Some 50 people, including four Berkeley city councilmembers, rallied Tuesday at the Maudelle Shirek Building, demanding that federal drug enforcement agents and the Los Angeles Police Department stay out of Berkeley and that the city become a sanctuary for medical marijuana distribution. -more-
Bringing beauty to Berkeley’s ugly Ashby Avenue gateway, cleaning sidewalks, adding security, removing graffiti, creating an improved local transportation system emulating the popular Emery Go Round are just a few of the reasons South West Berkeley’s commercial property owners want to create an assessment district, says Marco Li Mandri, president of New City America and consultant on the South West Berkeley Community Benefits District (CBD) project. -more-
As the date for the courtroom showdown over UC Berkeley’s Memorial Stadium gym draws closer, a paperwork blizzard has begun to blow. -more-
In a 4-0-1 vote Wednesday evening, former Chamber of Commerce Chair Carolyn Henry Golphin was recommended by the Library Board of Trustees as the new trustee. -more-
The fissure dividing Berkeley’s citizen downtown planners trembled anew Tuesday night, but when it was over, the “Big One” still lay ahead. -more-
Tributes to slain Oakland journalist Chauncey Bailey poured in today from prominent politicians as well as from his colleagues in the news business. -more-
With a new treasurer, hi-tech computer software and a lesson in banking skills, Berkeley Councilmember Dona Spring pledged to do a better job of following campaign finance laws. -more-
Affordable Housing Associates (AHA) announced this week that they would give tenants at Allston House on 2121 7th St. the option to be temporarily relocated during the renovation of their toilets beginning Aug. 20. -more-
Robin Gorton was a favorite teacher in the Berkeley Unified School District. With her quick smile, storyteller’s magic, and seemingly unlimited number of puppets, Mrs. Gorton performed hundreds of puppet shows for kindergarten students enrolled in the Cragmont and Oxford schools. -more-
People concerned about impacts of two planned Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) buildings—one housing the controversial BP-funded Energy Bioscience Institute (EBI)—can raise their questions during a special meeting Wednesday night. -more-
Some 50 people, including four Berkeley city councilmembers, rallied at the Maudelle Shirek Building Tuesday, demanding that federal drug agents and the Los Angeles Police Department stay out of Berkeley and that the city become a sanctuary for distributors of medical marijuana. -more-
The restaurant remodel and mixed-use development of the historic Fidelity Bank Building on Shattuck Avenue was postponed by the Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) Thursday to investigate ways to alleviate the project’s loss of parking. -more-
Rent Stabilization Board Member Chris Kavanagh, a Green Party member first elected to the board in 2002, may not live in Berkeley, a requirement for all elected officials in Berkeley. -more-
Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums won a large measure of vindication over charges in some media outlets that he was missing in action in the Waste Management workers lockout dispute, when representatives of both Waste Management and Teamsters workers told a Friday afternoon City Hall press conference that a settlement of the month-long lockout would not have been possible without the mayor’s intervention. -more-
Nearly a month after the U.S. Supreme Court severely restricted the use of race to bring about diversity in schools, a group of legal scholars and education officials gathered at a recent panel discussion on the issue and said Berkeley’s integration strategy is likely to withstand challenges based on the recent 5-4 decision, and may become a model for other districts that are struggling to integrate their schools without triggering legal barriers. -more-
After more than a year of delays, Pacific Steel Casting released its Health Risk Assessment report to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District last week. -more-
The California Supreme Court Monday upheld a death penalty for a former Berkeley waterfront commissioner who brutally beat a university professor and his wife and then murdered and dismembered a fellow commissioner who would have testified against him. -more-
Berkeley may be getting $330,000 more for mental heath services, in addition to the nearly $1 million already allocated under the state Mental Health Services Act (MHSA). -more-
The Berkeley City Council will meet briefly today (Tuesday) to hold a public hearing on the Elmwood Theater Business Improvement Area, required for the business improvement district to continue its operations, and to formally adopt findings that B-Town Dollar at 2973 Sacramento St. is a nuisance and should be shut down. -more-
