how do we get rid of them? 

My guess is that trying to dry up the source—cracking down on the legal gun de alers—is one part of the answer, but not the answer. At the Skyline High mayoral debate, candidate Ignacio De La Fuente said that a large percentage of Oakland guns come from out-of-state dealers. Another major portion, he said, are stolen property themse lves. While he didn’t explicitly say it, his implication was that passing more stringent laws that allow law enforcement to trace guns back to their over-the-counter-sale origin might help in some instances, but in others it will only end in a theft repor t in a police department computer somewhere. Mr. De La Fuente is probably correct. 

Let’s return to Mr. Oznowicz’ assertion that “very few people carry guns in Oakland for defensive purposes. They’re for offensive purposes.” 

My guess is that it’s just th e opposite, and that most people who carry guns on Oakland streets do so out of fear. 

In my high school days, I used to play pickup basketball games in the gym at the Boys Club on 86th and East 14th (this was in the long-ago days before it became the Boy s and Girls Club, and East 14th became International). One summer evening during one of those games, a disagreement broke out between two of the players, and they went outside on 86th Avenue—the rest of us trailing behind—to settle it. The two young men s quared off while we surrounded them in a circle, there was a brief bit of swinging and grabbing, and then one of the men popped the other in the jaw with a single punch that sent him down on the sidewalk. He lay there for a second, rubbing the side of his face and thinking about it, and said, “Shit, man, I’m through.” And that ended it. We all went back into the gym and finished the game. 

In 1963 or ’64 when that fight took place, such an ending wasn’t all that remarkable. But it couldn’t happen that way in 2006. More often than not, someone getting into a street fight at a city gym today is going to have his boys at his back, and they’re going to join in with stomps and punches themselves if the other one falls. More often than not, someone losing a fig ht is going to head for his car and pop the trunk (and if you don’t know why people pop their trunks, you better ask somebody). More often than not, in 2006 such a fight would never take place, in fact, as people have decided it’s better to go for the wea pons in their trunks first, to keep from getting beat down or shot. 

Fear of getting hurt, then, is driving much of Oakland’s violence. 

That is why when you get to the outer limits of that violence—the world of open-air drug dealing—increasing the penalt ies for violent crime, including upping the certainty of the death penalty, have little effect. A young man, slinging crack on the corner, is going to arm himself against takeover attempts by other drug gangs. He’s far more worried about getting caught by other dealers without his weapon than being caught by police with it, and the certainty of death in a drive-by is far more real to him than the possibility of death by lethal injection in San Quentin. 

To what conclusions does all this lead us? 

That it’s good we are having a contested mayoral race in Oakland where a Castlemont student and a teacher can ask a question about guns. It’s good that the candidates have to answer, in public, and on the record. In such a way, a dialogue on violence in Oakland g oes forward. Out of that dialogue, if we are serious, and pay attention, will come the answers. 



One century ago the Bay Area was rocked off its foundations. Every year around this time we’re reminded that the next “big one” is just around the corner. For weeks we’ve heard survivor stories of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and received advice abou t how to be prepared when the ground again rattles beneath our feet. 

Our earthquake survival kit requires food supplies for several days. While many might access Costco, I am here to suggest a much more civilized, European experience. Stroll through Nor t h Berkeley’s epicurean groaning board. Alert your senses, revisit the past and fill your basket with enough treats to ease your way through any disaster. 

North Berkeley’s origins can be traced to 1878 with the extension of the steam railroad from downt ow n to a new terminus at Shattuck and Vine. The first settlers to this neighborhood were railroad men and their families. Over the years the area developed into quiet middle-class. In Brown Shingles, many with Arts and Crafts accents, Victorians and Califor nia bungalows, it became a desirable place to live and raise a family.  

Metamorphosis began in 1966. The quietly pretty cabbage moth took on the brilliant markings of the Monarch butterfly. With the opening of Peet’s Coffee, the Cheeseboard and Chez Pani sse, a unique upscale commercial entity focusing on quality was born, revolutionizing American cooking and taste. Berkeley’s spirit of “power to the people” spoke in the collective organization of several businesses, including the Cheeseboard and its Juice Bar and Pizza offshoots.  

Today Berkeley’s gourmet ghetto travels the length of Shattuck offering an eclectic assortment of sense-tingling stimuli, for eyes, nose and taste buds. Being in the memories- mode of contemplation, I combined my prepared ness foray with thoughts of how businesses have survived and flourished throughout the years. One of Berkeley’s oldest, Virginia Bakery has excelled since 1924. 

Upon entering I’m surrounded by the fragrance of butter, sugar and vanilla and immediately se lect an Almond Wreath for my kit. Composed of pull-apart rolls topped with sugar frosting and sliced almonds this will ease my way into any morning. Packages of dainty, melt-in-your-mouth decorated cookies are next. These cookies were rewards in my family for every trip to Berkeley Pediatrics up the street. Pain from any shot dissolved upon tasting a sprinkle-coated bite. 

Roasting chicken evokes a warm hearth feeling and Poulet’s farmhouse atmosphere lures you in. Bright and cheerful is the theme both inside and out with attractive seating and décor. Cheerful chicken tablecloths, pale yellow walls and leg-dangling poultry figurines are the ideal setting for sampling Grecian quinoa salad, roasted beets with orange or adobo chicken. 

Baubles and Beads has just the cure for idle fingers. With beads from the Czech Republic, India, Africa and Bali, hours cut off from our electronic alter egos will seem like minutes. Walls of colored vials and strung beads present a rainbow palette, as do small plastic boxes a top e asy-browsing waist high cabinets. There’s no need to memorize price tags from 10 cents to $5 using convenient trays sorted by cost. Earrings, necklaces and bracelets in glass, metal and stone are projects awaiting your touch. 

At the ACCI Gallery, t he cur rent exhibit presents artistic interpretations of transformation, easily fitting into this earthquake theme. In “Remake/Remodel: Rebound,” unique materials provide outlets for personal experiences. In this handsome brick building, recently retrofit ted, th rowaway items are reborn. Books become tilting towers atop tree stumps; used tea bags, labels attached, form bed quilts; maxi pads and adult diapers are combined into wedding cakes; and Salvation Army socks and gloves are felted into fuzzy, gray o rganic w all sculptures, proving that almost any discard can be reincarnated. Lovely hand painted ceramic tableware by Paula Ross in warm spring pastels may not survive a temblor but still finds room in my earthquake kit. 

Sidewalk tables and roasting espresso sig nal time for a break. At the French Hotel, a brick building that once steamed with laundry now wafts the distinct aroma of the best Cappuccino in town. Rain or shine, outside tables are full and the line snakes out the door. Lines are always on order at C heesboard Pizza but no one seems to care. 

Listening to jazz and not needing to decide which pizza to select allows time to enjoy the bouquets on offer at Emilia’s flower stand. Sweet scent from color-saturated roses and tulips wafts with the c heese and g arlic emanating from next door, a true Berkeley experience. Only Cheeseboard Pizza can create a “kitchen sink” of fresh fennel, roasted onions, feta, mozzarella, calamata olives and gremolata exploding with flavor. 

How can any more be written about the Cheeseboard’s selection of cheeses, breads and pastries? Or their strong collective spirit? Needing to choose among 23 varieties of “blue cheese,” read the chalkboard so crammed that it appears solid white, decide between asiago and simple whea t loaves or a chocolate thing versus a cherry corn scone explains why multiple visits are required. 

At the Juice Bar Collective you’ll marvel that so much hearty fare can be created in this narrow boxcar space. Every bit of counter and stovetop is put into use to cr eate smoothies, soup, black bean polenta and spinach lasagna, guaranteed to warm body and soul on heater-less nights. 

Forty years ago the original Peet’s Coffee occupied a small space on the corner of Walnut and Vine serving incredibly rich coffee to mos tly inexperienced palettes. I remember being waited on by Alfred Peet himself, setting the standard of quality that continues to this day. His appearance and manner spoke of European traditions. Today the Peet’s franchise has spread, offerings have increa sed and brown-coated Alfred Peet is here in spirit only, but Peet’s still serves the strongest coffee around. 

There’s still room for additional survival supplies. Black Oak Books offers Politics and Current Events across from Cookbooks as you enter the s tore, perfect complements for lively discussions. Author photographs atop wooden bookshelves line the walls. Whatever your need or fancy, choices abound at this independent bookshop known for weekly book readings. 

At Saul’s Delicatessen the take-out coun ter tempts with tabouleh, hummus, chopped liver and herring. Cozy red leather booths contrast with the black and white theme carried out in decor and photos lining the walls. Generous sandwiches, bowls of crispy, savory pickles and matzo ball soup indulge your taste buds. 

Indulgence is the key at Masse’s and chocolate is its name. Truffles, made fresh daily, cakes almost too pretty to eat and assorted cookies, each a single delicious bite, are everyday fare. European in style and service, the simplest cu p of coffee and treat is served on white china at small, cozy tables, both inside and out. Not convinced that the passion fruit torte is what you want for your next party? Try the exact copy in miniature form, just to be sure. 

With bask et and senses groaning, you’ve merely sampled one slice of this epicurean neighborhood. Amble up the street to Live Oak Park, maybe join a basketball pick-up game, follow the paths across Codornices Creek beneath towering redwoods or see what’s on view at the Berkeley Art Center. Tucked amid its forest setting, this avant-garde gallery specializes in the work of local artists. 

Then head back for more. Try a wander into newly opened Epicurious Garden, on Shattuck Avenue near Vine Street, where passion for food transforms t ake-out into a gourmet experience. 

Earthquake preparation is no joke. Everyone needs to plan for safety, but there’s no reason we can’t do it with style. North Berkeley has more than enough style to go around. 

Virginia Bakery 

1690 Sha ttuck Ave., 848-6711 

Poulet 

1685 Shattuck Ave., 845-5932 

Baubles and Beads 

1676 Shattuck Ave., 644-BEAD 

ACCI Gallery 

1652 Shattuck Ave., 843-2527 

French Hotel 

1538 Shattuck Ave., 548-9930 

Cheeseboard 

1504 Shattuck Ave., 549-3183 

Juice Bar Collective 

2114 Vine St., 548-8473 

Peet’s Coffee & Tea 

2124 Vine St., 841-0564 

Black Oak Books 

1491 Shattuck Ave., 486-0698 

Saul’s Deli 

1475 Shattuck Ave., 848-DELI 

Masse’s Pastries 

1469 Shattuck Ave., 649-1004 

Berkeley Art Center 

1275 Walnut St., 644-6893 

Ep icurious Garden 

1509-1513 Shattuck Ave. 

Photo Caption: Marta Yamamoto 

The lunch crowd overflows the sidewalk and ignores the median strip sign outside the Cheeseboard. 

Photo Credit: MARTA YAMAMOTO 

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Mention Folsom and most folks think of the prison. That connection has become even stronger since the Academy Award-nominated movie Walk the Line brought the town’s famous, scenically situated Folsom Prison to prominence once again.  

Anyone with an interest in Johnny Cash or the penitentiary can walk a line into the prison’s tiny museum. Outfitted with an intriguing collection of confiscated weapons, it also displays a vintage copy of Cash’s famous record album.  

But many travelers don’t realize historic Folsom is also a worthy overnight destination. Located off Highway 50 just 22 miles east of Sacramento, the town makes a great stop on the way to or from South Lake Tahoe. I spent two nights there recently and left with many places still unexplored.  

History 

The first railroad west of the Mississippi originated in the town’s historic depot. Now a new rapid transit light rail service runs along that original route, connecting Folsom with Sacramento.  

The Folsom History Museum tells the town’s Gold Rush story. You can weigh in on an old-fashioned balance scale and, on Sundays, watch gold-panning demonstrations. The historic Railroad Turntable, which rests on its original granite pivot stone, is nearby.  

Also, the first and largest hydroelectric generating plant west of the Mississippi was built here in 1895. It operated until 1952, when the Folsom Dam hydroelectric plant began operating. Now known as Folsom Powerhouse State Historic Park, it is a great spot for kids to explore, with a “busy table” holding enticing experiments inside and a large park with sheltered picnic tables overlooking Lake Natoma outside.  

Tours 

Two of the town’s best tours are right in the historic downtown.  

You can tour a studio used by a collective of artists at Cloud’s Porcelain and learn how various kinds of pottery are made. A gift shop sells the wares.  

Or drop into Snooks Chocolate Factory for free samples and to observe a candy-making demonstration. If you’re lucky, they’ll be operating their candy machine that spits out hand-made chocolates just like that one in the famous “I Love Lucy” episode. Though everything is yummy, the fresh peanut brittle and the old-fashioned fudge are spectacular.  

Animals 

The tiny Folsom City Zoo Sanctuary provides refuge for non-releasable injured, orphaned, and “troubled” native North American animals. A few exotics and the largest captive wolf pack in Northern California are among them, and two new enclosures hold American black bears and mountain lions. 

In the park outside the zoo gates, the Folsom Valley Railway—a small 12-inch narrow gauge steam train that formerly ran in Berkeley’s Tilden Park—now takes riders here on a happy 10-minute ride.  

Something fishy is always happening at the Nimbus Fish Hatchery, where kazillions of fingerlings are busy growing in the tanks. In the fall, when the Chinook salmon return from the ocean, a fish ladder is opened; steelhead trout show up in the winter. Fish food can be purchased for a nickel, and a Visitor Center has educational exhibits.  

Recreation 

Among the area’s myriad outdoor activities are bicycling and river kayaking. As the third-best cycling city in the state, Folsom offers “a spider web of bike trails”—including the 32-mile-long American River Parkway Jedediah Smith Memorial Trail, which runs off-road all the way from Sacramento to Folsom Lake. Bicycle rentals are easily available.  

Kayaking on the river is also popular. 

Negro Bar—the historic name for the area within Folsom Lake State Recreation Area where African-Americans struck gold in 1849—is a super-scenic bend in the river and a prime put-in spot. Kayak rentals are available on-site on weekends May through mid-October. You can also swim here and picnic at tables sheltered by mature trees, and a bike trail is nearby.  

Overnighting as I did, at the Lake Natoma Inn, positioned just a few blocks from the historical downtown and the Jedediah Smith Memorial Trail, makes it possible to keep your car parked and walk to many sights and a plethora of antique shops and restaurants.  

Good food is easy to find. The informal Balcony Bistro features a warm, open dining room with original art hung on its brick walls and serves up some tasty, well-priced fare. Fresh fish, creative pastas (anyone for a pear-and-walnut version?), and classics such as roasted duck confit are sometimes options on the always-changing menu. Tea is served daily at Partea Time, and kids can choose from tutti fruiti and bubblegum flavored tea.  

Can’t get away now? Plan your trip for the fall, when you can tie it in with an annual event. Two particularly exciting ones happen each October. Folsom Live! features an assortment of live jazz and rock in downtown bars and restaurants, plus a large outdoor stage for the bigger names. 

Last year The Guess Who performed. More live music plus a barbecued salmon bake occurs at the hatchery’s annual Salmon Festival. Both are family-friendly and very popular with locals.  

Mayor Bob Holderness says, “Folsom has always been a one-horse town—first mining, then farming, then the prison. Hi-tech arrived with Intel in 1982.” 

Lucky for us, perhaps the newest horse is tourism.  

Carole Terwilliger Meyers is the author of Weekend Adventures in San Francisco & Northern California (www.carousel-press.com) and is the editor of Dream Sleeps: Castle & Palace Hotels of Europe. 

Photo Credit: Carole Terwilliger Meyers

In 1873, UC Berkeley’s first commencement exercises were held. It was on that occasion that California’s governor Newton Booth, who was considered one of the great public speakers of his day, called Berkeley the “Athens of the West.” The appellation stuck—not only in word but in practice. And so it came to pass that in 1914, a wealthy Norwegian-Hawaiian family brought its large brood to Berkeley to be properly educated. 

The pater familias was sugar pioneer Hans Peter Fayé II (1859–1928). Born in Norway, young Hans arrived on the island of Kauai in 1880. He leased land, cleared it of lava boulders, dug an artesian well for irrigation, and planted sugar cane. In 1898, he merged the H.P. Fayé Company with another plantation and a sugar mill, forming the Kekaha Sugar Company, which he managed for thirty years, until his death. 

In 1893, Hans Peter married Margaret Bonnar Lindsay (1873–1961). Between 1895 and 1912, they brought to the world three girls and five boys. The youngest was born in Norway, where the Fayés had returned to live. When the Nordic climate proved inhospitable, the family returned to the USA. In 1914, seven of the children were of school age, with the eldest ready to enter college. The Fayés purchased a Berkeley residence at 3122 Claremont Avenue, between Eton Ave. and Woolsey Street. It was a stately Queen Anne surrounded by extensive grounds (today there are 21 houses standing on the same land), previously owned by John Howard Smith, a San Francisco attorney. When Smith first occupied the house in 1878, the address was still given as the “west side of old Telegraph Road near the foothills.” 

During the Fayés’ 15-year residence at 3122 Claremont Ave., there was always at least one student in the house. In 1919, after completing his studies at Choate School and Yale, the second child and eldest son, Hans P. Fayé III (1896–1984), began working in the San Francisco office of his father’s agent, American Factors, Inc. The following year, he married Charlotte Eaton (1898–2000), and in 1924 the couple bought a house at 40 Eucalyptus Road, where they remained only two years. As their family grew, a larger home was needed, and in 1926 they purchased 15 Hillcrest Court, a short walk away from the parents’ estate. This house will be open during BAHA’s Spring House Tour on Sunday May 7. 

In 1927, Hans Peter II transferred ownership of his Claremont estate to the H.P. Fayé, Ltd. Company, no doubt with the intention of developing the land. His death and the crash of 1929 delayed the plans only slightly. One new house was constructed on the land in 1930, but in May 1931, H.P. Fayé, Ltd. sold the entire Claremont property to Oakland contractor John F. Whalen and his wife Lillian, carrying back a mortgage. The land, known as Tract No. 502 or Claremont Gardens, was subdivided around a cul-de-sac street called Brookside Drive, and 20 additional homes were built, the majority of them in 1932 and ’33. 

