Six hundred and eighty six students were represented on the walls of the Berkeley Arts Center (BAC) Wednesday as part of the Berkeley Unified School District’s annual Youth Arts Festival. -more-
On Wednesday, March 21 the Richmond City Council voted 8-1 to have Mayor Gayle McLaughlin ask the California State Lands Commission (SLC) to require Chevron to allow San Francisco Bay Trail access to land on the south side of the I-580 corridor near its Richmond refinery. -more-
A four-story condominium-over-retail complex may soon be rising at the corner of two of Berkeley’s busiest streets. -more-
The decision by the administration of newly elected Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums to delay going forward with an Oakland Planning Commission staff plan to alter industrial zoning in portions of West Oakland is the result of a political climate shaped by lobbying from Oakland housing advocates and positions taken by Mayor Dellums’ Housing Task Force, as well as by long-term efforts of one of Dellums opponents in last year’s mayoral race, West Oakland Councilmember Nancy Nadel. -more-
While David Stoloff is out as Planning Commission chair, there’s no successor yet—despite the group’s election earlier this month. -more-
With screaming pink banners and a clear message demanding an end to the war in Iraq, from three to 50 Code Pink women and their supporters could be found over the past two weeks camped out in Pacific Heights in front of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s home. -more-
The Berkeley Board of Education will vote on Wednesday on hiring an architect to design the Berkeley Unified School District’s pre-kindergarten projects. -more-
There’s a contradiction often built into the job of public official—one I’ve observed over some 15 years reporting on various local governments in the Bay Area. -more-
Some 50 filmmakers, radio producers and writers renting studio space at the seven-story tower at Tenth and Parker streets hope that they will come away from the special City Council meeting tonight (Tuesday) with hope of minimal rent increases over six months or a year, rather than the significant increases the new landlord is demanding. -more-
Last week was designated the Week of Service by Berkeley High School’s (BHS) student government. It was created to give students the opportunity to give back to their community. Friday was another Red and Gold Day with the Barbecue Club and the Baking Club at lunch. The Barbecue Club is a group of BHS male seniors who cook really good barbecue. Everyone at BHS likes it. A newer addition is the Baking Club, a group of BHS female seniors who make baked goods. The money raised will go to support charities. For those of you who don’t know, Red and Gold Day has traditionally occurred sometime in October once every school year, where students dress up in their school colors and show school spirit. It is typically followed by a homecoming rally. -more-
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s recent apology for his country’s involvement in the abduction of thousands of Asian women for use as prostitutes during World War II has drawn a swift response from Asian Americans. The issue has been a point of tension between Japan and its neighbors for decades, and many here question Abe’s sincerity. -more-
Virginia Silber was born in New York City on August 30, 1943. She died at her sister’s home in Berkeley on March 16, 2007, from metastatic lung cancer. Between those two dates lived a remarkable woman: a loving mother of Adam, a creative early-childhood teacher in the Oakland School District, and a sister, relative and friend who will be missed more than words can convey. -more-
Oakland—When Erick Gaines leaves home for work in the morning, he makes sure he leaves with his inhaler. Gaines is a trucker and he likes it. He loves being able to set his own hours, and he enjoys the independence his job gives him. But he wishes driving a truck wouldn’t take such a heavy toll on his lungs. -more-
It is idle to imagine that growing one’s own food saves money. Regardless of factoring in one’s time, the average Berkeley back yard is not sufficiently large and sunny to grow enough food for one person, let alone a family. -more-
Berkeley’s robbery rash still soaring -more-
Maudelle Shirek, 96, an eight-term Berkeley city councilmember who served until 2004, was joined by dozens of friends and supporters at the ceremony Thursday afternoon changing name of Old City Hall to the Maudelle Shirek Building. -more-
The last time Rick Goldsmith stood before the City Council was in 1996, when he was honored for an award-winning documentary film. -more-
In the wake of a sudden, sharp increase in public interest sparked by a local media report that the City of Oakland was considering zoning map changes that might further shrink its already depleted cache of industrial properties, the Planning Commission staff has pulled a report recommending changes to West Oakland industrial lands, and a commission subcommittee has postponed considering the rezoning until a larger group of city residents and officials can enter the discussion. -more-
At least two leading proponents of the $500 million alternative fuels program now being negotiated between UC Berkeley and BP (the former British Petroleum) have created companies that could profit from the research. -more-
Manuel De Paz has a job and a community college degree. With his extended family, he is buying a home and he has dreams of investing in a family business. -more-
After school on Wednesday, students at Willard Middle School were busy showing off their latest invention. -more-
On Tuesday, the Berkeley City Council rescinded an ordinance it had approved on the first reading, March 13, that would have limited the number of years a person can sit on certain commissions and would have restricted the number of commissions on which a person could sit. The vote was 8-0-1, with Councilmember Laurie Capitelli abstaining. -more-
The Berkeley Unified School District Surplus Committee is looking for five community members to serve on it. -more-
The yellow gloves came out Thursday morning at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Oregon, as did the smiles and “have a good day” cheers. -more-
A group of Elmwood neighbors will appeal the Berkeley Zoning Adjustments Board’s (ZAB) approval of a restaurant, bar and additional unspecified businesses at 2629-2635 Ashby Ave. to the City Council. -more-
Even before they started talking about it, citizen commissioners and committee members heard a dramatic attack on one provision of the city’s new proposed downtown parking plan. -more-