The California Supreme Court ruled on Thursday against California ordinances allowing the seizure and forfeiture of vehicles used in picking up prostitutes or buying drugs, thus effectively ending the City of Oakland’s 10-year experiment in the practice. -more-
UC Berkeley development officials will meet this morning (Tuesday) with builders eager for the chance to build an $8 million guest house at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. -more-
An organization affiliated with National Public Radio will be coming to Oakland and Richmond for six weeks beginning Aug. 9, collecting historical stories by Bay Area African-Americans for possible later broadcast on NPR. -more-
On Thursday the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) will discuss the landmarking of a 19th-century dwelling at 3100 Shattuck Ave., which is proposed to be demolished for the construction of a new three-story mixed-use building . -more-
In my gilded youth I went on a skiing trip to Austria. In those carefree days one traveled by boat and train in a leisurely, comfortable, civilized way, with none of the overcrowded panic that mars voyaging today. The train had sleeping berths and we woke gasping at the proximity of massive Alps rearing skywards almost close enough to touch, or so it seemed. Our destination was a picture postcard-perfect village, Obergurgl. -more-
If we don’t watch out, pretty soon there’ll no Beserkely left in Berkeley—nothing quirky, funky, artsy or even anything useful. Stories coming out of West Berkeley in the last few weeks strongly suggest that there’s a determined campaign underway to turn Berkeley’s last non-suburban bastion into a poor imitation of a cross between Emeryville and Walnut Creek, with the worst aspects of both. Case in point: the proposed re-zoning, supposedly just to create freeway-centric automobile dealerships a la Walnut Creek, but which threatens properties now home to unique and valued West Berkeley businesses like Ashby Lumber, MacBeath Hardwood, Urban Ore and the place that sells the outrageous sculpture and furniture made from salvaged redwoods. -more-
Talk about abrupt transitions: We spent a long weekend in the Santa Cruz mountains with some of the grandchildren, with no newspaper delivery and recreational attractions out-competing Internet and radio news updates. So listening to the latest news on NPR on Monday morning was the classic rude awakening, with a featured report on the secretary of state’s announcement that she’s proposing to drop more weapons, to the tune of close to $30 billion or more, into the steaming cauldron which is the Middle East today. A big hunk of the new money, $20 billion, would go to Saudi Arabia, theoretically to balance a perceived threat from Iran, but in addition, to allay Israeli fears about the Saudis, Israel’s already huge weapons funding would be increased to at least $30 billion. And there’s another $13 billion for Egypt. -more-
The Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) meeting sponsored by the Transportation Commission on July 24 was even worse than I imagined it would be. The meeting was facilitated by the Chair of the Transportation Commission, Sarah Syed. She treated the people in the room as if they were a group of schoolchildren—rather than concerned Berkeley citizens who had volunteered their time on a weekday evening to weigh in on an important city issue. She was unfriendly and impatient right from the very start. She snapped orders at people and threatened to throw people out of the meeting. What were members of the audience doing that was so unacceptable? Just trying to express concerns about BRT, nothing more. She just would not allow it! -more-
Tuesday night, July 23rd, I witnessed an exercise in mind control in the disguise of a meeting of a transit subcommittee of the Transportation Commis-sion. The subject of the meeting was to discuss the proposed BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) as it affects the South Side area. The meeting was run by the Chair of the Transportation Commission. Most of the attendees have attended more than one meeting about BRT so that the Chair knew many of the attendees by name and their position on this issue. -more-
The rapid pace of proposed development for this town reminds me of post-war development, not only as in post-WW2, but as in post-Civil War. Buildings were decimated; towns pillaged; landscapes burned. People’s lives destroyed. -more-
I was shocked to read in the San Francisco Chronicle in the Matier and Ross column that our Berkeley Rent Board Commissioner Chris Kavanagh is defending an eviction proceeding from his home in Oakland. If these allegations are true, that Mr. Kavangh perjured himself when he signed election papers to seek the position of Berkeley Rent Board Commissioner, then he must be prosecuted for that perjury by the Alameda County District Attorney’s office. If he is not prosecuted, then our election laws, which are sacred, become meaningless and subject to fraud and manipulation by unscrupulous individuals. -more-