In 1934, Hans Peter III was transferred to Honolulu, where he would eventually rise to the presidency of Amfac. His four brothers carried on their father’s various enterprises. Anton Lindsay managed the Kekaha Sugar Company, Alan Eric Sr. ran the Waimea Sugar Plantation, and Eyvind Marcus took control of the El Dorado Ranch in Yolo County, where his two sons and grandson still grow a large variety of fruits and nuts. Hans Peter II’s widow, Margaret Fayé, chose to stay on in Berkeley, as did her sister-in-law Ebba and daughter Isabel. 

Ebba Fayé (1873–1966) settled into a Craftsman cottage at 3038 Hillegass Ave., sharing it with Margaret. But once Hans Peter III had moved to Honolulu, Mrs. Fayé took over his Hillcrest Court house. It wasn’t quite as grand as what she had been accustomed to, for the very same year she undertook major alterations at the cost of $4,869. The results were apparently satisfactory, since this elegant house remained in the family for over five decades, serving as its world headquarters. Here the Fayé children and their children would flock at Christmas time. This was also the scene of Mrs. Fayé’s formal dinner parties, during which she reputedly locked the kitchen to keep it out of her guests’ view, using a buzzer under the dining table to summon the staff.  

Meanwhile, the eldest daughter, Isabel Bonnar Fayé (1895–1982), lived in an apartment at 2369 Le Conte Ave., then a tony Holy Hill building across the street from Phoebe Apperson Hearst’s former residence. These days, looking somewhat dowdy, the building is owned by the Pacific School of Religion and houses its students. 

In the late 1940s, Isabel moved to 1524 Spruce St., directly across from the Second Church of Christ, Scientist. Here she remained until her mother’s death in 1961. Then it was her turn to occupy 15 Hillcrest Court, where she continued living for the rest of her life. 

Amfac eventually acquired Kekaha Sugar Co., and Lindsay “Tony” Fayé, Jr. managed the company twice before his retirement in 1992. The Waimea Sugar Mill Company was renamed Kikiaola Land Company, Ltd., still owned by the Fayé family. They are no longer in sugar, but their Waimea Plantation Cottages resort in West Kauai, with 60 restored historic houses, offers vacationers the opportunity to savor the atmosphere of an authentic Hawaiian plantation. 

Photo Caption: Daniella Thompson: 

Margaret Fayé’s Claremont home, designed by Walter H. Ratcliff, Jr., will be open on BAHA’s house tour, Sunday, May 7. 

Jerry Sulliger participated in the research for this article. 

Berkeley Architectural Heritage Spring House Tour & Garden Reception 

Sunday, May 7, 2006 – 1 to 5 p.m.  

This year's tour showcases eleven charming and elegant homes designed by Walter H. Ratcliff, Jr. in Claremont Park. Tour map, illustrated guidebook, and refreshments will be provided. General admission $35; BAHA members and guests $25. For information and reservations, visit the BAHA website http://berkeleyheritage.com or e-mail baha@berkeleyheritage.com.

My wife and I spent the night in Sacramento last night. Nice town, Sacramento, if a bit kitschy in parts. I guess that’s what you get with tourist towns. Some nice stuff. Some kitsch. The older part has some very beautiful older homes from the early part of the 20th century and more than a few buildings from the 19th century. One of the things that my wife, Este, and I share is a great love of old things, houses, cars, paintings, you name it. It’s part of why we live here. 

Coming back from the capital, we were saddened (and occasionally appalled) by the influx of modern buildings. Modern isn’t really the right term though because it just doesn’t say enough about what we’re seeing.  

Most of what we see, outside of our little town, is just so economically oriented that anything akin to art, solidity or permanence is utterly missing. So many buildings today seem as though they are designed to be temporary structures. How can these enclosures be intended to be a legacy to a future generations.  

Even if they do manage to stand the test of time (which is not very likely given the methods involved in the manufacture of so much of what’s out there), what do they say about who we are and what we believe? It’s really very sad. I’m not so sure that those who put up buildings a hundred years ago were all that saintly but I don’t believe that they could conceive of the notion of building a municipal building or a permanent residence that didn’t convey the music and poetry of the time. 

Today we are astounded at the lovely oaken floors that adorn nearly every local house from 1900-1950, many of which feature extravagant knotted borders but these were considered base-line, ordinary choices. The notion of using anything less for a “home” was unacceptable. Today, a plywood floor with a neutral toned polyester carpet is considered adequate. Flat sheetrock walls with nary a trim are the standard fare.  

Why is this? Who are we now that beauty is so much less the imperative? When did square footage become the overriding design criterion? 

After the big fire, it was hard not to notice that so many of the replacement homes were driven this way. Each home was twice the size of the preceding one, sometimes more. The architecture was often nondescript. 

I can recall getting lost in a house during an inspection and thinking, there’s no pattern to the layout, just rooms and rooms and more rooms. 

No hub, no center, no defining feature to any particular part, like an animal all made out of necks, no head, no tail, no belly. On the other hand, maybe I just lack a sense of direction. 

Coming out of the hinterlands of strip-mall and mega-residential conglomerations, we rolled our 20 year old Volvo back into Berkeley. Safe. No bullet holes and only a little depressed for the trial of aesthetic catharsis. 

As we cruised up into North Berkeley, we passed the usual hundreds of old houses and agreed that this was a very beautiful and special place. These old houses and commercial buildings enhance our lives in a very practical and daily way. They really do. 

As we begin to build anew, or to remodel, we have the opportunity to recreate some of what has been done before. To study and to emulate the successes of the past. This does not necessarily mean copying but can mean drawing the essence and instilling elements from these successes.  

An easy way for any one of us to do this is to literally use a piece of something beautiful left over from a time when great expenses were not spared in the making of doorknobs and baseboards. 

Our local salvage shops are filled with these treasures. Sometimes it seems to me that these places are museums with free admissions for viewing great artworks of industrial design. And for a few dollars you can own a piece for yourself. 

The next time you’re considering a small remodeling on your older home, think about first taking a trip to the salvage yard and selecting a few old treasures with which to construct your new space. 

A bath remodel is a great project in which to include some of these grand finds but some complications will be attendant. Good plumbers, in particular, will be needed for this adventure. 

For a simple enhancement, just pick out some old brass hooks to hang towels on. Many salvage yards have wild, extravagant brass hooks that can hang on a door or a wall. 

Think about an old sink, if you don’t mind a chip or a small crack and have it outfitted with either old or new hardware. There are also reproduction sinks of old styles as well as antique style faucets or the whole 9 yard works available for a clawfoot tub including tub faucets, shower faucets, soap dishes, hoops and gigantic shower heads in porcelain and brass. 

For the very adventurous, there are loads of clawfoot tubs out there, many still fitted with drains, waste-overflow piping and other bells and whistles. It’s not necessary to do all the plumbing in old parts. A few visible, touchable parts can be enough. Maybe just an old door with a mortise lock is enough to take you back. Or how about a leaded or stained glass window? Surprisingly, many are sitting out there in the salvage yards. 

These things are out there waiting to be taken home and loved and to give us all a little reminder of a time when art was everywhere and the thought of a hinge without a little filigree was just, well, unthinkable. 

Here’s a list of a few local “museums” of construction. Some feature more “cleaned-up” parts and some, being a little cheaper, feature piles of parts just as they came in. Some also feature reproductions.  

• Urban Ore 900 Murray St. (near 7th & Ashby) Berkeley, 841-7283. 

• The Sink Factory, 2140 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley, 540-8193. 

• Ohmega Salvage, 2407 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley. 

• Omega Too (lighting) is across the street, 204-0767 www.ohmegasalvage.com. 

• Ruiz Lighting, 2333 Clement St., Alameda, 769-6082. 

A nice list of other yards and stores can be found on Ohmega’s website under Links. 

We sadly lost Berkeley Architectural Salvage this year, the MOMA of salvage yards. I guess if we don’t use ‘em, we’ll lose ‘em. A fond good-bye and thanks to Alan Goodman who ran BAS all those years.  

Got a question about home repairs and inspections? Send them to Matt Cantor, in care of East Bay Real Estate, at realestate@berkeleydailyplanet.com. 

Matt Cantor owns Cantor Inspections and lives in Berkeley. His column runs weekly. 

Copyright 2005 Matt Cantor›

Maybe we’re going to get sprung after all. Maybe we don’t have to try raising duck potatoes and cattails in all our gardens, and who knows? The sun might even come out for a few days before the summer fog rolls in.  

In the event we get some garden time this year, there are lots of resources blooming this season. Fall may be the best time to plant a lot of things, especially natives, to take advantage of the winter rains, but spring is when our fancies turn to green stuff.  

Tomorrow (Saturday, April 22) Merritt College Landscape Horticulture Department throws its annual spring plant fair. This is a great place to find garden mainstays, food plants, and good advice; it’s also a place for unusual plants: things you never heard of and new variations on old favorites. 

There’s also live music, food, and art, and good advice about soils, structures, plants, exposures, pruning, or any other garden-related question you might have. 

While you’re there, take a stroll through the department’s grounds and don’t miss the vista from the western deck. The event runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., 12500 Campus Drive, in the Oakland hills; take Hwy. 13 to the Redwood Road exit and go uphill to turn right on Campus Drive. 

More ideas, inspiration, and advice can be found on garden tours: Register—right now, quick!—to tour or volunteer, at www.bringingbackthenatives.net/ for this year’s Bringing Back the Natives tour. It’s free and fascinating, and includes freebies, garden talks, and the chance to see how natives get along with other plants and wildlife in an immense variety of situations and combinations. Self-guided all-Bay-Area tour, Sunday, May 7, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.  

Park Day School’s annual Secret Gardens of the East Bay Tour happens Sunday, April 30, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., rain or shine. Order tickets, $45 each, at www.parkdayschool.org/secretgardens/ tour.html or call the hotline, (510) 653-6250. There’s a garden marketplace and lunch available at the school, or order a box lunch with your ticket, for $13.  

Reserve a tour of the Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek and seize the chance to buy plants from that great place afterwards. The garden has lots of succulents and irises, and you can make drainage good enough for them; take a look at the mounding method the inimitable Mrs. Bancroft used to build her oasis. 

Docent-led tours are given Fridays, 9:30 a.m., and Saturdays, 9:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Self-guided tours Fridays, 1 p.m. and Sundays, 4 p.m. All tours $7/person. Registration required; go to www.ruthbancroftgarden.org/mailtours.html or call (925) 210-9663.  

Plan for Mother’s Day: Annie’s Annuals throws an appropriately annual party at the nursery in Richmond, May 13 and 14 this year; see anniesannuals.com for directions. California Native Plant Society’s Yerba Buena Chapter runs a free self-guided tour of native gardens in San Francisco on May 14, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. this year. 

Download a map and address list at www.cnps-yerbabuena.org/gardentour.html—this one thoughtfully includes notes on how accessible each garden is to people using walkers.  

Ron Sullivan is a former professional gardener and arborist. Her “Garden Variety” column appears every Friday in East Bay Home & Real Estate. Her column on East Bay trees appears every other Tuesday in the Berkeley Daily Planet.

A few people have told me that they missed reading my column in this beloved rag. I’ve missed writing it. (Thank you, friends, for noticing my absence.) 

I’ve been very busy—a bit overwhelmed, in fact—immersing myself into the brave new world of single motherhood. I am in the process of obtaining a divorce. 

“Oh woe!” The masses proclaim. “I am so sorry!” They cry out. “But you seemed like the perfect couple! The most beautiful of families!” 

Alas. Things are not what they appear to be. I am joining the ranks of single black (white, red, brown and yellow) women with two kids and insubstantial income, hopefully not on the decline into poverty, bitterness and loss of functional faculties.  

Married for over 23 years, I had my doubts even way back when, while taking that tentative, fateful walk down that looming gangplank—er, I mean aisle. I thought to myself, “What the hell are you doing?” 

But, back then, everybody was doing it. I was the last in my group to submit. And that’s what my marriage became: a submission. Uh oh. Let me shut up right now. My soon-to-be-ex certainly has his own perspective on our marital mess and I would certainly hate to see it published here—or elsewhere. (Oh, no! Too late. I can hear him taking pen to pad right now as I speak...) So, let me just hush up about all the dreary details and say: Onward! To a better, healthier, happier life for us all. 

Now, what does all this divorce matter mean exactly? And in particular what does it mean for our children? They now have new identities as well. They are soon to be children of divorce. This is particularly difficult for my 11-year-old son (I was told to never use the possessive “my” in Family Court when speaking of my children but rather, to always say “our.” 

Otherwise, the judges get ticked off ... they assume you’re already trying to leave the other parent out. But, hell, this is my column and I’m writing about my kids. So, in this sacred space they are “mine.”)  

Jason (my son’s favorite fake name) was among the very few in his circle of young, mostly black males who actually had two married parents and his father living in the home. Now he finds himself lumped in with the majority—yet another young brother with no daddy in the home. 

Need it be a sad majority? One in which he feels abandoned or deprived? No, it doesn’t have to be. I am resolutely looking forward to an amicable, co-parenting arrangement with my children’s father—that is, after we get through all the thorny money-resentment-anger stuff. (Which I hope will be soon, dear.) 

My children now have two houses, two sets of stuff, two schedules, two sets of chores, rooms to clean, homework at two different kitchen tables, two sets of dishes, towels, soaps, TVs, Play Stations and one backpack each which sometimes gets forgotten at the other parent’s house. 

And me? What do I have? No one to call if I get a flat tire or a window needs replacing or I’m short with the mortgage, taxes, insurance car payment, kids gotta eat, baby needs new shoes and the junior prom is right around the corner.  

And what about sharing all those wonderful, precious moments when our kids do or say the most witty, insightful, fabulous things? Right now, my soon-to-be-ex and I are just sharing the bad things, the fall-out. Hopefully, we’ll get to a point where we can share those happy events, too.  

In the meantime, I am at mid-life and taking stock. The questions I asked myself during my youth I am re-asking now. Outside of woman, wife and mother, who am I, really? What happened to my dreams, to the person I thought I would become? How much of that dream was suppressed, suffocated while devoting myself to family? Is there anything of the me-dream left? How do I go back there and make it real again? And is that what I really want? 

What am I gaining and at what expense? Will the children be better off in the long run and how long does it run? At this point, all I can hope for is that we are all better off living in two separate households full of peace, love, healthy communication and mutual respect and support.  

“What are you, crazy? Dreaming? On drugs?” Hey, I didn’t say all this would all appear automatically without the passage of time, hard work and a few tears. It’s a process, after all. But I do, oh so gratefully, see the light at the end of this long, winding tunnel. All I can do is to take it one step, one day at a time. Wish me luck. 

h

Last week I received an important letter from the United States Navy. This is what it said: 

Navy. Accelerate your life.™ 

Dear Parker J. Susan. 

I’m thinking your vision of college and success is different than most people’s. Any scholarship will get you through college, but you’re looking for something more. Like a scholarship that will get you through life…starting right now. With the prospect of graduating debt-free—a great way to start your career!  

That’s why I’m letting you know about the Navy Baccalaureate Degree Completion Program (BDCP) that offers money to complete your degree—money sent directly to you! To spend as you see fit, and no military requirements while you’re in school. Just a typical college life, minus the money hassles.  

Picture it. You. With a Navy scholarship. And a job waiting right after graduation. No searching for a position and no waiting to “earn” responsibility. Get extensive training on the world’s most advanced equipment. Plus full Navy benefits and outstanding medical coverage. Enjoy more responsibility early on. After just four years, you’re free to take your skills to the civilian job market—where you’ll have a competitive edge. Or continue your Navy career. Pursue a graduate education—at the Navy’s expense. And there’s much more we’d like to tell you.  

Ready for a short-term commitment with long-term rewards? It’s your call. Discover more about the life you could have through the Navy Baccalaureate Degree Completion Program. Fill out and mail the attached reply card, call us at (800) 345-6289 or e-mail LPT_sanfrancisco@cnrc.navy.mil.  

Now more than ever, let’s make a difference. 

Sincerely, 

Lance S. Sapera 

Commander, U.S. Navy 

What do you want to do? As a Navy Officer, choose from a wide range of career fields—aviation, clergy, health care, engineering, legal, supply and many others. Call us and we’ll tell you more. Shift your career into high gear. Navy. Accelerate your life.™ 

The letter was decorated with color photographs of huge steel-gray battleships plowing confidently through a calm blue sea, and a single Naval officer dressed in white, looking directly at me and saluting.  

At the bottom of Commander Sapera’s communiqué was the postage-paid reply card with some questions for me to answer. The Navy wanted to know if I was a U.S. citizen and if my GPA was 2.0 or higher. “Best Time to Call?” they asked, and then they gave me a choice of “a.m. or p.m. (please circle one).”  

I telephoned my dad and read to him the contents of the letter. 

“They want you bad,” he said when I’d finished. 

“It seems that way.”  

“’No waiting to earn responsibility,’” he said. 

“More responsibility early on,” I added. “And a scholarship that will get me through life.”  

We were silent for a moment as we contemplated a scholarship that could possibly get me out of the responsible life in which I’ve been engaged for the past 54 years, and into something more responsible—like the Navy. 

“I think you should choose a career in Naval clergy,” said Dad. “It might do you some good.” 

“Really? I was thinking I should wait and see what the Army, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard have to offer and then make a decision.” 

“Not a bad idea,” said Dad. “Not a bad idea at all.”

The dawn redwoods don’t mind the soggy weather; they’re leafing out more or less on schedule. I suppose they evolved with wetter weather to begin with, so no surprise there. In other ways, this tree has been full of surprises. 

There are dawn redwoods, Metasequoia glyptostroboides, in several private gardens around Berkeley, and on the UC campus (right around the corner from Trader Vic Bergeron’s oddly squatting sabertooth cat statue, among other places) and in the UC Botanical Garden; there are a couple of young ones beside the Joseph Charles tennis courts on MLK at Oregon. People who’ve moved into properties with established dawn redwoods have been unpleasantly surprised in autumn when the leaves turned russet and fell. Some have—horrors!—had the “dead” trees cut down. But this species, like the Southeastern baldcypress (Taxodium distychum) it resembles and unlike our native coast redwoods, is naturally deciduous.  