Ignoring complaints and controversy over 50 40-foot Belgian-made buses already in the pipeline, AC Transit directors this week quickly approved a staff recommendation to trade in 10 currently-operating buses for 10 more buses manufactured by the Van Hool company, even before the prototype for the original new bus order has been built and approved. -more-
A year ago, the Peralta Community College District held its first annual Sustainable Peralta Conference at its oldest and least environmentally friendly campus, Laney College, in typically blustery March weather. Sitting in a classroom that day with a gap under the doorway so large that participants had to wear coats to ward off the brisk wind blowing under the closed door, Peralta Trustee Nicky Gonzalez Yuen, chair of Chancellor Elihu Harris’ Advisory Committee on Sustainability and the driving force behind the Sustainable Peralta project, talked optimistically about moving future construction bond money in the district toward “green” building principles. At that time, Peralta’s newest campus—Berkeley City College—was not yet built, and its $390 million facilities bond Measure A was not yet on the ballot. -more-
From Golden Gate Park and the Presidio of San Francisco to the UC Berkeley and Stanford University campuses to Lake Merritt, spectacular and expansive designed landscapes abound in the Bay Area. -more-
The Berkeley Zoning Adjustments Board approved a mixed-use project at 700 University Ave. Thursday. -more-
March is Arts Education Month, according to press releases from the City of Berkeley, Alameda County and county education superintendent Sheila Jordan. It’s a cause everyone can get behind: kids and arts, what’s not to like? We’d like to get on the bandwagon too, before it’s too late. We believe that art is good for kids, and kids are good for art. We’ll even endorse the slogan some creative PR firm dreamed up: “Art IS education.” Of course it is. -more-
The law of the jungle is survival of the fittest; the law of civilization is cooperation! -more-
By Diane Douglas, David Schweidel, Rachel Greenberg, Sunny Solis, Darryl Dickerhoff and Lori Simpson -more-
Ten years or so ago, the new-born Downtown Berkeley Association flexed its taxpayer-funded muscle and pressured the City Council to pass a raft of laws against “problematic street behavior,” widely touted as responsible for local economic decline. -more-
Regarding the current battle at the Fantasy Building, where its new owner, San Rafael-based Wareham Property Group, is threatening Berkeley’s community of independent filmmakers with skyrocketing rents and odious-termed leases: -more-
“We want to turn this into a new type of artists’ community,” said Doug Herst, owner of 5.5 acres of industrial land in West Berkeley, speaking at a special meeting at City Hall. He came over as a nice guy, and he really seemed to like artists and the arts. Sounded great. Until he unveiled the real project: a million square feet of mostly commercial, office, and residential development, with only seven thousand square feet for arts/crafts workshops, and only 20 percent of the residential units as artist live/work studios. -more-
“We need a music teacher,” said the woman on the telephone in charge of hiring substitute teachers. “You know anything about music?” -more-
If you’re walking down University Avenue, or driving up the freeway to the Richmond Bridge, or taking a car or bike jaunt up around Clear Lake, you’ll have noticed that the redbuds are blooming. We’ve borrowed specimens of this gorgeous scarf that the Central Valley wears around its eastern and western foothills. Good idea, for landscape and ornament in the cities and for the most difficult spots along roads. -more-
Some weeks ago, in a previous column, I promised to continue our discussion of U.S. Senator Barack Obama and race. And so we move forward, but on a roundabout road, because race in America does not follow a straightforward path. -more-
Economics is a wonderful and fascinating field. When I think about the things I’d like to study as I get older, it keeps getting pushed higher up on the list. The fun thing about it is that it’s at work everywhere around us. As long as money or goods are flowing through a system it’s there and from my very prejudiced vantage point it appears to me no more prevalent or relevant than in the world of construction. -more-
BERKELEY’S LAND AND EARLY NEIGHBORHOODS -more-
A career-spanning exhibit of the gorgeous and haunting photographs of Henry Wessel, documenting his visions of the landscape, people and light of California and the West, is on display at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art through April 22. -more-
With surprisingly little fanfare to date, the dry winter of 2006/2007 has brought two important new books exploring the character of the Berkeley community. -more-
“Stop in the Name of Love, or, Until the War Is Over, Nobody Gets Over.” The subheads of the African-American Shakespeare Co.’s production of Lysistrata say it all—as director Rhodessa Jones amplifies, “Lysistrata is a cry for peace by women driven to change the world using the ultimate weapon!” -more-
If you’re walking down University Avenue, or driving up the freeway to the Richmond Bridge, or taking a car or bike jaunt up around Clear Lake, you’ll have noticed that the redbuds are blooming. We’ve borrowed specimens of this gorgeous scarf that the Central Valley wears around its eastern and western foothills. Good idea, for landscape and ornament in the cities and for the most difficult spots along roads. -more-
EAST BAY SYMPHONY AT THE PARAMOUNT -more-
After more than 25 years in the movie business, John Malkovich has carved out a unique niche for himself, a cinematic netherworld equal parts post-modernism and cult of personality. -more-
On Tuesday, March 27, at 7 p.m., Laury Hammel, co-founder of Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE), will read from the inspiring new book he co-authored with Gun Denhart, Growing Local Value: How to Build Business Partnerships That Strenghten Your Community at Pegasus Books in downtown Berkeley. -more-
It all begins “after hours” with the simplest of games: “Anyway, Bette Davis turns around, puts down her groceries and says, ‘What a dump!’ I want to know the name of the picture!” demands Martha, and husband George teases her in a patronizing deadpan. But when he announces a nightcap, Martha rasps, “Are you kidding? We got guests coming over!” -more-
Economics is a wonderful and fascinating field. When I think about the things I’d like to study as I get older, it keeps getting pushed higher up on the list. The fun thing about it is that it’s at work everywhere around us. As long as money or goods are flowing through a system it’s there and from my very prejudiced vantage point it appears to me no more prevalent or relevant than in the world of construction. -more-