In the “Ten Questions for Council-member Dona Spring” (07-20-07), “high rents,” which soak up much of the residents’ income and prevents people from being able to afford to live in Berkeley, was at the top of the pressing issues. -more-
The Planet is to be congratulated. While Matier and Ross broke the story of Chris Kavanagh’s floating domicile, Judith Scherr’s astute reporting adds an awful lot to the picture. Despite filing numerous statements (under penalty of perjury) stating he was a Berkeley tenant, Rent Board Commissioner Chris has apparently lived in Oakland since at least 2001. He has never lived at either 22 Tunnel Road or 2709 Dwight Way, where he has registered to vote. Indeed, he cares so much about his Oakland pad that he is now in court fighting the owner’s effort to move him out. In the meantime, his “residence” is the Elmwood post office. -more-
I have found that the challenge of healthy living is this: to adapt the body that my ancestors carefully evolved to live a particular way of life to the demands of life in twenty-first century Berkeley. What an undertaking! -more-
I am writing given your recent editorial comment about KPFA’s new Sunday Morning talk show host, Peter Laufer and his reply. Some history is important. Right after Larry Bensky announced that he was leaving the Sunday Morning show I approached Sasha Lilley, the recently appointed interim program director, while at an event at the Berkeley Unitarian-Universalists Hall at Cedar and Bonita. I suggested that they should consider breaking up the two-hour block and getting some diversity in that time slot: Women, people of color, and political diversity. Having the same politics controlling the questions and direction of the interviews every Sunday can get tiresome and redundant. Having different expressions from diverse people with diverse politics could reach more people and be much more interesting. -more-
As a long-time listener and volunteer at KPFA, I have been following the issue of Larry Bensky’s replacement with great interest. Even though there continues to be infighting over station management issues, the hosts on KPFA generally maintain a high level of respect for their audience, and do their level best to allow people to express their views on the air. I hoped, at a minimum, that the new host of the Sunday morning show, Peter Laufer, would embrace these ideals. -more-
What a cheap shot by columnist Becky O’Malley, backhandedly saying that my criticism of Rep. John Conyers for having 45 people who came to demand that he act on the impeachment bill for Dick Cheney that he has let sit in his committee for three months arrested was “not quite racism.” Why does the white Becky mention the race word? Because the chair of the Judiciary Committee is black? -more-
I am very torn about the Bus Rapid Transit project. I want transit to work and will take the bus more often if it does happen. Still, after reading the articles and letters pro/con-BRT, I remain unconvinced that BRT will be successful. While ridership will grow, such growth can be had with gentler, incremental and cheaper measures that have not been considered, and that in some combination, could increase ridership just as much without having to resort to tearing up Telegraph: i.e., proof of payment system, Bay Area transit pass, security, better shelters, NextBus, lower fares, free rides in downtown areas, increased gas tax, WiFi, more buses/shorter headway, better neighborhood parking programs and enforcement, employee TDM, etc. -more-
I mailed a few letters this past Saturday, getting to the post office just before pickup at 4:30 in the afternoon. The post office is on the corner of College and Webster in the Elmwood. I live on Prince Street and was alarmed that every parking spot on the street was taken; it is the longest uninterrupted street in the city, between College and Claremont avenues. Traffic on College was backed up beyond Woolsey, almost to Alcatraz Avenue as a result of the red traffic light at Ashby. Alcatraz is four blocks south of Ashby. After I mailed my letters, I walked to the corner of Ashby and College, and as a result of the red light there, traffic was backed up on Ashby several blocks east as well as west. I wondered: has the city ever commissioned an environmental report for auto exhausts in my neighborhood, especially on the corner of Ashby and College on a Saturday afternoon? -more-