Right now its new leaves are tender, pale green feathers against pale red-brown, shreddy bark. The trunk of every one I’ve seen that’s younger than a few hundred years is vertically rippling, muscular, tapering from a broad base to the narrow spire of the tree’s single leader.  

Dawn redwood is one of few living species that was named and classified from fossils alone, long before anyone in the scientific community that uses those Linnean binomials had seen a living individual. In a way, it’s a living fossil, like our coastal Sequoia sempervirens and Sequoiadendron giganteum, their massive relative in the Sierra Nevada. All are relict species, survivors of forests and families that existed over much greater territories in a different world climate several million years ago. Dawn redwood fossils have been found around the northern hemisphere from Spitsbergen through Alaska and our Midwest to Greenland.  

The interests of quite various academics came together to identify and find this relic. In 1941, a Japanese paleobotanist, Shigeru Miki, decided that the Pliocene fossils he was seeing weren’t just another Taxodium after all, in fact weren’t quite like anything else, and named them their species binomial. News like this didn’t travel fast across the battle lines of World War II.  

That same year, a Chinese forester-professor named T. Kan noticed an interesting tree on a roadside in Szechuan. As it was winter and the tree was bare, he couldn’t collect the usual specimens, but he asked a local resident to collect some in spring. The specimens weren’t identified until they’d passed through many hands over several years, and in 1946 reached someone who’d read Miki’s publication, one Dr. H. H. Hu of the Fan Institute in (then) Peiping. He matched the living samples with Miki’s recently named fossils.  

Dr. Hu wrote to Dr. Elmer D. Merrill of Harvard and Dr. Ralph Chaney of UC Berkeley to announce the find and request help in preserving the species. Merrill sent $250, enough to fund a seed-gathering trip by Hu’s colleagues, and the seed was redistributed to interested gardens and arboretums all over the world. Chaney, however, took a different approach. He wanted to meet this living fossil on its home turf. 

UC’s Chaney wanted to meet this old-new tree in the flesh. He’d traveled to China with Roy Chapman Andrews’ famous 1925 Mongolia-Gobi Desert expedition, which had discovered the first Velociraptor fossils—and, in fact, had collected unrecognized dawn redwood fossils. Over 20 years later, Chaney’s health was barely up to the trip; he had to be carried in a rude palanquin for part of the way, through freezing storms on treacherous trails.  

He’d already met the type specimen, the 480-year-old, 112-foot-tall individual whose seeds had been sent out and whose lineaments were used to describe the species. The hard part was a farther trip, to see a whole forest of dawn redwoods.  

He saw there a mixed forest of broadleaf trees—birch, beech, oak, sweetgum, maple, chestnut—in which the dawn redwood was a citizen, as its fossils had suggested was the case through its ancient range. “It’s like a botanical alumni reunion,” he said. “This is what much of the world looked like a million centuries ago.” 

Such a reunion takes place not only in arboretums around the world, but on out city streets, planted with many of those trees now. Continents and climates drift, and humans drift too, just faster. 

Photograph by Ron Sullivan. 

A young dawn redwood just starting to leaf out. This one lives beside the tennis courts at Oregon Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way in South Berkeley. The muscular trunk is a good fieldmark for the species. 

FRIDAY, APRIL 21 

CHILDREN 

“Percussion Discussion” a performance by Ken Bergmann, including making your own instruments, from noon to 2 p.m. at Lawrence Hall of Science, Centennial Drive. Cost is $7.50-$9.50. 642-5132. 

THEATER 

Actors Ensemble of Berkeley “The Devil’s Disciple” by G.B. Shaw, Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck Ave. through May 6. Tickets are $12. 649-5999.  

Aurora Theatre “Small Tragedy” Wed.-Sat at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 and 7 p.m. at 2081 Addison St., through May 14. Tickets are $38. 843-4822.  

BareStage “The Fantasticks” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m., at Cesar Chavez Student Center, UC Campus. Tickets are $8-$12. 642-3880.  

Berkeley Rep “The Glass Menagerie” at 8 p.m. at the Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St. Tickets are $59. Runs through May 31. 647-2949.  

Contra Costa Civic Theater “Animal Crackers” at 8 p.m. Fri and Sat., and Sun. at 2 p.m. at 951 Pomona Ave., El Cerrito, through May 20. Tickets are $12-$20. 524-9132.  

Impact Theater “Money & Run Episode 4: Go Straight, No Chaser,” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave. Cost is $10-$15. Runs through May 27. 464-4468.  

Masquers Playhouse “Relative Values” by Noel Coward. Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at 105 Park Place, Point Richmond, through May 6. Tickets are $15. 232-4031. www.masquers.org 

Shotgun Players “Bright Ideas” Thurs.-Sun. at 8 p.m. at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. to April 23. Tickets are $15-$30. 841-6500.  

Subterranean Shakespeare “Richard III” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. at Rose in Live Oak Park, through May. 20. Tickets are $12-$17. 276-3871. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Is It a Crow?” Abstract works by eight Bay Area artists. Reception at 6 p.m. at the Women’s Cancer Resource Center, 5741 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Exhibition runs to May 25. 601-4040, ext. 111. www.wcrc.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

John Hideyo Hamamura describes the Japanese-American experience in his novel “The Color of the Sea” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

En Pointe Youth Dance Company “Horizons” at 8 p.m. at the Roda Theater, 2025 Addison St. Tickets are $6-$10. enpointedance@yahoo.com 

Berkeley Dance Project 2006 Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 7 p.m. at Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Campus. Tickets are $8-$14. 642-9925. 

Paufve Dance “The Big Squeeze” at 8 p.m. at Shawl-Anderson Dance Center, 2704 Alcatraz at College. Tickets are $10-$15. Reservations required. 428-9713.  

“Four Choreographers/One Connection” Dance performance Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Mills College, Lisser Hall, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland. Tickets are $12-$15. 430-2175. 

Oakland East Bay Symphony with Karla Donehew, violin, at 8 p.m. at Paramount Theater, 2025 Broadway. Pre-concert lecture at 7:05 p.m. Tickets are $15-$60. 625-8497.  

The Georges Lammam Ensemble at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $15. Benefit for the Palestinian youth of Deir Ibzi’a. 849-2568.  

Project Greenfield, Midnight Madness at 9 p.m. at Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph Ave. Cost is $5.  

California Bach Society “Monteverdi: Missa in illo tempore” at 8 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft Way. 415-262-0272.  

Salvador Santana at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886.  

John Newby & his Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $7. 841-JAZZ.  

Caribbean Allstars at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $11-$13. 525-5054.  

Bittersweet, americana, at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

Laurie Lewis & the Right Hands at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

Eddie Marshall Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Renee Asteria & Deborah Crooks at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Bart Davenport, Mushroom, at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082.  

Deadfall, Formaldahyde Junkies, I Object, at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

Beatropolis at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Omar Sosa Quartet, featuring Pee Wee Ellis at 8 and 10 p.m., at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10. 238-9200.  

SATURDAY, APRIL 22 

CHILDREN  

Celebration of Children’s Literature Book fair with author signings and costumed characters, storytelling, music and a drop-in art activities for children, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m at Tolman Hall, UC Campus. http:// 

gse.berkeley.edu/admin/childlit 

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Colibri, songs in English and Spanish, at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $4 for adults, $3 for children. 849-2568.  

Create Your Own Flip Book A free workshop with Roberta Gould from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

EXHIBITIONS 

Earth Day Glass Blowing Demonstration from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Cohn-Stone Studios, 560 South 31st St., near Regatta Blvd exit, Richmond. Also on Sun. 234-9690.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Wole Soyinka, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature reads from his memoir “You Must Set Forth at Dawn” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

Rhythm & Muse Open Mic Night at 7 p.m. at at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St., between Eunice & Rose Sts. Admission free. 644-6893.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Opera “Chrysalis” by Clark Suprynowicz and John O’Keefe at 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Theater, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $15-$40. 925-798-1300.  

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra “Ode to Joy” at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church, Dana and Durant Sts. Tickets are $28-$62. 415-392-4400. www.philharmonia.org 

En Pointe Youth Dance Company “Horizons” at 8 p.m. at the Roda Theater, 2025 Addison St. Tickets are $6-$10. enpointedance@yahoo.com 

Paufve Dance “The Big Squeeze” at 8 p.m. at Shawl-Anderson Dance Center, 2704 Alcatraz at College. Tickets are $10-$15. Reservations required. 428-9713.  

Berkeley Dance Project 2006 Works by Margaret Jenkins, Reggie Wilson and Ellis Wood at 8 p.m., Sun. at 7 p.m. at Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Campus. Tickets are $8-$14. 642-9925. 

Trinity Chamber Concerts, The Music of Walter Gieseking, at 8 p.m. at Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana St.. Tickets are $8-$12. 549-3864.  

Kensington Symphony with Chauncey Aceret, cello, Young Soloist Competition Winner, 8 p.m. Northminster Presbyterian Church, 545 Ashbury Ave., El Cerrito. Donation $8-$10. 524-9912.  

“Four Choreographers/One Connection” Dance performance at 8 p.m. at Mills College, Lisser Hall, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland. Tickets are $12-$15. 430-2175. 

Jai Uttal Kirtan Devotional Music Series at 7 p.m. Studio Rasa, 933 Parker St. Tickets are $15-$18. 843-2787.  

Jen Spool at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Tickets are $10-$15, no one turned away. 644-2204. 

Erica Azim, traditional Shona mbira music of Zimbabwe at 8 p.m. at the Mahea Uchiyama Center for International Dance, 729 Heinz Ave. 

Justice, Jazz & Decadent Desserts with Ben Brandzel, of MoveOn.org, George Brooks, jazz sazophonist, and members of Berkeley High School Jazz Band, at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. Tickets are $10-$50. 547-2424, ext. 110. www.jycajustice.org  

The Mixers, classic rock and blues at 9:30 p.m. at The Pub at Baltic Square, 135 Park Place, Pt. R ichmond. Cost is $5. 237-4782. 

Carne Cruda, Latin, funk, cumbia, reggae at 9:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $5-$7. 849-2568.  

Jessica Neighbor & her Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ.  

Wild Catahoulas at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $11-$13. 525-5054.  

Sam Misner & Megan Smith at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Kasey Knudsen Sextet at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Laurie Lewis & the Right Hands at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

Jennifer Johns, Bumbalo & Sok the Virgo at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886.  

Mark Levine Trio at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Eric Swinderman Quartet at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Kurt Ribak Jazz Group at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $3. 843-2473.  

Don Villa & Friends at 8 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. Cost is $7. 558-0881. 

Conspiracy of Beards, The Pillows, Loop Station at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082.  

Internal Affairs, Blue Monday, Miles Away, Panic at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $7. 525-9926. 

Omar Sosa Quartet, featuring Pee Wee Ellis at 8 and 10 p.m., at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10. 238-9200.  

SUNDAY, APRIL 23 

CHILDREN 

Mary Ellen Hill, stories in honor of Earth Day at 3 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $4-$6. 525-5054.  

THEATER 

Josh Kornbluth “Ben Franklin Unplugged” at 2 p.m. at Congregation Beth El, 1301 Oxford St. Tickets are $50 and up. 848-3988. www.bethelberkeley.org 

FILM 

San Francisco Women’s Film Festival “All is Normal” and “Snowblink” at 5 and 8 p.m. at the Parkway Theater, 1834 Park Blvd., Oakland. Tickets are $8. 814-2400. www.sfwff.com 

Watchword Cartoon Festival and brunch from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. Cost is $5. 845-0304. www.watchwordpress.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Berkeley Architecture of Bernard Maybeck” with UC Architecture Professor Emeritus Kenneth H. Cardwell at 3 p.m. at the Berkeley History Center, 1931 Center St. 848-0181.  

“If You Don’t Listen You Don’t Hear” Spoken word, poetry and more by East Bay youth at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $7-$10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Dr. Amy Tiemann, author of “Mojo Mom” at 3 p.m. at Play Café, 4400 Keller Ave., Oakland. Cost is $29.95, includes book. Registration required. 632-4433. 

Island Literary Series, jazz and poetry at 3 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $2-$4. 841-JAZZ. 

Poetry Flash with Basil King and Martha King at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Krystian Zimerman, piano, at 3 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $34-$58. 642-9988.  

UC Alumni Chorus presents “It Takes Two: A Concert of Pairs” at 7 p.m. at Hertz Hall, Bancroft at College Ave., UC Campus. Tickets are $6-$15. 233-3469. www.ucac.net 

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra “Ode to Joy” at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church. Tickets are $28-$62. 415-392-4400.  

Berkeley Dance Project 2006 at 7 p.m. at Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Campus. Tickets are $8-$14. 642-9925. 

Paufve Dance “The Big Squeeze” at 8 p.m. at Shawl-Anderson Dance Center, 2704 Alcatraz at College. Tickets are $10-$15. 428-9713.  

“Four Choreographers/One Connection” Dance performance at 2 p.m. at Mills College, Lisser Hall, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland. Tickets are $12-$15. 430-2175. 

Bay Area Follies Senior Center dancers at 2 and 7 p.m. at the Roda Theater, 2015 Addison St. Tickets are $10-$15 at the door. 

Vasen, Swedish folk revivalists, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761.  

Dave Matthews Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ.  

TrioMetrik New Media Compositions at 8 p.m. at Center for New Music and Audio Technologies, 1750 Arch. Tickets are $10. www.cnmat.berkeley.edu  

Americana Unplugged, bluegrass and oldtime showcase, at 5 p.m. at Jupiter. 655-5715.  

Ajamu Akinyele with Gemini Soul at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe. 595-5344. 

Wire Graffiti, Compton SF, Dynamite 8 at 3 p.m. at Stork Club, 2330 Telegraph Ave. Cost is $5. 444-6174. 

108, Look Back and Laugh, Lights Out Gather at 5 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

MONDAY, APRIL 24 

EXHIBITIONS 

Barclay Simpson MFA Awards Exhibition at the Tecoah Bruce Gallery, Oliver Art Center, California College of the Arts, 5212 Broadway. Reception and awards presentation at 5:30 p.m. 415-51-9213. 

THEATER 

Traveling Jewish Theatre, “All Through the Night” at 8 p.m. at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. Tickets are $12 - $15. 415-522-0786.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Aurora Theatre “Los Once” a reading of the play by Finnigan Sullivan, and “The Nigeria Show” by Jayne Wenger at 7:30 p.m. at 2081 Addison St. Free. 843-4822.  

Michael Lavigne introduces his new novel about the Holocaust, “Not Me” at 7:30 p.m. at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237. 

Jane Fonda introduces her memoir “My Life So Far” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Poetry Express Open Mic Theme Night “Cats” at 7 p.m., at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. berkeleypoetryexpress@yahoo.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

West Coast Songwriters Open Mic at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $5. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Mastro Omar Mokhtari, Algerian music and flamenco fusion, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Zilberella Monday at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ.  

Chabot College Jazz Groups at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

TUESDAY, APRIL 25 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Tell It On Tuesday Original storytelling at 7 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Cost is $8-$12 at the door. www.juliamorgan.org 

Joel Beinin introduces “The Struggle for Sovereignty: Palestine and Israel, 1993-2005” edited by Joel Beinin and Rebecca L. Stein at 5:30 p.m. at Unversity Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585. 

Morris Bermanon introduces “Dark Ages America...” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

David Mitchell reads from his new novel “Black Swan Green” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Tom Rigney & Flambeau at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054.  

Larry Vuckovich, solo jazz piano, at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Ellen Hoffman Trio and Singers’ Open Mic at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ.  

Dave Douglas Quintet at 8 and 10 p.m. Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$18. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Randy Craig Trio at 7:30 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Jazzschool Tuesdays at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26 

THEATER 

The Marsh Berkeley “Faulty Intelligence”satirical songs by Roy Zimmerman, Wed.-Thurs. at 7 p.m. at 2118 Allston Way, through April 27. Tickets are $15-$22. www.themarsh.org 

FILM 

Film 50: History of Cinema “Wings of Desire” at 3 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Berkeley Treasures “A Conversation with Karl Kasten,” painter and printmaker, at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. in Live Oak Park. 644-6893. 

Jonathan Safran Foer introduces his novel “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

Elisa Southard, author of “Break Through the Noise: 9 Tools to Propel Your Marketing Message” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698.  

Cynthia Taylor in conversation on her new book “A. Philip Randolph: The Religious Journey of an African American Labor Leader” at 5:30 p.m. at Unversity Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585. 

Writing Teachers Write, monthly reading, at 5 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

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.starryploughpub.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Wednesday Noon Concert, “Javanese Gamelan” at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Free. 642-4864. http://music.berkeley.edu 

Berkeley Opera “Chrysalis” by Clark Suprynowicz and John O’Keefe at 7:30 p.m. at Julia Morgan Theater, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $15-$40. 925-798-1300. www.berkeleyopera.org 

UC Jazz Ensembles at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Ned Boynton Trio at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Helsinki Skylight, with bassist Sam Beven, at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Track Fighter, The Main Event, The Great Divorce at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Dave Douglas Quintet at 8 and 10 p.m. Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$18. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

After too long a period of vacuous, gallery-driven shows, the MATRIX program of the Berkeley Art Museum has come back to life with a radical exhibition by its newly appointed curator Chris Gilbert: “New-Time: Media Along the Path of the Bolivarian Process.”  

The work of Dario Azzelini, a writer and political analyst, living in Berlin and Mexico City, and the Austrian artist Oliver Ressler, it is a multi-screen projection on the subject of Venezuela’s worker-controlled factories. The two men recorded extensive interviews with workers in five factories which produce aluminum, textiles, cocoa, paper and tomato products. The viewer confronts workers who have occupied and controlled factories as part of Hugo Chávez’s socialist revolution. In the background we see and hear the factories at work. 

Aware of the failure of Soviet Russia and the countries under Soviet domination, the workers themselves, not the state, control the means of production in these factories. They make decisions, which, they tell us, are based on human values.  

The viewer listening to the workers and looking at the factories learns about co-management (cogestión), which is based on the Bolivarian Constitution of Venezuela (1999), that stresses the economic rights of the country’s citizens: “the fair distribution of wealth as well as the production of goods and services that meet the needs of the populace,” and “security, health, environmental protection.” In the video one of the workers sums it up by saying, “We are the protagonists ... We don’t think as Commandante Chávez does, Commandante Chávez thinks like us and that is why he is there and we will keep him there.” 

With the over-extension of the U.S. military, we can hope that there might not be another interference of “Contras” in the Venezuelan revolution. With the exception of the right-wing governments of Columbia and Paraguay, most of the South American continent has moved to the left, with Venezuela advancing furthest in its revolution against neo-liberal globalization and U.S. hegemony. Is it possible that George W. Bush has succeeded where Simon Bolivar and Che Guevara had failed? 

The current exhibition will be on view until May 28. It is to be followed by further presentations in a yearlong cycle of projects in solidarity with the Bolivarian Revolution. Mr. Gilbert wants art to be didactic and politically active. He says that these exhibitions will “not merely document but also contribute to their subjects. This is a departure from a tradition of political art and exhibitions, in that it acknowledges that works of art can be part of the new world that revolutionary art brings into being rather than simply reflecting upon them.” 

In the long debate as to whether art can change consciousness, the new MATRIX curator, like this writer, believes that it can indeed have an effect on society. This work seems related to the earlier photo documentations by Allan Sekula, who in 1978 wrote: “We need to counterpose an active resistance, simultaneously political and symbolic, to monopoly capitalism’s increasing power and arrogance, a resistance aimed ultimately at socialist transformation.” 

This is by no means the only political art exhibition in the Bay Area. The Yuerba Buena Center for the Arts has just opened a major exhibition, “Black Panther Rank and File” which offers a multifaceted look at the legacy of the Black Panthers, using “the Black Panther Party as a lens through which we can explore the role the artists play in inspiring social change and in remembering and reflecting on human struggle and achievement.” 

Now-Time Venezuela, Part 1:  

Worker-Controlled Factories 

Through Sunday, May 28 

Now-Time Venezuela, Part 2:  

Revolutionary Television in Catia 

Sunday, May 14 through Sunday, July 16 

Berkeley Art Museum 

2626 Bancroft Way 

2621 Durant Avenue 

Wednesday – Sunday 11 a.m.-5 p.m. 

Thursdays 11 a.m.-7 p.m. 

Photo Caption:  

A factory worker from a scene in “Now Time Venezuela, Part 1: Worker-Controlled Factories.”

The films of Busby Berkeley are rendered in the popular imagination as naïve and silly entertainments from a simpler time, from a bygone era of innocence, frivolity and wholly unsophisticated audiences. This notion is not only false, it gives short shrift to the director and to the moviegoers who flocked to his films. 

In the 1930s films of Busby Berkeley the plot is merely a hook on which to hang the director-choreographer’s surreal musical sequences—interludes of imaginative and often highly subversive sexual fantasies. 

Six of Berkeley’s best-known movies have recently been released in a box set, the Busby Berkeley Collection, and a careful viewing of these early musicals dispels any lingering notions of their innocence. 

Movie musicals began with the advent of reliable sound technology in the late 1920s, which sent the industry into a tailspin as the major studios hastily adopted the new medium. 

Though there are examples of extraordinary filmmaking during this era, they are few and far between. For the most part, the earliest talkies were awkward and clumsy, and hardly any them are remembered today, other than as examples of the pitfalls of the new technology.  

Much of this was due to the physical demands of the equipment. The boom microphone hadn’t been invented, so large mics had to be somehow concealed on the set, and actors had to do their best to direct their voices toward them. And the camera, which was quite noisy, had to be engulfed in blimp-like wrapping to silence it, or placed inside a sound-proof booth, filming the action from behind a plate-glass window. Both techniques essentially immobilized the camera, rendering the early talkies static and stagebound.  

This is the context from which sprang the Hollywood musical. Early musicals were essentially filmed stage productions, with the camera placed dead center in the equivalent of the front row and the actors and dancers paraded back and forth before its gaze. And that was enough—for a while. Audiences were drawn by the spectacle, by the novelty of sound, and of course by the allure of Hollywood chorus girls. 

Then came Busby Berkeley. 

Before making the move to Hollywood, Berkeley had made a name for himself as a choreographer in a string of successful New York stage productions. Once in the movie business he quickly expanded his role, first taking over the direction of his musical numbers and then assuming control of the films themselves.  

Berkeley wasn’t much of a director when there was no music. In fact, he was quite mediocre. It’s unclear whether he simply had no talent for handling actors and dialogue or simply didn’t care enough to bother. But once the music started, there was no one like him. He exploited every device and angle that cinema afforded him. 

Berkeley presented dancers in vast groups, in multitudes swirling about in shifting geometric patterns. More often than not these multitudes featured dozens of identically and scantily clad ingenues in pulsating patterns, with the camera dollying smoothly and suggestively toward and through them. Film critic David Thomson, in his Biographical Dictionary of Film, describes Berkeley as having revealed cinema’s “ready, lascivious disposition toward orgy.” 

Gold Diggers of 1935 was made shortly after the industry began enforcing the Production Code, Hollywood’s attempt to appease the federal government by a method of self-censorship. It laid down strict rules of morality for film content: villains were to be punished; good must always triumph over evil; loose women should learn the error of their ways or at least be made to face dire consequences, etc. A director could manage to smuggle in some immoral behavior here and there, as long as it was questioned or punished by the film’s end. 

There were plenty of directors who flouted these rules, slipping subtle innuendo into their films. But no one subverted the code more ostentatiously than Berkeley. 

By the time Gold Diggers was made, sound technology had advanced significantly, with boom mics and a mobile cameras allowing Berkeley to expand his canvas. Though it is neither the film’s biggest nor most famous number, the “Words in My Heart” sequence is one of Berkeley’s most fascinating. The song features dozens of virginal upper-class society girls, dressed in white and seated primly at pearly white baby grand pianos, all swirling and spinning in ecstatic little pirouettes amid a sea of blackness. As they move about, the group takes on various shapes, at one point aligning themselves in two columns which recede into the distance. The two lines begin to move apart and together again in sensuous undulations as the camera pulls back, essentially taking on the appearance of a sort of animated Georgia O’Keefe painting.  

This would be suggestive enough, but Berkeley takes it a step further. For if you look closely, under each of those pianos is a pair of black-clad legs, the legs of dozens of men who are essentially carrying the pianos on their backs, propelling these young belles around the floor. The furtiveness of their placement, along with the positioning of the their bodies in relationship to the women, suggests far more than one might suspect at first glance. 

The fact that these men are visible is not an accident. Special effects were quite sophisticated by the early 1920s. This is not a case of a director clumsily revealing the mechanics of his technique. Berkeley chose to make those men visible, chose to incorporate them into the dance, chose to allow reflections on the black floor to bring out their silhouettes. With Freudian flair, he quite deliberately placed them beneath the gleaming, shimmering surfaces of lovely white pianos and lovely white ladies. 

The song is followed a few minutes later by the film’s climactic sequence, Winy Shaw’s Oscar-winning performance of “Lullaby of Broadway.” Again, the segment is typical Berkeley: A swarm of dancers parades across vast Art Deco sets, drawing Shaw into their whirlwind of movement. But the sequence ends abruptly as Shaw falls from a balcony to her death. It’s difficult to interpret this development: Was Berkeley bowing to the Production Code? Or was he satirizing the code? Or was it just a tragic little melodrama with no greater consideration?  

Perhaps it was meant to appease the censors, not for Wini Shaw’s devil-may-care frolic among the chorus, but for the racy “Words in My Heart” sequence that preceded it.  

In the depths of the depression, Hollywood provided glossy, escapist movies which sought to entertain audiences by returning them to the heady days of the 1920s, to the days of jazz, flappers and prosperity, an era when the theories of Sigmund Freud were in vogue. And in that generation of directors, there was no one more giddily Freudian than Busby Berkeley. 

The Busby Berkeley Collection 

Featuring Footlight Parade, Gold Diggers of 1933, Dames, 42nd Street, Gold Diggers of 1935, as well as bonus features, including a compilation of more than 20 complete musical numbers from nine of Berkeley’s Warner Bros. films of the 1930s.  

Warner Home Video. Unrated. $59.98›

The Devil’s Disciple, Bernard Shaw’s comedy set during the Revolutionary War—and now onstage at Live Oak Theatre in an Actors Ensemble production—is a humorous collision between costume drama, comedy of manners and a problem play: Shaw’s peculiar formula. 

It follows out the line of deliberate statements of apostasy by the self-proclaimed “Devil’s Disciple,” one Dick Dudgeon (Josh Lenn), and his seemingly Non-Euclidean parallel actions that never quite intersect with the blackened self-impression which he carefully presents to puritanical Websterbridge, New Hampshire, in 1777. The plot involves his family, the local Presbyterian minister (Jim Colgan) and his pretty young wife (Nancy Bower) and the occupying forces of His Majesty’s Army. Dick’s brother Christy (Christopher Fabbro) rankles against their mother’s (Dory Ehrlich) pious sternness—“least said is soonest mended”—as they await the arrival of minister and attorney (David Cohen) to hear the reading of old Dudgeon’s will. They also learn that his brother was just hanged by the British as a rebel in nearby Springtown.  

Mrs. Dudgeon is deadset against her eldest: “I am Richard’s mother. If I am against him, who has any right to be for him?” and acidly tells the minister he lost influence over her when he married a young thing. Dick high-handedly waltzes in and claims his lion’s-share of family estate. ”Because, sir,” as the lawyer declares, “the courts will sustain the claims of a man, and that the eldest son, against the claims of any woman.” 

But Mrs. Dudgeon isn’t having anything of primogeniture; she stalks out of the house her late husband intended them to live in together as a family, with Prodigal Son Dick providing for them and acting “as a good friend to my old horse, Jim.” 

Only his young cousin Essie (Lily Cantor), “that sinful child” who slept when her father “was just in the grave,” asks to stay with him in the family home. Dick sticks it to the townfolk who have come to hear the reading, telling them with delight to their faces what they only discuss behind each other’s back. 

Actors’ Ensemble, with David Stein directing, essays its way through this welter of tartly hilarious contradiction. And it succeeds at the point many community theater productions of Shaw conk out. 

There’s a somewhat rough start in act one, with diction and dynamics often out of kilter—enlivened by some juice from Cohen and Lenn, though Dick’s swagger gets a bit pose-y and his glibness a bit too contemporary in manner. Act two begins to get in step, and the third act, the most suave of Shavian comedy in the play, hits its stride with the excellent repartee of Kyle Nash as mannered Major Swindon, dismissive of the efficacy of the colonials who have started to surround them, and splendid Tom Reilly as “Gentlemanly Johnny.” 

They insist on all behaving like gentleman throughout kangaroo court and hanging, though Johnny speaks of incompetence and red tape as the real enemies, in London, and remarks to stilted Maj. Swindon, “Your friend the British soldier can stand up to anything—except the British War Office!” 

The final scenes veer between drama and farce: with the rope around his neck, Dick’s confronted with a High Church priest ( Cohen again) he hasn’t asked for, and lashes out at his pious reading of scripture with “Thou shalt not kill”—to which the priest snaps back: “Now what do you want me to do with that?” 

But another substitution takes place: “In the hour of trial, a man finds his true profession.” 

Just as the man of God turned out to be the revolutionary, Dick, in the midst of yet further reversals, discovers his true calling is rather different from the position espoused in his fluent and frequent freethinking rhetoric. 

Dick Dudgeon’s that unique character, the Shavian hero, a figure that perhaps led Bertolt Brecht in his search for a political and epic theater to investigate what Walter Benjamin called “the untragic hero,” a creature of the contradictions of his peculiar predicament in the conditions that bred him. 

Shaw’s comedy is always conditional, yet has the gleam in the eye of the actor who steps out of the scene for an instant, pointing back to it with humor, saying, “Can you believe this?” 

Box:  

The Actors Ensemble of Berkeley present The Devil's Disciple by George Bernard Shaw at Live Oak Theatre at Live Oak Park on Shattuck Avenue through May 6. For more information, see www.aeofberkeley.org or call 525-1620.  

The Actors Ensemble of Berkeley present The Devil’s Disciple by George Bernard Shaw at Live Oak Theatre at Live Oak Park on Shattuck Avenue through May 6. For more information call 525-1620 or see www.aeofberkeley.org.

One century ago the Bay Area was rocked off its foundations. Every year around this time we’re reminded that the next “big one” is just around the corner. For weeks we’ve heard survivor stories of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and received advice abou t how to be prepared when the ground again rattles beneath our feet. 

Our earthquake survival kit requires food supplies for several days. While many might access Costco, I am here to suggest a much more civilized, European experience. Stroll through Nor t h Berkeley’s epicurean groaning board. Alert your senses, revisit the past and fill your basket with enough treats to ease your way through any disaster. 

North Berkeley’s origins can be traced to 1878 with the extension of the steam railroad from downt ow n to a new terminus at Shattuck and Vine. The first settlers to this neighborhood were railroad men and their families. Over the years the area developed into quiet middle-class. In Brown Shingles, many with Arts and Crafts accents, Victorians and Califor nia bungalows, it became a desirable place to live and raise a family.  

Metamorphosis began in 1966. The quietly pretty cabbage moth took on the brilliant markings of the Monarch butterfly. With the opening of Peet’s Coffee, the Cheeseboard and Chez Pani sse, a unique upscale commercial entity focusing on quality was born, revolutionizing American cooking and taste. Berkeley’s spirit of “power to the people” spoke in the collective organization of several businesses, including the Cheeseboard and its Juice Bar and Pizza offshoots.  

Today Berkeley’s gourmet ghetto travels the length of Shattuck offering an eclectic assortment of sense-tingling stimuli, for eyes, nose and taste buds. Being in the memories- mode of contemplation, I combined my prepared ness foray with thoughts of how businesses have survived and flourished throughout the years. One of Berkeley’s oldest, Virginia Bakery has excelled since 1924. 

Upon entering I’m surrounded by the fragrance of butter, sugar and vanilla and immediately se lect an Almond Wreath for my kit. Composed of pull-apart rolls topped with sugar frosting and sliced almonds this will ease my way into any morning. Packages of dainty, melt-in-your-mouth decorated cookies are next. These cookies were rewards in my family for every trip to Berkeley Pediatrics up the street. Pain from any shot dissolved upon tasting a sprinkle-coated bite. 

Roasting chicken evokes a warm hearth feeling and Poulet’s farmhouse atmosphere lures you in. Bright and cheerful is the theme both inside and out with attractive seating and décor. Cheerful chicken tablecloths, pale yellow walls and leg-dangling poultry figurines are the ideal setting for sampling Grecian quinoa salad, roasted beets with orange or adobo chicken. 

Baubles and Beads has just the cure for idle fingers. With beads from the Czech Republic, India, Africa and Bali, hours cut off from our electronic alter egos will seem like minutes. Walls of colored vials and strung beads present a rainbow palette, as do small plastic boxes a top e asy-browsing waist high cabinets. There’s no need to memorize price tags from 10 cents to $5 using convenient trays sorted by cost. Earrings, necklaces and bracelets in glass, metal and stone are projects awaiting your touch. 

At the ACCI Gallery, t he cur rent exhibit presents artistic interpretations of transformation, easily fitting into this earthquake theme. In “Remake/Remodel: Rebound,” unique materials provide outlets for personal experiences. In this handsome brick building, recently retrofit ted, th rowaway items are reborn. Books become tilting towers atop tree stumps; used tea bags, labels attached, form bed quilts; maxi pads and adult diapers are combined into wedding cakes; and Salvation Army socks and gloves are felted into fuzzy, gray o rganic w all sculptures, proving that almost any discard can be reincarnated. Lovely hand painted ceramic tableware by Paula Ross in warm spring pastels may not survive a temblor but still finds room in my earthquake kit. 

Sidewalk tables and roasting espresso sig nal time for a break. At the French Hotel, a brick building that once steamed with laundry now wafts the distinct aroma of the best Cappuccino in town. Rain or shine, outside tables are full and the line snakes out the door. Lines are always on order at C heesboard Pizza but no one seems to care. 

Listening to jazz and not needing to decide which pizza to select allows time to enjoy the bouquets on offer at Emilia’s flower stand. Sweet scent from color-saturated roses and tulips wafts with the c heese and g arlic emanating from next door, a true Berkeley experience. Only Cheeseboard Pizza can create a “kitchen sink” of fresh fennel, roasted onions, feta, mozzarella, calamata olives and gremolata exploding with flavor. 

How can any more be written about the Cheeseboard’s selection of cheeses, breads and pastries? Or their strong collective spirit? Needing to choose among 23 varieties of “blue cheese,” read the chalkboard so crammed that it appears solid white, decide between asiago and simple whea t loaves or a chocolate thing versus a cherry corn scone explains why multiple visits are required. 

At the Juice Bar Collective you’ll marvel that so much hearty fare can be created in this narrow boxcar space. Every bit of counter and stovetop is put into use to cr eate smoothies, soup, black bean polenta and spinach lasagna, guaranteed to warm body and soul on heater-less nights. 

Forty years ago the original Peet’s Coffee occupied a small space on the corner of Walnut and Vine serving incredibly rich coffee to mos tly inexperienced palettes. I remember being waited on by Alfred Peet himself, setting the standard of quality that continues to this day. His appearance and manner spoke of European traditions. Today the Peet’s franchise has spread, offerings have increa sed and brown-coated Alfred Peet is here in spirit only, but Peet’s still serves the strongest coffee around. 

There’s still room for additional survival supplies. Black Oak Books offers Politics and Current Events across from Cookbooks as you enter the s tore, perfect complements for lively discussions. Author photographs atop wooden bookshelves line the walls. Whatever your need or fancy, choices abound at this independent bookshop known for weekly book readings. 

At Saul’s Delicatessen the take-out coun ter tempts with tabouleh, hummus, chopped liver and herring. Cozy red leather booths contrast with the black and white theme carried out in decor and photos lining the walls. Generous sandwiches, bowls of crispy, savory pickles and matzo ball soup indulge your taste buds. 

Indulgence is the key at Masse’s and chocolate is its name. Truffles, made fresh daily, cakes almost too pretty to eat and assorted cookies, each a single delicious bite, are everyday fare. European in style and service, the simplest cu p of coffee and treat is served on white china at small, cozy tables, both inside and out. Not convinced that the passion fruit torte is what you want for your next party? Try the exact copy in miniature form, just to be sure. 

With bask et and senses groaning, you’ve merely sampled one slice of this epicurean neighborhood. Amble up the street to Live Oak Park, maybe join a basketball pick-up game, follow the paths across Codornices Creek beneath towering redwoods or see what’s on view at the Berkeley Art Center. Tucked amid its forest setting, this avant-garde gallery specializes in the work of local artists. 

Then head back for more. Try a wander into newly opened Epicurious Garden, on Shattuck Avenue near Vine Street, where passion for food transforms t ake-out into a gourmet experience. 

Earthquake preparation is no joke. Everyone needs to plan for safety, but there’s no reason we can’t do it with style. North Berkeley has more than enough style to go around. 

Virginia Bakery 

1690 Sha ttuck Ave., 848-6711 

Poulet 

1685 Shattuck Ave., 845-5932 

Baubles and Beads 

1676 Shattuck Ave., 644-BEAD 

ACCI Gallery 

1652 Shattuck Ave., 843-2527 

French Hotel 

1538 Shattuck Ave., 548-9930 

Cheeseboard 

1504 Shattuck Ave., 549-3183 

Juice Bar Collective 

2114 Vine St., 548-8473 

Peet’s Coffee & Tea 

2124 Vine St., 841-0564 

Black Oak Books 

1491 Shattuck Ave., 486-0698 

Saul’s Deli 

1475 Shattuck Ave., 848-DELI 

Masse’s Pastries 

1469 Shattuck Ave., 649-1004 

Berkeley Art Center 

1275 Walnut St., 644-6893 

Ep icurious Garden 

1509-1513 Shattuck Ave. 

Photo Caption: Marta Yamamoto 

The lunch crowd overflows the sidewalk and ignores the median strip sign outside the Cheeseboard. 

Photo Credit: MARTA YAMAMOTO 

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Mention Folsom and most folks think of the prison. That connection has become even stronger since the Academy Award-nominated movie Walk the Line brought the town’s famous, scenically situated Folsom Prison to prominence once again.  

Anyone with an interest in Johnny Cash or the penitentiary can walk a line into the prison’s tiny museum. Outfitted with an intriguing collection of confiscated weapons, it also displays a vintage copy of Cash’s famous record album.  

But many travelers don’t realize historic Folsom is also a worthy overnight destination. Located off Highway 50 just 22 miles east of Sacramento, the town makes a great stop on the way to or from South Lake Tahoe. I spent two nights there recently and left with many places still unexplored.  

History 

The first railroad west of the Mississippi originated in the town’s historic depot. Now a new rapid transit light rail service runs along that original route, connecting Folsom with Sacramento.  

The Folsom History Museum tells the town’s Gold Rush story. You can weigh in on an old-fashioned balance scale and, on Sundays, watch gold-panning demonstrations. The historic Railroad Turntable, which rests on its original granite pivot stone, is nearby.  

Also, the first and largest hydroelectric generating plant west of the Mississippi was built here in 1895. It operated until 1952, when the Folsom Dam hydroelectric plant began operating. Now known as Folsom Powerhouse State Historic Park, it is a great spot for kids to explore, with a “busy table” holding enticing experiments inside and a large park with sheltered picnic tables overlooking Lake Natoma outside.  

Tours 

Two of the town’s best tours are right in the historic downtown.  

You can tour a studio used by a collective of artists at Cloud’s Porcelain and learn how various kinds of pottery are made. A gift shop sells the wares.  

Or drop into Snooks Chocolate Factory for free samples and to observe a candy-making demonstration. If you’re lucky, they’ll be operating their candy machine that spits out hand-made chocolates just like that one in the famous “I Love Lucy” episode. Though everything is yummy, the fresh peanut brittle and the old-fashioned fudge are spectacular.  

Animals 

The tiny Folsom City Zoo Sanctuary provides refuge for non-releasable injured, orphaned, and “troubled” native North American animals. A few exotics and the largest captive wolf pack in Northern California are among them, and two new enclosures hold American black bears and mountain lions. 

In the park outside the zoo gates, the Folsom Valley Railway—a small 12-inch narrow gauge steam train that formerly ran in Berkeley’s Tilden Park—now takes riders here on a happy 10-minute ride.  

Something fishy is always happening at the Nimbus Fish Hatchery, where kazillions of fingerlings are busy growing in the tanks. In the fall, when the Chinook salmon return from the ocean, a fish ladder is opened; steelhead trout show up in the winter. Fish food can be purchased for a nickel, and a Visitor Center has educational exhibits.  

Recreation 

Among the area’s myriad outdoor activities are bicycling and river kayaking. As the third-best cycling city in the state, Folsom offers “a spider web of bike trails”—including the 32-mile-long American River Parkway Jedediah Smith Memorial Trail, which runs off-road all the way from Sacramento to Folsom Lake. Bicycle rentals are easily available.  

Kayaking on the river is also popular. 

Negro Bar—the historic name for the area within Folsom Lake State Recreation Area where African-Americans struck gold in 1849—is a super-scenic bend in the river and a prime put-in spot. Kayak rentals are available on-site on weekends May through mid-October. You can also swim here and picnic at tables sheltered by mature trees, and a bike trail is nearby.  

Overnighting as I did, at the Lake Natoma Inn, positioned just a few blocks from the historical downtown and the Jedediah Smith Memorial Trail, makes it possible to keep your car parked and walk to many sights and a plethora of antique shops and restaurants.  

Good food is easy to find. The informal Balcony Bistro features a warm, open dining room with original art hung on its brick walls and serves up some tasty, well-priced fare. Fresh fish, creative pastas (anyone for a pear-and-walnut version?), and classics such as roasted duck confit are sometimes options on the always-changing menu. Tea is served daily at Partea Time, and kids can choose from tutti fruiti and bubblegum flavored tea.  

Can’t get away now? Plan your trip for the fall, when you can tie it in with an annual event. Two particularly exciting ones happen each October. Folsom Live! features an assortment of live jazz and rock in downtown bars and restaurants, plus a large outdoor stage for the bigger names. 

Last year The Guess Who performed. More live music plus a barbecued salmon bake occurs at the hatchery’s annual Salmon Festival. Both are family-friendly and very popular with locals.  

Mayor Bob Holderness says, “Folsom has always been a one-horse town—first mining, then farming, then the prison. Hi-tech arrived with Intel in 1982.” 

Lucky for us, perhaps the newest horse is tourism.  

Carole Terwilliger Meyers is the author of Weekend Adventures in San Francisco & Northern California (www.carousel-press.com) and is the editor of Dream Sleeps: Castle & Palace Hotels of Europe. 

Photo Credit: Carole Terwilliger Meyers

In 1873, UC Berkeley’s first commencement exercises were held. It was on that occasion that California’s governor Newton Booth, who was considered one of the great public speakers of his day, called Berkeley the “Athens of the West.” The appellation stuck—not only in word but in practice. And so it came to pass that in 1914, a wealthy Norwegian-Hawaiian family brought its large brood to Berkeley to be properly educated. 

The pater familias was sugar pioneer Hans Peter Fayé II (1859–1928). Born in Norway, young Hans arrived on the island of Kauai in 1880. He leased land, cleared it of lava boulders, dug an artesian well for irrigation, and planted sugar cane. In 1898, he merged the H.P. Fayé Company with another plantation and a sugar mill, forming the Kekaha Sugar Company, which he managed for thirty years, until his death. 

In 1893, Hans Peter married Margaret Bonnar Lindsay (1873–1961). Between 1895 and 1912, they brought to the world three girls and five boys. The youngest was born in Norway, where the Fayés had returned to live. When the Nordic climate proved inhospitable, the family returned to the USA. In 1914, seven of the children were of school age, with the eldest ready to enter college. The Fayés purchased a Berkeley residence at 3122 Claremont Avenue, between Eton Ave. and Woolsey Street. It was a stately Queen Anne surrounded by extensive grounds (today there are 21 houses standing on the same land), previously owned by John Howard Smith, a San Francisco attorney. When Smith first occupied the house in 1878, the address was still given as the “west side of old Telegraph Road near the foothills.” 

During the Fayés’ 15-year residence at 3122 Claremont Ave., there was always at least one student in the house. In 1919, after completing his studies at Choate School and Yale, the second child and eldest son, Hans P. Fayé III (1896–1984), began working in the San Francisco office of his father’s agent, American Factors, Inc. The following year, he married Charlotte Eaton (1898–2000), and in 1924 the couple bought a house at 40 Eucalyptus Road, where they remained only two years. As their family grew, a larger home was needed, and in 1926 they purchased 15 Hillcrest Court, a short walk away from the parents’ estate. This house will be open during BAHA’s Spring House Tour on Sunday May 7. 

In 1927, Hans Peter II transferred ownership of his Claremont estate to the H.P. Fayé, Ltd. Company, no doubt with the intention of developing the land. His death and the crash of 1929 delayed the plans only slightly. One new house was constructed on the land in 1930, but in May 1931, H.P. Fayé, Ltd. sold the entire Claremont property to Oakland contractor John F. Whalen and his wife Lillian, carrying back a mortgage. The land, known as Tract No. 502 or Claremont Gardens, was subdivided around a cul-de-sac street called Brookside Drive, and 20 additional homes were built, the majority of them in 1932 and ’33. 

In 1934, Hans Peter III was transferred to Honolulu, where he would eventually rise to the presidency of Amfac. His four brothers carried on their father’s various enterprises. Anton Lindsay managed the Kekaha Sugar Company, Alan Eric Sr. ran the Waimea Sugar Plantation, and Eyvind Marcus took control of the El Dorado Ranch in Yolo County, where his two sons and grandson still grow a large variety of fruits and nuts. Hans Peter II’s widow, Margaret Fayé, chose to stay on in Berkeley, as did her sister-in-law Ebba and daughter Isabel. 

Ebba Fayé (1873–1966) settled into a Craftsman cottage at 3038 Hillegass Ave., sharing it with Margaret. But once Hans Peter III had moved to Honolulu, Mrs. Fayé took over his Hillcrest Court house. It wasn’t quite as grand as what she had been accustomed to, for the very same year she undertook major alterations at the cost of $4,869. The results were apparently satisfactory, since this elegant house remained in the family for over five decades, serving as its world headquarters. Here the Fayé children and their children would flock at Christmas time. This was also the scene of Mrs. Fayé’s formal dinner parties, during which she reputedly locked the kitchen to keep it out of her guests’ view, using a buzzer under the dining table to summon the staff.  

Meanwhile, the eldest daughter, Isabel Bonnar Fayé (1895–1982), lived in an apartment at 2369 Le Conte Ave., then a tony Holy Hill building across the street from Phoebe Apperson Hearst’s former residence. These days, looking somewhat dowdy, the building is owned by the Pacific School of Religion and houses its students. 

In the late 1940s, Isabel moved to 1524 Spruce St., directly across from the Second Church of Christ, Scientist. Here she remained until her mother’s death in 1961. Then it was her turn to occupy 15 Hillcrest Court, where she continued living for the rest of her life. 

Amfac eventually acquired Kekaha Sugar Co., and Lindsay “Tony” Fayé, Jr. managed the company twice before his retirement in 1992. The Waimea Sugar Mill Company was renamed Kikiaola Land Company, Ltd., still owned by the Fayé family. They are no longer in sugar, but their Waimea Plantation Cottages resort in West Kauai, with 60 restored historic houses, offers vacationers the opportunity to savor the atmosphere of an authentic Hawaiian plantation. 

Photo Caption: Daniella Thompson: 

Margaret Fayé’s Claremont home, designed by Walter H. Ratcliff, Jr., will be open on BAHA’s house tour, Sunday, May 7. 

Jerry Sulliger participated in the research for this article. 

Berkeley Architectural Heritage Spring House Tour & Garden Reception 

Sunday, May 7, 2006 – 1 to 5 p.m.  

This year's tour showcases eleven charming and elegant homes designed by Walter H. Ratcliff, Jr. in Claremont Park. Tour map, illustrated guidebook, and refreshments will be provided. General admission $35; BAHA members and guests $25. For information and reservations, visit the BAHA website http://berkeleyheritage.com or e-mail baha@berkeleyheritage.com.

My wife and I spent the night in Sacramento last night. Nice town, Sacramento, if a bit kitschy in parts. I guess that’s what you get with tourist towns. Some nice stuff. Some kitsch. The older part has some very beautiful older homes from the early part of the 20th century and more than a few buildings from the 19th century. One of the things that my wife, Este, and I share is a great love of old things, houses, cars, paintings, you name it. It’s part of why we live here. 

Coming back from the capital, we were saddened (and occasionally appalled) by the influx of modern buildings. Modern isn’t really the right term though because it just doesn’t say enough about what we’re seeing.  

Most of what we see, outside of our little town, is just so economically oriented that anything akin to art, solidity or permanence is utterly missing. So many buildings today seem as though they are designed to be temporary structures. How can these enclosures be intended to be a legacy to a future generations.  

Even if they do manage to stand the test of time (which is not very likely given the methods involved in the manufacture of so much of what’s out there), what do they say about who we are and what we believe? It’s really very sad. I’m not so sure that those who put up buildings a hundred years ago were all that saintly but I don’t believe that they could conceive of the notion of building a municipal building or a permanent residence that didn’t convey the music and poetry of the time. 

Today we are astounded at the lovely oaken floors that adorn nearly every local house from 1900-1950, many of which feature extravagant knotted borders but these were considered base-line, ordinary choices. The notion of using anything less for a “home” was unacceptable. Today, a plywood floor with a neutral toned polyester carpet is considered adequate. Flat sheetrock walls with nary a trim are the standard fare.  

Why is this? Who are we now that beauty is so much less the imperative? When did square footage become the overriding design criterion? 

After the big fire, it was hard not to notice that so many of the replacement homes were driven this way. Each home was twice the size of the preceding one, sometimes more. The architecture was often nondescript. 

I can recall getting lost in a house during an inspection and thinking, there’s no pattern to the layout, just rooms and rooms and more rooms. 

No hub, no center, no defining feature to any particular part, like an animal all made out of necks, no head, no tail, no belly. On the other hand, maybe I just lack a sense of direction. 

Coming out of the hinterlands of strip-mall and mega-residential conglomerations, we rolled our 20 year old Volvo back into Berkeley. Safe. No bullet holes and only a little depressed for the trial of aesthetic catharsis. 

As we cruised up into North Berkeley, we passed the usual hundreds of old houses and agreed that this was a very beautiful and special place. These old houses and commercial buildings enhance our lives in a very practical and daily way. They really do. 

As we begin to build anew, or to remodel, we have the opportunity to recreate some of what has been done before. To study and to emulate the successes of the past. This does not necessarily mean copying but can mean drawing the essence and instilling elements from these successes.  

An easy way for any one of us to do this is to literally use a piece of something beautiful left over from a time when great expenses were not spared in the making of doorknobs and baseboards. 

Our local salvage shops are filled with these treasures. Sometimes it seems to me that these places are museums with free admissions for viewing great artworks of industrial design. And for a few dollars you can own a piece for yourself. 

The next time you’re considering a small remodeling on your older home, think about first taking a trip to the salvage yard and selecting a few old treasures with which to construct your new space. 

A bath remodel is a great project in which to include some of these grand finds but some complications will be attendant. Good plumbers, in particular, will be needed for this adventure. 

For a simple enhancement, just pick out some old brass hooks to hang towels on. Many salvage yards have wild, extravagant brass hooks that can hang on a door or a wall. 

Think about an old sink, if you don’t mind a chip or a small crack and have it outfitted with either old or new hardware. There are also reproduction sinks of old styles as well as antique style faucets or the whole 9 yard works available for a clawfoot tub including tub faucets, shower faucets, soap dishes, hoops and gigantic shower heads in porcelain and brass. 

For the very adventurous, there are loads of clawfoot tubs out there, many still fitted with drains, waste-overflow piping and other bells and whistles. It’s not necessary to do all the plumbing in old parts. A few visible, touchable parts can be enough. Maybe just an old door with a mortise lock is enough to take you back. Or how about a leaded or stained glass window? Surprisingly, many are sitting out there in the salvage yards. 

These things are out there waiting to be taken home and loved and to give us all a little reminder of a time when art was everywhere and the thought of a hinge without a little filigree was just, well, unthinkable. 

Here’s a list of a few local “museums” of construction. Some feature more “cleaned-up” parts and some, being a little cheaper, feature piles of parts just as they came in. Some also feature reproductions.  

• Urban Ore 900 Murray St. (near 7th & Ashby) Berkeley, 841-7283. 

• The Sink Factory, 2140 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley, 540-8193. 

• Ohmega Salvage, 2407 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley. 

• Omega Too (lighting) is across the street, 204-0767 www.ohmegasalvage.com. 

• Ruiz Lighting, 2333 Clement St., Alameda, 769-6082. 

A nice list of other yards and stores can be found on Ohmega’s website under Links. 

We sadly lost Berkeley Architectural Salvage this year, the MOMA of salvage yards. I guess if we don’t use ‘em, we’ll lose ‘em. A fond good-bye and thanks to Alan Goodman who ran BAS all those years.  

Got a question about home repairs and inspections? Send them to Matt Cantor, in care of East Bay Real Estate, at realestate@berkeleydailyplanet.com. 

Matt Cantor owns Cantor Inspections and lives in Berkeley. His column runs weekly. 

Copyright 2005 Matt Cantor›

Maybe we’re going to get sprung after all. Maybe we don’t have to try raising duck potatoes and cattails in all our gardens, and who knows? The sun might even come out for a few days before the summer fog rolls in.  

In the event we get some garden time this year, there are lots of resources blooming this season. Fall may be the best time to plant a lot of things, especially natives, to take advantage of the winter rains, but spring is when our fancies turn to green stuff.  

Tomorrow (Saturday, April 22) Merritt College Landscape Horticulture Department throws its annual spring plant fair. This is a great place to find garden mainstays, food plants, and good advice; it’s also a place for unusual plants: things you never heard of and new variations on old favorites. 

There’s also live music, food, and art, and good advice about soils, structures, plants, exposures, pruning, or any other garden-related question you might have. 

While you’re there, take a stroll through the department’s grounds and don’t miss the vista from the western deck. The event runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., 12500 Campus Drive, in the Oakland hills; take Hwy. 13 to the Redwood Road exit and go uphill to turn right on Campus Drive. 

More ideas, inspiration, and advice can be found on garden tours: Register—right now, quick!—to tour or volunteer, at www.bringingbackthenatives.net/ for this year’s Bringing Back the Natives tour. It’s free and fascinating, and includes freebies, garden talks, and the chance to see how natives get along with other plants and wildlife in an immense variety of situations and combinations. Self-guided all-Bay-Area tour, Sunday, May 7, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.  

Park Day School’s annual Secret Gardens of the East Bay Tour happens Sunday, April 30, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., rain or shine. Order tickets, $45 each, at www.parkdayschool.org/secretgardens/ tour.html or call the hotline, (510) 653-6250. There’s a garden marketplace and lunch available at the school, or order a box lunch with your ticket, for $13.  

Reserve a tour of the Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek and seize the chance to buy plants from that great place afterwards. The garden has lots of succulents and irises, and you can make drainage good enough for them; take a look at the mounding method the inimitable Mrs. Bancroft used to build her oasis. 

Docent-led tours are given Fridays, 9:30 a.m., and Saturdays, 9:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Self-guided tours Fridays, 1 p.m. and Sundays, 4 p.m. All tours $7/person. Registration required; go to www.ruthbancroftgarden.org/mailtours.html or call (925) 210-9663.  

Plan for Mother’s Day: Annie’s Annuals throws an appropriately annual party at the nursery in Richmond, May 13 and 14 this year; see anniesannuals.com for directions. California Native Plant Society’s Yerba Buena Chapter runs a free self-guided tour of native gardens in San Francisco on May 14, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. this year. 

Download a map and address list at www.cnps-yerbabuena.org/gardentour.html—this one thoughtfully includes notes on how accessible each garden is to people using walkers.  

Ron Sullivan is a former professional gardener and arborist. Her “Garden Variety” column appears every Friday in East Bay Home & Real Estate. Her column on East Bay trees appears every other Tuesday in the Berkeley Daily Planet.

FRIDAY, APRIL 21 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Ron Parsons on “Wildflowers of California” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $13.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. 526-2925.  

“Haiti at the Crossroads” A discussion with Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine, Haitian human rights activist and coordinator, and Brian Concannon, human rights lawyer and director, Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti, at 7 p.m. at East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, 2362 Bancroft Way. Enter from church parking lot between Bancroft & Durant. 483-7481.    

“Votergate” a film followed by discussion with Jim Soper at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Hall, 1924 Cedar St. at Bonita. Donation $7. 528-5403.  

“A Large Pill to Swallow: Navigating the Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Coverage Program” with health insurance counselors at 1 p.m. at the Center for Independent Living, 2539 Telegraph Ave. Please bring a list of your medications and dosages with you. 559-1406. 

Knit and Crochet Show and Marketplace Fri. from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sun. from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Oakland Marriott City Center. www.KnitandCrochetShow.com 

Berkeley Chess School classes for students in grades 1-8 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. A drop-in, rated scholastic tournament follows from 7 to 8 p.m. at 1581 LeRoy Ave., Room 17. 843-0150. 

Berkeley Chess Club meets Fridays at 8 p.m. at the East Bay Chess Club, 1940 Virginia St. 845-1041. 

Women in Black Vigil at noon at UC Berkeley, Bancroft at Telegraph. 548-6310. 

SATURDAY, APRIL 22 

Berkeley Earth Day Celebration from noon to 5 p.m. and Civic Center Park. Cultural performances, food, craft and community booths and activities. To volunteer call 654-6346, ext. 2. 

West County Earth Day with crafts, workshops, entertainment and food from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 101 Pittsburg Ave., one block off the Richmond Parkway. 215-3125. 

Earth Day Cleanup of the Berkeley Shoreline from 10 a.m. to noon at the Eastshore State Park in Berkeley. To sign up call 544-2515. 

Earth Day Computer Recycling Drop-off from 10 a.m. to noon at the Elephant Pharmacy parking lot, 1607 Shattuck Ave.  

Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club Open House from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Bowling Green, 2270 Acton St., corner of Bancroft. Lawn bowling lessons and refreshments. 898-1931. 

Kid’s Garden Club for ages 7-12 to explore the world of gardening, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area. Cost is $6-$8, registration required. 636-1684. 

Earth Day at Habitot from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Celebrate the environment and make hand-made recycled paper, nature collages, and art sculptures at 2065 Kittredge St. 647-1111.  

Rhododendron Flower Show and plant sale, by the American Rhododendron Society, with rare and unusual varieties in all colors, Sat. from noon to 5 p.m. and Sun. from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Lakeside Garden Center, 666 Bellevue Ave., Oakland. Free. www.calchapterars.org 

Bioforum: Water and California A look at current research on California’s waterways and water uses from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. Cost is $15-$30. To register call 415-321-8104. 

Berkeley History Center Walking Tour: “Earthquake Relief Efforts on the UC Campus in 1906” led by Bruce Goodell, from 10 a.m. to noon. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0181. www.cityofberkeley.info/histsoc 

Celebration of Children’s Literature Book fair with author signings and costumed characters, storytelling, music and a drop-in art activities for children, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m at Tolman Hall, UC Campus. http://gse.berkeley.edu/ 

admin/childlit 

“No Toddler Left Behind? The Pros and Cons of California’s Preschool for All Act” with Bruce Fuller, David Kirp and Louis Freedberg, moderator, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Graduate School of Education, Tolman Hall, Room 2515, UC Campus. 642-0137. 

Creating Your Garden Paradise with Aerin Moore at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens Landscape Nursery, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. 

Edith Coliver Festival of Cultures with a focus on Switzerland, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at International House, 2299 Piedmont Ave. at Bancoft. Cost is $5-$7. 642-9461. 

“President Bush: Reckless Disregard for the Truth—and the Law” with Elizabeth de la Vega, former Chief of the San Jose Branch of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, from 7 to 9 p.m., at the Home of Truth Center, 1300 Grand St., Alameda. Sponsored by the Alameda Public Affairs Forum. Free, donations accepted. www.alamedaforum.org 

“Cancer in Other Words” A series of four writing workshops for women on Sat. through May 13 at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, Summit Campus, 450 30th St., Oakland. Registration required. 869-8833. 

Guide Dogs for the Blind A presentation by Jan Robitscher and her dog Christmas at 11 a.m. at the Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. All ages welcome. 524-3043. 

Emeryville’s Spring Festival with fun for the entire family from noon to 2 p.m. at Bay St., Emeryville. 655-4002.  

Out of the Darkness Overnight Walk orientation meeting at 1 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 3rd floor meeting room, 2090 Kittredge St. The walk will take place in July. Benefits the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. RSVP to coaches@theovernight.org 

Noetic Sciences Earth Day Conference from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Scottish Rite Auditorium, Oakland. Cost is $75. www.noetic.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.  

Around the World Tour of Plants at 1:30 p.m., Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. 643-2755.  

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, APRIL 23 

Turtle Time Meet the awakening reptiles from 1 to 3 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

“Draft Registration and Conscientious Objection—What Every Teenager Needs to Know” A workshop from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. at Berkeley Friends Church, 1600 Sacramento St. Free. 925-274-0900. 

Celebrate People’s Park 37th Anniversary from noon to 7 p.m. with music, dancing, children’s activities, spaekers and food. 390-0830. 

Create a Perennial Border Using California Natives. A workshop with horticulturist Nathan Smith, from 10:30 a.m. to noon at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $20-$25. Registration required. 643-2755. 

“Berkeley Architecture of Bernard Maybeck” with UC Architecture Professor Emeritus Kenneth H. Cardwell at 3 p.m. at the Berkeley History Center, 1931 Center St. 848-0181.  

Berkeley Cybersalon meets to discuss “Asperger’s: The Geek Syndrome?” with Steve Silberman, Ellen Ullman, Annette Blackman and Philip Rosedale, at 5 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Donation $15. Please RSVP to 527-0450. 

Dog Park Behavior Training from 10 a.m. to noon in Ohlone Dog Park, Grant St. and Hearst Ave., and on Sun. April 30. Cost for both sessions is $15 and free for ODPA members. People (and dogs) must attend both sessions. 845-4213. ohlonedogpark.org 

Loose leash Walking Workshop at 3 p.m. at Grace North Church, 2128 Cedar St. Cost is $35. Registration required. 849-9323. companyofdogs.com 

“Don’t Be Six Feet Under Without a Plan” Learn about creating a living will, powers of attorney and end of life services at 2 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. 228-3207. 

Fashion Fusion 2006 Show Annual charity fashion show at 3 and 7 p.m. in the Pauley Ballroom, Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union, UC Campus. Tickets are $5-$10. http://fashion.berkeley.edu 

Berkeley City Club free tour from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Tours are sponsored by the Berkeley City Club and the Landmark Heritage Foundation. Donations welcome. 2315 Durant Ave. 848-7800 or 883-9710. 

Hands-On Bicycle Clinic on flat repair from 10 to 11 a.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. Free. 527-4140. 

Tibetan Buddhism with Jack Petranker “Structures of the Ego” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, APRIL 24 

Holocaust Rememberence Day at noon at City Council Chambers, 2134 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way. Featuring Chana Bloch, Paula Fass, David Joseph-Goteiner, Joseph Rothberg, Ruth Atkin, and Ljuba Davis. Honoring Ben Sieradski and all Survivors present . 981-7170. 

Berkeley High Red & Golden Girls Reunion Luncheon for women graduates of BHS 50 or more years ago, at 11 a.m. at Double Tree Hotel, Berkeley Marina. Cost is $30. For reservations call 524-6877. 

“Perspectives on Berkeley: Past and Present” Chuck Wollenberg’s Berkeley history class at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. Meets Mon. evenings through May 22. Free. 981-6150. 

TUESDAY, APRIL 25 

Shakespeare’s Birthday Celebration with actors scholars and musicians on “Shakespeare and his religion, from Agnosticism to Zen” at 7 p.m. at the Northbrae Church, 741 The Alameda. 843-6798. 

Return of the Over-the-Hills Gang For hikers 55 years and older who are interested in nature study, history, fitness, and fun. This month we’ll enjoy spring wildflowers and mining history at the Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve on a 3-mile hike. To register call 525-2233.  

The BHS Site Council meets at 4:30 p.m. at Berkeley High Conference Room B. On the agenda are a vote on a proposal for a Site Council bylaw change, First Semester Grade Reports, Small Schools Data, Algebra Project Update, Student Coordination Update. 

Cancer Prevention and Survival Cooking Course begins at 6:30 p.m. at Keller Williams, 4341 Piedmont Avenue, 2nd Floor, Oakland, and runs to June 13. Sponsored by The Cancer Projec. To register, call 531-2665. 

Raging Grannies of the East Bay invites new folks to come join us the 2nd and 4th Tues, of each month, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. to sing and have fun at Berkeley Gray Panthers office, 1403 Addison St., in Andronico’s mall. 548-9696. 

Earthquake Retrofitting and Home Safety Seminar at 1:15 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 981-5190. 

Green Health Care at 7 p.m. at the Teleosis Institute, 1521B 5th St. To register call 558-7285. 

Berkeley PC User Group meets at 7 p.m. at 25 Dartmouth, in the Hiller Highland area. For questions and directions email rhs@surfbest.net  

Trance Drumming Workshop with Auntie Matter from 7 to 9 p.m. at Change Makers, 6536 Telegraph Ave. at 66th, Oakland. Cost is $40. www. 

changemakersforwomen.com  

Family Story Time at 7 p.m. at the Kensington Branch Library, 61 Arlington Ave., Kensington. Free, all ages welcome. 524-3043. 

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. In case of questionable weather, call around 8 a.m. 215-7672, 524-9992. 

Free Handbuilding Ceramics Class 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at St. John’s Senior Center, 2727 College Ave. Also, Mon. noon to 4 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Materials and firing charges not included. 525-5497. 

“Jewish Insights on Transformation” at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Buddhist Monastery, 2304 McKinley St. at Bancroft. 527-2935. 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26  

Tilden Explorers An after-school nature adventure program for 5-7 year olds, who may be accompanied by an adult. We will learn about the seasons from 3:15 to 4:45 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8, registration required. 636-1684. 

Public Workshop on Community Choice Aggregation at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, Classroom A. The cities of Berkeley, Oakland and Emeryville are exploring the creation of a public agency that would purchase power and build power plants to serve customers in Berkeley. 981-5434.  

“Iraq: Strategies to Get Out” with Andy Lichterman at 1:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst St. Sponsored by the Berkeley-East Bay Gray Panthers. 548-9696. 

Bayswater Book Club meets to discuss becomming a Democratic Central Committee Chartered Club of Alameda County, and to discuss “Sell Now! The End of the Housing Bubble” by John R. Talbott at 6:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble, El Cerrito. 433-2911. 

Lonely Planet Travel Series with Morgan Konn on Thailand at 6 p.m. at Oakland Public Library, 124 14th St. 238-3136. 

Free Prostate Screening for men ages 35-70 at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, Herrick Campus, 2001 Dwight Way. Free, but appointments required. 869-8833. 

Early Childhood Safety: Choke Saving Skills at 11 a.m. at Habitot, 2065 Kittredge St. Cost is $5-$6. 647-1111. 

Repetitive Stress Injury Learn how to take care of yourself before you get carpal tunnel syndrome at 7:30 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

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 and a warm hat. 548-9840. 

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wed. and Sat. at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

Fresh Produce Stand at San Pablo Park from 3 to 6:30 p.m. in the Frances Albrier Community Center. Sponsored by the Ecology Center’s Farm Fresh Choice. 848-1704.  

Sing your Way Home A free sing-a-long at 4:30 p.m. every Wed. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720. 

Prose Writer’s Workshop An ongoing group made up of friendly writers who are serious about our craft. All levels welcome. At 7 p.m. at BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237. georgeporter@earthlink.net 

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at 6:30 p.m. at the Berkeley BART Station. www.geocities.com/vigil4peace/vigil 

“Kabbalah of Creation: The Mysticism of Isaac Luria” with Rabbi Eliyahu Klein at 7:30 p.m. at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. Donation $10-$20. 848-0237. 

THURSDAY, APRIL 27 

Teach-In and Vigil on U.S. Torture Policy, every Thurs. from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. outside the classroom of Prof. John Yoo, Boalt Hall, UC Campus. Weekly speakers. Sponsored by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship and other organizations. www.bpf.org 

Introduction to BASIL Bay Area Seed Interchange Library Learn about what we do and volunteer opportunities at 5:30 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. 658-9178. 

Workplace Bullying A special workshop with Gary Namie, Workplace Bullying & Trauma Institute, at 5:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst. Sponsored byt the Commission on Labor. 981-6903.  

Easy Does It Disability Assistance Board of Directors’ Meeting at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst St. Public is welcome. 845-5513. 

Berkeley School Volunteers Training workshop for volunteers interested in helping the public schools, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at 1835 Allston Way. 644-8833. 

Dining Out for Life Over 60 restaurants will donate a portion of their proceeds to Vital Life Services. For a list of participating restaurants, see www.diningoutforlife.com 

Ask a Union Mechanic from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at Parker & Shattuck, until the strike is settled. They will offer advice on all makes of car. 

fWorld of Plants Tours Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 p.m. at the UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $5. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

“Dancing with Wonder: Self Discovery Through Stories” with Nancy King and Susan Felix at 7:30 p.m. at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. Cost is $5, reservations required. 848-0237. 

ONGOING 

Poll Workers Needed in Alameda County for June 6 Primary Election. Poll workers must be eligible to register to vote in California, have basic clerical skills. Training classes begin in May. To sign up call 272-6971. 

CITY MEETINGS 

Parks and Recreation Commission meets Mon., April 24, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Virginia Aiello, 981-5158. ww.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/parksandrecreation 

City Council meets Tues., April 25 at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Civic Arts Commission meets Wed., April 26, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Mary Ann Merker, 981-7533.  

Disaster and Fire Safety Commission meets Wed., April 26, at 7 p.m., at the Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. Gil Dong, 981-5502.  

Energy Commission meets Wed., April 26, at 6:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Neal De Snoo, 981-5434.  

Planning Commission meets Wed., April 26, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Janet Homrighausen, 981-7484. www.ci.berkeley. ca.us/commissions/planning 

School Board meets Wed. April 26 at 7:30 p.m., in the City Council Chambers. Mark Coplan 644-6320. 

Commission on Labor Special Meeting on Workplace Bullying on Wed., April 27 at 5:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Delfina M. Geiken, 981-7550.  

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., April 27, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. Mark Rhoades, 981-7410.   

7

TUESDAY, APRIL 18 

THEATER 

Shotgun Theater Lab: muwumpin presents “Frankie & Johnny” Mon. and Tues. to April 18 at 8 p.m. at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. Tickets are $10. 841-6500.  

FILM 

Vantage Points: New Documentaries by Women “The Joy of LIfe” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Richard Schwartz introduces “Earthquake Exodus, 1906” at 7:30 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave., followed by a reception at the McCreary-Greer House, 2318 Durant Ave. Tickets are $15. 841-2242. 

Freight and Salvage Open Mic at 8 p.m. at at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $4.50-$5.50. 548-1761.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Bruce & Lloyd’s Tri Tip Trio at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $9. 525-5054.  

Singers’ Open Mic with Ellen Hoffman at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. 841-JAZZ.  

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

Jazzschool Tuesdays at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Brian Kane Duo at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19 

THEATER 

The Marsh Berkeley “Faulty Intelligence”satirical songs by Roy Zimmerman, Wed.-Thurs. at 7 p.m. at 2118 Allston Way, through April 27. Tickets are $15-$22. www.themarsh.org 

FILM 

Latino Film Festival “Cachimba” at 7 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $5-$6. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Banff Mountain Film Festival Wed. and Thurs. at 7 p.m. at Wheeler Auditorium, UC Campus. Tickets are $13-$16. 527-4140. 

Film 50: History of Cinema “Cries and Whispers” at 3 p.m. and Video: Recent and Strange at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Mount Fuji: Hidden in Plain Sight” with Christine Guth in conjunction with the exhibit “Hideo Hagiwara - Mount Fuji Woodblock Prints” at 5 p.m. at the IEAS Conference Room, 2223 Fulton Street, 6th Floor. http://ieas.berkeley.edu 

Ben Ehrenreich reads from his novel “The Suitors” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

Noah Eli Gordon and Sara Veglahn, poets, at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

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

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  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Wednesday Noon Concert, with music by Cindy Cox, poetry by John Campion at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Free. 642-4864.  

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

Ned Boynton Trio at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Jules Broussard at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054.  

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

The Dale Ann Bradley Band, Kentucky-based bluegrass, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

Dave Stein Bubhub at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Sheol, Normal Like You, Minus Vince at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886.  

Tinariwen, South Saharan rock, at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $14-$20. 238-9200.  

THURSDAY, APRIL 20 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Under a Rock” recent paintings by Jean Fawver. Reception at 5:30 p.m. at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237. 

THEATER 

“The Bizarro Baloney Show” with Dan Piraro, comedy, video, songs, cartoons, and more, at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $15-$18. 849-2568.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“The Bancroft Library at 100” Curator’s Talk by Jack von Euw at 5:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Museum. 642-0808.  

Conversation with Author Isabel Allende in celebration of National Library Week, at 7 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. 238-2200. 

Nomad Spoken Word Night at 7 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Carole Terwilliger Meyers presents a slide talk on “Weekend Adventures in San Francisco and Northern California” at 7 p.m. at the El Cerrito Library, 6510 Stockton Ave. 526-7512.  

Colin Whitehead reads form his comic novel “Apex Hides the Hurt” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

Word Beat Reading Series with John Rowe and Katie McAllaster Weaver at 7 p.m. at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave. 526-5985. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“I’m A Performer” Concert with Jefferson and Oxford students at 8:30 a.m. at Jefferson Elementary School, 1400 Ada St. 841-2800. 

Michael Chapdelaine, acoustic guitar, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

Blue Roots at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ.  

Move, Sin Voz at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082. 

Showtime @ 11 Hip Hop at 10 p.m. at the Ivy Room, 585 San Pablo Ave. at Solano. 524-9220.  

Gene Bertoncini, solo jazz guitar, at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Omar Sosa Quartet at 8 and 10 p.m.at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10. 238-9200.  

FRIDAY, APRIL 21 

CHILDREN 

“Percussion Discussion” a performance by Ken Bergmann, including making your own instruments, from noon to 2 p.m. at Lawrence Hall of Science, Centennial Drive. Cost is $7.50-$9.50. 642-5132. 

THEATER 

Actors Ensemble of Berkeley “The Devil’s Disciple” by G.B. Shaw, Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck Ave. through May 6. Tickets are $12. 649-5999.  

Aurora Theatre “Small Tragedy” Wed.-Sat at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 and 7 p.m. at 2081 Addison St., through May 14. Tickets are $38. 843-4822.  

BareStage “The Fantasticks” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m., at Cesar Chavez Student Center, UC Campus. Tickets are $8-$12. 642-3880.  

Berkeley Rep “The Glass Menagerie” at 8 p.m. at the Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St. Tickets are $59. Runs through May 31. 647-2949.  

Contra Costa Civic Theater “Animal Crackers” at 8 p.m. Fri and Sat., and Sun. at 2 p.m. at 951 Pomona Ave., El Cerrito, through May 20. Tickets are $12-$20. 524-9132.  

Impact Theater “Money & Run Episode 4: Go Straight, No Chaser,” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave. Cost is $10-$15. Runs through May 27. 464-4468.  

Masquers Playhouse “Relative Values” by Noel Coward. Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at 105 Park Place, Point Richmond, through May 6. Tickets are $15. 232-4031. www.masquers.org 

Shotgun Players “Bright Ideas” Thurs.-Sun. at 8 p.m. at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. to April 23. Tickets are $15-$30. 841-6500.  

Subterranean Shakespeare “Richard III” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. at Rose in Live Oak Park, through May. 20. Tickets are $12-$17. 276-3871. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Is It a Crow?” Abstract works by eight Bay Area artists. Reception at 6 p.m. at the Women’s Cancer Resource Center, 5741 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Exhibition runs to May 25. 601-4040, ext. 111. www.wcrc.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

John Hideyo Hamamura describes the Japanese-American experience in his novel “The Color of the Sea” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

En Pointe Youth Dance Company “Horizons” at 8 p.m. at the Roda Theater, 2025 Addison St. Tickets are $6-$10. enpointedance@yahoo.com 

Berkeley Dance Project 2006 Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 7 p.m. at Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Campus. Tickets are $8-$14. 642-9925. 

Paufve Dance “The Big Squeeze” at 8 p.m. at Shawl-Anderson Dance Center, 2704 Alcatraz at College. Tickets are $$10-$15. Reservations required. 428-9713.  

“Four Choreographers/One Connection” Dance performance Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Mills College, Lisser Hall, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland. Tickets are $12-$15. 430-2175. 

Oakland East Bay Symphony with Karla Donehew, violin, Young Artist Competition Winner, at 8 p.m. at Paramount Theater, 2025 Broadway. Pre-concert lecture at 7:05 p.m. Tickets are $15-$60. 625-8497.  

The Georges Lammam Ensemble at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $15. Benefit for the Palestinian youth of Deir Ibzi’a. 849-2568.  

Project Greenfield, Midnight Madness at 9 p.m. at Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph Ave. Cost is $5.  

California Bach Society “Monteverdi: Missa in illo tempore” at 8 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft Way. 415-262-0272.  

Salvador Santana at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886.  

John Newby & his Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $7. 841-JAZZ.  

Caribbean Allstars at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $11-$13. 525-5054.  

Bittersweet, americana, at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

Laurie Lewis & the Right Hands at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

Eddie Marshall Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Renee Asteria and Deborah Crooks at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Bart Davenport, Mushroom, at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082.  

Deadfall, Formaldahyde Junkies, I Object, at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

Beatropolis at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Omar Sosa Quartet, featuring Pee Wee Ellis at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, APRIL 22 

CHILDREN  

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Colibri, songs in English and Spanish, at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $4 for adults, $3 for children. 849-2568.  

Create Your Own Flip Book A free workshop with Roberta Gould from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

EXHIBITIONS 

Earth Day Glass Blowing Demonstration from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Cohn-Stone Studios, 560 South 31st St., near Regatta Blvd exit, Richmond. Also on Sun. 234-9690.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Wole Soyinka, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature reads from his memoir “You Must Set Forth at Dawn” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

Rhythm & Muse Open Mic Night at 7 p.m. at at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St., between Eunice & Rose Sts. Admission free. 644-6893.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Opera “Chrysalis” by Clark Suprynowicz and John O’Keefe at 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Theater, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $15-$40. 925-798-1300.  

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra “Ode to Joy” at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church, Dana and Durant Sts. Tickets are $28-$62. 415-392-4400. www.philharmonia.org 

En Pointe Youth Dance Company “Horizons” at 8 p.m. at the Roda Theater, 2025 Addison St. Tickets are $6-$10. enpointedance@yahoo.com 

Paufve Dance “The Big Squeeze” at 8 p.m. at Shawl-Anderson Dance Center, 2704 Alcatraz at College. Tickets are $$10-$15. Reservations required. 428-9713.  

Berkeley Dance Project 2006 Works by Margaret Jenkins, Reggie Wilson and Ellis Wood at 8 p.m., Sun. at 7 p.m. at Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Campus. Tickets are $8-$14. 642-9925. 

Trinity Chamber Concerts, The Music of Walter Gieseking, at 8 p.m. at Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana St.. Tickets are $8-$12. 549-3864.  

Kensington Symphony with Chauncey Aceret, cello, Young Soloist Competition Winner, 8 p.m. Northminster Presbyterian Church, 545 Ashbury Ave., El Cerrito. Donation $8-$10. 524-9912.  

“Four Choreographers/One Connection” Dance performance at 8 p.m. at Mills College, Lisser Hall, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland. Tickets are $12-$15. 430-2175. 

Jai Uttal Kirtan Devotional Music Series at 7 p.m. Studio Rasa, 933 Parker St. Tickets are $15-$18. 843-2787.  

Jen Spool at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Tickets are $10-$15, no one turned away. 644-2204. 

Erica Azim, traditional Shona mbira music of Zimbabwe at 8 p.m. at the Mahea Uchiyama Center for International Dance, 729 Heinz Ave. 

Justice, Jazz & Decadent Desserts with Ben Brandzel, of MoveOn.org, George Brooks, jazz sazophonist, and members of Berkeley High School Jazz Band, at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. Tickets are $10-$50. 547-2424, ext. 110. www.jycajustice.org  

The Mixers, classic rock and blues at 9:30 p.m. at The Pub at Baltic Square, 135 Park Place, Pt. R ichmond. Cost is $5. 237-4782. 

Carne Cruda, Latin, funk, cumbia, reggae at 9:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $5-$7. 849-2568.  

Jessica Neighbor & her Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ.  

Wild Catahoulas at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $11-$13. 525-5054.  

Sam Misner & Megan Smith at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Kasey Knudsen Sextet at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Laurie Lewis & the Right Hands at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

Jennifer Johns, Bumbalo & Sok the Virgo at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886.  

Mark Levine Trio at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Eric Swinderman Quartet at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Kurt Ribak Jazz Group at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $3. 843-2473.  

Don Villa & Friends at 8 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. Cost is $7. 558-0881. 

Conspiracy of Beards, The Pillows, Loop Station at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082.  

Internal Affairs, Blue Monday, Miles Away, Panic at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $7. 525-9926. 

Omar Sosa Quartet, featuring Pee Wee Ellis at 8 and 10 p.m., at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10. 238-9200.  

SUNDAY, APRIL 23 

CHILDREN 

Mary Ellen Hill, stories in honor of Earth Day at 3 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $4-$6. 525-5054.  

THEATER 

Josh Kornbluth “Ben Franklin Unplugged” at 2 p.m. at Congregation Beth El, 1301 Oxford St. Tickets are $50 and up. 848-3988. www.bethelberkeley.org 

FILM 

San Francisco Women’s Film Festival “All is Normal” and “Snowblink” at 5 and 8 p.m. at the Parkway Theater, 1834 Park Blvd., Oakland. Tickets are $8. 814-2400. www.sfwff.com 

Watchword Cartoon Festival and brunch from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. Cost is $5. 845-0304. www.watchwordpress.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Berkeley Architecture of Bernard Maybeck” with UC Architecture Professor Emeritus Kenneth H. Cardwell at 3 p.m. at the Berkeley History Center, 1931 Center St. 848-0181.  

“If You Don’t Listen You Don’t Hear” Spoken word, poetry and more by East Bay youth at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $7-$10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Dr. Amy Tiemann, author of “Mojo Mom” at 3 p.m. at Play Café, 4400 Keller Ave., Oakland. Cost is $29.95, includes book. Registration required. 632-4433. 

Island Literary Series, jazz and poetry at 3 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $2-$4. 841-JAZZ. 

Poetry Flash with Basil King and Martha King at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Krystian Zimerman, piano, at 3 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus Tickets are $34-$58. 642-9988.  

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra “Ode to Joy” at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church. Tickets are $28-$62. 415-392-4400.  

Berkeley Dance Project 2006 at 7 p.m. at Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Campus. Tickets are $8-$14. 642-9925. 

Paufve Dance “The Big Squeeze” at 8 p.m. at Shawl-Anderson Dance Center, 2704 Alcatraz at College. Tickets are $$10-$15.428-9713.  

“Four Choreographers/One Connection” Dance performance at 2 p.m. at Mills College, Lisser Hall, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland. Tickets are $12-$15. 430-2175. 

Bay Area Follies Senior Center dancers at 2 and 7 p.m. at the Roda Theater, 2015 Addison St. Tickets are $10-$15 at the door. 

Vasen, Swedish folk revivalists, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761.  

Dave Matthews Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ.  

TrioMetrik New Media Compositions at 8 p.m. at Center for New Music and Audio Technologies, 1750 Arch. Tickets are $10. www.cnmat.berkeley.edu  

Americana Unplugged, bluegrass and oldtime showcase, at 5 p.m. at Jupiter. 655-5715.  

Ajamu Akinyele with Gemini Soul at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe. 595-5344. 

Wire Graffiti, Compton SF, Dynamite 8 at 3 p.m. at Stork Club, 2330 Telegraph Ave. Cost is $5. 444-6174. 

108, Look Back and Laugh, Lights Out Gather at 5 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

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East Bay composer Clark Suprynowicz and San Francisco playwright John O’Keefe have joined forces for the new opera Chrysalis, “a hallucinatory riff on cosmetic surgery and genetic manipulation,” to be premiered by Berkeley Opera, April 22-30, at the Julia Morgan Theatre on College Avenue. 

Jonathan Khuner and Sara Jobin are musical directors for the production and Mark Streshinsky is in charge of stage direction and design. 

If a facelift for contemporary life and art seems a cogent a reading of O’Keefe’s libretto of driven cosmetics magnate Ellen Ermaine (mezzo-soprano Buffy Baggott, with soprano Marnie Breckenridge as Ellen’s doppelganger) and the “twilight zone” of her new ways of transforming the body, Clark Suprynowicz wryly concurs.  

“John’s written this piece about identity and image,” Suprynowicz said. “These are very topical themes, and reflect on the shifting nature of music in my lifetime, the incredible sea-change that’s taken place, the great eclecticism that’s become an integral part of ‘new classical music,’ of the idea people have when I say I’m composing.” 

Not wanting to substitute subtext for text, Suprynowicz reflected on the future of music in a world where “people can be renovated like a building ... What’s traditional in music that’s very recognizable, what you’ve heard before, is being juxtaposed, and presented together with new electronic and synthesized sounds, trying to make sense together with the traditional and the modern ... It’s two worlds in collision; people walking around as they were, and also unrecognizable, as others.” 

Suprynowicz doesn’t think in terms of genre when composing, and describes Chrysalis as a project in musical theater more than as opera in the traditional sense. 

“Not very long ago, the people in the conservatories thought tonality, the major chords were dead. Then others started using all that again; it was like tribal music,” he said. “Trends are hard to predict. Music will seem to settle in different genres, which is very convenient for commercial interests. And it’s easy to slip into composing that way, too, to fit in the right bin at Virgin that the customer’s used to going to. That’s like borrowing a suit of clothes. The composers we admire left a canon, developed strong identities. The only way I know to emulate what they did is to differentiate what I do from what we’re familiar with.” 

Suprynowicz has been composing for the stage for 20 years. Chrysalis is his fourth evening-length piece. His Caliban Dreams, an opera commissioned by the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, was performed two years ago at the Magic Theatre, and has been successfully staged outside the Bay Area. 

But he began his career as a jazz bassist, “a gun for hire, learning what I could about that craft,” he said. Moving to the Bay Area from New York in the early ‘80s, Suprynowicz made his living as a bassist, formed the Bay Area Composers Orchestra with Paul Nash, studied at the SF Conservatory—and at the same time got involved in theater with Rinde Eckhardt. 

“It satisfied a lot of what I wanted to be doing, to compose for a dramatic context, words and music,” he said. 

Suprynowicz thinks of Chrysalis ’ premiere as the lucky confluence of the various talents that have collaborated in its making. 

“John O’Keefe is the sort of playwright who’s parsimonious with words. There are spaces between the words in his plays that music could fill; he told me he feels he writes operatically. This is like Beckett, or Pinter—versus other fine playwrights like Shaw, or Tony Kushner, whose dialogue is dense in a way music wouldn’t suit so well.” 

Berkeley Opera presents Chrysalis at 8 p.m. April 22, at 7:30 p.m. April 26, at 8 p.m. April 28 and at 2 p.m. April 30 at the Julia Morgan Theatre, 2640 College Ave. $10-$40. For more information, call (925) 798-1300 or see www.berkeleyopera.org.

The dawn redwoods don’t mind the soggy weather; they’re leafing out more or less on schedule. I suppose they evolved with wetter weather to begin with, so no surprise there. In other ways, this tree has been full of surprises. 

There are dawn redwoods, Metasequoia glyptostroboides, in several private gardens around Berkeley, and on the UC campus (right around the corner from Trader Vic Bergeron’s oddly squatting sabertooth cat statue, among other places) and in the UC Botanical Garden; there are a couple of young ones beside the Joseph Charles tennis courts on MLK at Oregon. People who’ve moved into properties with established dawn redwoods have been unpleasantly surprised in autumn when the leaves turned russet and fell. Some have—horrors!—had the “dead” trees cut down. But this species, like the Southeastern baldcypress (Taxodium distychum) it resembles and unlike our native coast redwoods, is naturally deciduous.  

Right now its new leaves are tender, pale green feathers against pale red-brown, shreddy bark. The trunk of every one I’ve seen that’s younger than a few hundred years is vertically rippling, muscular, tapering from a broad base to the narrow spire of the tree’s single leader.  

Dawn redwood is one of few living species that was named and classified from fossils alone, long before anyone in the scientific community that uses those Linnean binomials had seen a living individual. In a way, it’s a living fossil, like our coastal Sequoia sempervirens and Sequoiadendron giganteum, their massive relative in the Sierra Nevada. All are relict species, survivors of forests and families that existed over much greater territories in a different world climate several million years ago. Dawn redwood fossils have been found around the northern hemisphere from Spitsbergen through Alaska and our Midwest to Greenland.  

The interests of quite various academics came together to identify and find this relic. In 1941, a Japanese paleobotanist, Shigeru Miki, decided that the Pliocene fossils he was seeing weren’t just another Taxodium after all, in fact weren’t quite like anything else, and named them their species binomial. News like this didn’t travel fast across the battle lines of World War II.  

That same year, a Chinese forester-professor named T. Kan noticed an interesting tree on a roadside in Szechuan. As it was winter and the tree was bare, he couldn’t collect the usual specimens, but he asked a local resident to collect some in spring. The specimens weren’t identified until they’d passed through many hands over several years, and in 1946 reached someone who’d read Miki’s publication, one Dr. H. H. Hu of the Fan Institute in (then) Peiping. He matched the living samples with Miki’s recently named fossils.  

Dr. Hu wrote to Dr. Elmer D. Merrill of Harvard and Dr. Ralph Chaney of UC Berkeley to announce the find and request help in preserving the species. Merrill sent $250, enough to fund a seed-gathering trip by Hu’s colleagues, and the seed was redistributed to interested gardens and arboretums all over the world. Chaney, however, took a different approach. He wanted to meet this living fossil on its home turf. 

UC’s Chaney wanted to meet this old-new tree in the flesh. He’d traveled to China with Roy Chapman Andrews’ famous 1925 Mongolia-Gobi Desert expedition, which had discovered the first Velociraptor fossils—and, in fact, had collected unrecognized dawn redwood fossils. Over 20 years later, Chaney’s health was barely up to the trip; he had to be carried in a rude palanquin for part of the way, through freezing storms on treacherous trails.  

He’d already met the type specimen, the 480-year-old, 112-foot-tall individual whose seeds had been sent out and whose lineaments were used to describe the species. The hard part was a farther trip, to see a whole forest of dawn redwoods.  

He saw there a mixed forest of broadleaf trees—birch, beech, oak, sweetgum, maple, chestnut—in which the dawn redwood was a citizen, as its fossils had suggested was the case through its ancient range. “It’s like a botanical alumni reunion,” he said. “This is what much of the world looked like a million centuries ago.” 

Such a reunion takes place not only in arboretums around the world, but on out city streets, planted with many of those trees now. Continents and climates drift, and humans drift too, just faster. 

Photograph by Ron Sullivan. 

A young dawn redwood just starting to leaf out. This one lives beside the tennis courts at Oregon Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way in South Berkeley. The muscular trunk is a good fieldmark for the species. 

TUESDAY, APRIL 18 

Berkeley Garden Club Spring Tea and Flower Arranging Demonstration by Najat Nicola, Danville floral designer, at 1 p.m. at Epworth Methodist Church, 1953 Hopkins St., Cost is $8. 527-5641. 

Presentation of Certificate of Honor to the City of Berkeley from the City of San Francisco for Berkeley’s Earthquake relief efforts in 1906, at 3:30 p.m. in City Council Chambers. 

“Earthquake Exodus 1906: Berkeley Responds to the San Francisco Refugees” Illustrated lecture by author Richard Schwartz at 7:30 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Followed by a reception at the Mcgreary-Greer House, 2318 Durant Ave. Cost is $15. 841-2242.  

Anniversary of the 1906 Quake from noon to 2 p.m. at Lawrence Hall of Science, Centennial Drive. Cost is $7.50-$9.50. 642-5132. 

Volunteer Reading Coach Training for all interested in volunteering with 4th and 5th graders at 1 p.m. at Oxford Elementary School, 1130 Oxford St. To RSVP call 528-2045.  

“Hiking the John Muir Trail” with author Jeff Alt at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. Free. 527-4140. 

“John Walker Lindh: Constitutional and Human Rights Implications of an Extraordinary Case” with Frank Lindh at 7 p.m. at the College Preparatory School, Buttner Auditorium, 6100 Broadway at Brookside, Oakland. 339-7726. 

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. 215-7672, 524-9992. 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 548-3991.  

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19  

Tilden Tots Join a nature adventure program for 3 and 4 year olds, each accompanied by an adult (grandparents welcome)! We’ll look for signs of spring, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Bring a light-colored plain T-shirt for our craft. Cost is $6-$8. Registration required. 636-1684. 

City of Oakland Earth Expo Learn about energy, waste reduction, urban design, urban nature, transportation, environmental health, and water, from 10 am. to 2 p.m. at Frank Ogawa Plaza, 14th and Broadway. 238-7611. www.oaklandpw.com 

Free Mercury Thermometer Exchange sponsored by East Bay Municipal Utility District from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Frank Ogawa Plaza, Oakland. Bring as many mercury thermometers as you have in original cases or in two zipper bags. One free digital thermometer per household. 287-1651.  

“East Bay Nature Walks Kick-off” An introduction to the 2006-7 series of East Bay talks and nature walks organized by Close to Home. This year’s series is on Living with Wildlife. At 7 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak St. at 10th St. Cost is $7. www.close-to-home.org 

Bird Walk on Mt. Wanda led by Park Ranger Cheryl Abel. Meet at 8:30 a.m. at the Park and Ride lot at the corner of Alhabra Ave. and Franklin Canyon Rd., Martinez. Wear sturdy shoes and bring water and binoculars. Rain cancels. 925-228-8860. 

Great Decisions Foreign Policy Association Lecture with Thomas Aragon, Center for Infectious Diseases, UCB on “Pandemics and Security” at 10 a.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Cost is $5. 526-2925. 

Petroleum Politics, Corporate Accountability, and the Environmental Trial of the Century” with Amazon Watch on the case against Chevron in Ecudor at 6 p.m. in th eSproul Room, International House, 2299 Piedmont Ave. Donation $5. 415-487-9600. 

“THIRST” A documentary about the world water crisis by Alan Snitow and Deborah Kaufman with discussion, at 7 p.m. at Berkeley-East Bay Gray Panthers Office, 1403 Addison St. Light supper served. 548-9696. 

Celebrate Habitot’s 8th Birthday from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Bring a present—a donated toy, new or used—for our Toy Lending Library and receive a free admission guest pass. Habitot is located on 2065 Kittredge St. 647-1111. www.habitot.org  

“Social Justice and the Prophets” with author Rita Nakashima Brock at 6:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, Small Assembly Room, 2345 Channing St. 848-3696. www.fccb.org 

Banff Mountain Film Festival Wed. and Thurs. at 7 p.m. at Wheeler Auditorium, UC Campus. Tickets are $13-$16. 527-4140. 

Berkeley School Volunteers Training workshop for volunteers interested in helping the public schools, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at 1835 Allston Way. 644-8833. 

Lonely Planet Travel Series with Greg Benchwick on Bolivia and South America at 6 p.m. at Oakland Public Library, 124 14th St. 238-3136. 

Walk Berkeley for Seniors at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze Market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Heavy rain cancels. 548-9840. 

Fresh Produce Stand at San Pablo Park from 3 to 6:30 p.m. in the Frances Albrier Community Center. Sponsored by the Ecology Center’s Farm Fresh Choice. 848-1704.  

THURSDAY, APRIL 20 

Preventing Violence Among our Teens A Community and Parent Forum at 7 p.m. at Longfellow Middle School, 1500 Derby St. at Sacramento. Includes a Panel discussion by local experts from Children’s Hospital, Berkeley Police Department, and Berkeley Unified School District, followed by questions and comments. 644-6320. 

Tilden Tots Join a nature adventure program for 3 and 4 year olds, each accompanied by an adult (grandparents welcome)! We’ll look for signs of spring, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Bring a light-colored plain T-shirt for our craft. Cost is $6-$8. Registration required. 636-1684. 

Creepy Crawlies Insect-inspired activities for ages 3-7 from noon to 2 p.m. at Lawrence Hall of Science, Centennial Drive. Cost is $7.50-$9.50. 642-5132. 

“The Ecology of Birds’ Songs and Identifying Them by Ear” with avian ecologist Daniel Edelstein at 12:30 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. 238-2200. 

“Mexican Americans and the Environment” with Dr. Devon Peña, discussion at noon in the Heller Lounge, M.L. King Bldg., UC Campus, and book-signing at 5:30 p.m. in 30 Stephens Hall, UC Campus. 415- 561-6625 ext. 311. 

“Socially Responsible Network’s Annual Budget Update” Learn about the 2006 fiscal effects on the local, state, and federal level, at 6 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar St. Cost is $10. RSVP to 272-6060. srnbay@hotmail.com 

Teach-In and Vigil on U.S. Torture Policy, every Thurs. from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. outside the classroom of Prof. John Yoo, Boalt Hall, UC Campus. Weekly speakers. www.bpf.org 

“A Large Pill to Swallow: Navigating the Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Coverage Program” with health insurance counselors at 10 a.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. Please bring a list of your medications and dosages with you. 559-1406. 

“The Elections in Palestine and Israel: What Do They Mean Now And For The Future” with Hatem Bazian and Mitchell Plitnick, at 7:30 p.m. at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Donation $5-$20 sliding scale, no one turned away. 465-1777. www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org 

LeConte Neighborhood Association meets at 7:30 p.m. in the LeConte School cafeteria, Russell St. entrance. 843-2602, KarlReeh@aol.com  

Ask a Union Mechanic every Thursday from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Parker & Shattuck, until the strike is settled. They will offer advice on all makes of car. 

World of Plants Tours Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 p.m. at the UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $5. 643-2755.  

Historical & Current Times Book Group meets on Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1249 Marin Ave. 548-4517. 

FRIDAY, APRIL 21 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Peirre Miege on “Internal Problems in China” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $13.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. 526-2925.  

“Votergate” a film followed by discussion with Jim Soper at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Hall, 1924 Cedar St. at Bonita. Donation $7. 528-5403.  

“A Large Pill to Swallow: Navigating the Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Coverage Program” with health insurance counselors at 1 p.m. at the Center for Independent Living, 2539 Telegraph Ave. Please bring a list of your medications and dosages with you. 559-1406. 

Knit and Crochet Show and Marketplace Fri. from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sun. from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Oakland Marriott City Center. www.KnitandCrochetShow.com 

Berkeley Chess School classes for students in grades 1-8 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. A drop-in, rated scholastic tournament follows from 7 to 8 p.m. at 1581 LeRoy Ave., Room 17. 843-0150. 

Berkeley Chess Club meets Fridays at 8 p.m. at the East Bay Chess Club, 1940 Virginia St. 845-1041. 

Women in Black Vigil at noon at UC Berkeley, Bancroft at Telegraph. 548-6310. 

SATURDAY, APRIL 22 

Berkeley Earth Day Celebration from noon to 5 p.m. and Civic Center Park. Cultural performances, food, craft and community booths and activities. To volunteer call 654-6346, ext. 2. 

West County Earth Day with crafts, workshops, entertainment and food from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 101 Pittsburg Ave., one block off the Richmond Parkway. 215-3125. 

Earth Day Cleanup of the Berkeley Shoreline from 10 a.m. to noon at the Eastshore State Park in Berkeley. To sign up call 544-2515. 

Earth Day Computer Recycling Drop-off from 10 a.m. Elephant Pharmacy parking lot, 1607 Shattuck Ave.  

Kid’s Garden Club for ages 7-12 to explore the world of gardening, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area. Cost is $6-$8, registration required. 636-1684. 

Earth Day at Habitot from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Celebrate the environment and make hand-made recycled paper, nature collages, and art sculptures at 2065 Kittredge St. 647-1111.  

Rhododendron Flower Show and plant sale, by the American Rhododendron Society, with rare and unusual varieties in all colors, Sat. from noon to 5 p.m. and Sun. from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Lakeside Garden Center, 666 Bellevue Ave., Oakland. Free. www.calchapterars.org 

Bioforum: Water and California A look at current research on California’s waterways and water uses from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. Cost is $15-$30. To register call 415-321-8104. 

Berkeley History Center Walking Tour: “Earthquake Relief Efforts on the UC Campus in 1906” led by Bruce Goodell, from 10 a.m. to noon. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0181. www.cityofberkeley.info/histsoc 

“No Toddler Left Behind? The Pros and Cons of California’s Preschool for All Act” with Bruce Fuller, David Kirp and Louis Freedberg, moderator, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Graduate School of Education, Tolman Hall Room 2515, UC Campus. 642-0137. 

Creating Your Garden Paradise with Aerin Moore at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens Landscape Nursery, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. 

Edith Coliver Festival of Cultures with a focus on Switzerland, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at International House, 2299 Piedmont Ave. at Bancoft. Cost is $5-$7. 642-9461. 

“President Bush: Reckless Disregard for the Truth—and the Law” with Elizabeth de la Vega, former Chief of the San Jose Branch of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, from 7 to 9 p.m., at the Home of Truth Center, 1300 Grand St., Alameda. Sponsored by the Alameda Public Affairs Forum. Free, donations accepted. www.alamedaforum.org 

“Cancer in Other Words” A series of four writing workshops for women on Sat. through May 13 at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, Summit Campus, 450 30th St., Oakland. Registration required. 869-8833. 

Guide Dogs for the Blind A presentation by Jan Robitscher and her dog Christmas at 11 a.m. at the Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. All ages welcome. 524-3043. 

Emeryville’s Spring Festival with fun for the entire family from noon to 2 p.m. at Bay St., Emeryville. 655-4002.  

Out of the Darkness Overnight Walk orientation meeting at 1 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 3rd floor meeting room, 2090 Kittredge St. The walk will take place in July. Benefits the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. RSVP to coaches@theovernight.org 

Noetic Sciences Earth Day Conference from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Scottish Rite Auditorium, Oakland. Cost is $75. www.noetic.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.  

Around the World Tour of Plants at 1:30 p.m., Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. 643-2755.  

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, APRIL 23 

Turtle Time Meet the awakening reptiles from 1 to 3 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

“Draft Registration and Conscientious Objection—What Every Teenager Needs to Know” A workshop from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. at Berkeley Friends Church, 1600 Sacramento St. Free. 925-274-0900. 

Celebrate People’s Park 37th Anniversary from noon to 7 p.m. with music, dancing, children’s activities, spaekers and food. 390-0830. 

Create a Perennial Border Using California Natives. A workshop with horticulturist Nathan Smith, from 10:30 a.m. to noon at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $20-$25. Registration required. 643-2755. 

“Berkeley Architecture of Bernard Maybeck” with UC Architecture Professor Emeritus Kenneth H. Cardwell at 3 p.m. at the Berkeley History Center, 1931 Center St. 848-0181.  

Berkeley Cybersalon meets to discuss “Asperger’s: The Geek Syndrome?” with Steve Silberman, Ellen Ullman, Annette Blackman and Philip Rosedale, at 5 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Donation $15. Please RSVP to 527-0450. 

Dog Park Behavior Training from 10 a.m. to noon in Ohlone Dog Park, Grant St. and Hearst Ave., and on Sun. April 30. Cost for both sessions is $15 and free for ODPA members. People (and dogs) must attend both sessions. 845-4213. ohlonedogpark.org 

Loose leash Walking Workshop at 3 p.m. at Grace North Church, 2128 Cedar St. Cost is $35. Registration required. 849-9323. companyofdogs.com 

“Don’t Be Six Feet Under Without a Plan” Learn about creating a living will, powers of attorney and end of life services at 2 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. 228-3207. 

Fashion Fusion 2006 Show Annual charity fashion show at 3 and 7 p.m. in the Pauley Ballroom, Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union, UC Campus. Tickets are $5-$10. http://fashion.berkeley.edu 

Berkeley City Club free tour from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Tours are sponsored by the Berkeley City Club and the Landmark Heritage Foundation. Donations welcome. 2315 Durant Ave. 848-7800 or 883-9710. 

Hands-On Bicycle Clinic on flat repair from 10 to 11 a.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. Free. 527-4140. 

Tibetan Buddhism with Jack Petranker “Structures of the Ego” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, APRIL 24 

Holocaust Rememberence Day at noon at City Council Chambers, 2134 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way. Featuring Chana Bloch, Paula Fass, David Joseph-Goteiner, Joseph Rothberg, Ruth Atkin, and Ljuba Davis. Honoring Ben Sieradski and all Survivors present . 981-7170. 

Berkeley High Red & Golden Girls Reunion Luncheon for women graduates of BHS 50 or more years ago, at 11 a.m. at Double Tree Hotel, Berkeley Marina. Cost is $30. For reservations call 524-6877. 

“Perspectives on Berkeley: Past and Present” Chuck Wollenberg’s Berkeley history class at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. Meets Mon. evenings through May 22. Free. 981-6150. 

ONGOING 

Poll Workers Needed in Alameda County for June 6 Primary Election. Poll workers must be eligible to register to vote in California, have basic clerical skills. Training classes begin in May. To sign up call 272-6971. 

Public Art Project for the Children’s Fairyland, City of Oakland. Artist Request for Qualifications. Applications are due May 17 and can be found online at www.oaklandculturalarts.org 238-2105. 

CITY MEETINGS 

Berkeley Housing Authority meets Tues., April 18, at 6:30 p.m. in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. ww.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/housingauthority 

City Council meets Tues., April 18, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Citizens Humane Commission meets Wed., April 19, 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., April 19, at 1:30 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. William Rogers, 981-5344. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/aging 

Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee meets Wed. April 19, at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7487. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

planning/landuse/dap/ 

Homeless Commission meets Wed., April 19, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Jane Micallef, 981-5426. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/homeless 

Library Board of Trustees meets Wed. April 19, at 7 p.m. at South Berkeley Senior Center., Jackie Y. Griffin, 981-6195. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/library  

School Board meets Wed. April 19, at 7:30 p.m., in the City Council Chambers. Queen Graham 644-6147 or Mark Coplan 644-6320. 

Community Health Commission meets Thurs., April 20, at 6:45 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Kristin Tehrani, 981-5356. www.ci.berkeley. 

ca.us/commissions/health 

Design Review Committee meets Thurs., April 20, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Anne Burns, 981-7415. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/designreview  

Transportation Commission meets Thurs., April 20, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Peter Hillier, 981-7000. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/transportation 

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