Berkeley’s process to begin implementing Measure G, the greenhouse-gas reduction initiative passed by 81 percent of Berkeley voters last November, is off to a good start. Community workshops held in collaboration with city commissions have been well-attended and lively, and have produced long lists of helpful ideas for action. It seems that the city council will have more than enough raw material from which to decide on policies and incentives after it receives the staff report in December. And many of us citizens will then gladly line up to sign a pledge to do our own bit to help further reduce the greenhouse gases we help to produce in Berkeley every day. However, we’re still taking too narrow a view, and that phrase “produce in Berkeley” explains why. City staff report that about a quarter of our greenhouse gases are produced by automobiles as they drive our city streets (freeway traffic, for which we’re not primarily responsible, is excluded). But there’s an even larger contribution to greenhouse gases that we’re also responsible for—the hundreds of thousands of vehicle miles traveled every work day by commuters into and out of town. According to the evolving Measure G implementation plan, if the miles aren’t traveled in Berkeley they simply don’t count. And that’s leading us to an ostrich-eye view of what we need to do. -more-
When it comes to food, “everything in moderation,” is how my grandmother would have said it. And that includes knowledge. -more-
Some years ago, while I was working for an African-American newspaper in South Carolina called the Charleston Chronicle, a local Black attorney tried to get me to ride down with him to a country community near the Georgia border to talk with some people he was representing. George Payton was a self-promoter who had run for public office several times and would probably be running again, and an incessant talker as well, and the idea of spending a day with him—including four hours alone in a car—just so he could get his name in the paper didn’t appeal to me, so I begged off. -more-
This is a tale about politics, influence, money and murder. It began more than 40 years ago with a bloodletting so massive no one quite knows how many people died. Half a million? A million? Through four decades the story has left a trail of misery and terror. Last month it claimed four peasants, one of them a 27-year old mother. -more-
The Kitchen -more-
Change is inevitable; it’s always reassuring when a change in a good business is in the spirit of the original, an enhancement rather than a trip to the oubliette—for example, when an owner retired and sells the place to people who are familiar with it and like its style already. A breath of fresh air is much better than a tornado where there’s something worth preserving. Oh, Toto! -more-
We’re at war with Germany again, and this time they’re winning. No, it’s not a shooting war but since shooting wars always start with economic pretexts, it’s not a far stretch to talk about shooting wars in conjunction with this war and since it involves energy, it’s easy to point to our differing approaches to the war in Iraq as one example of how they’re winning, both morally and physically. -more-
About the time of year the robins wind down and the naked ladies begin to bloom, we start seeing the garden spiders. They’re orbweavers, probably Araneus diadematus, and at this stage they’re just little orange-and-black specks with legs. Between now and Halloween they’ll get a lot bigger, and plumper. -more-
‘A NEW LIFE, A NEW HOME’ -more-
Guitarist Ross Hammond, doubling on banjo and lap steel guitar, will lead a quartet dubbed “No DQ,” featuring Philip Greenlief (saxophone), Gino Robair (percussion) and J.P. Carter (trumpet) for tonight’s Free Jazz Friday, The Jazz House’s biweekly event, 8 p. m. at the Performance Space at 1510 8th St. (a block from West Oakland BART). Admission is $5-15, sliding scale. -more-
Well before nuclear physics, Nobel Prizes, Free Speech, championship athletics, or alternative fuels research, the University of California was known for academic work in fields such as agriculture, mining … and astronomy. -more-
The Kitchen -more-
Change is inevitable; it’s always reassuring when a change in a good business is in the spirit of the original, an enhancement rather than a trip to the oubliette—for example, when an owner retired and sells the place to people who are familiar with it and like its style already. A breath of fresh air is much better than a tornado where there’s something worth preserving. Oh, Toto! -more-
We’re at war with Germany again, and this time they’re winning. No, it’s not a shooting war but since shooting wars always start with economic pretexts, it’s not a far stretch to talk about shooting wars in conjunction with this war and since it involves energy, it’s easy to point to our differing approaches to the war in Iraq as one example of how they’re winning, both morally and physically. -more-
The Telegraph 3 p.m. Project, a collection of scores of photographs by Robert Eliason with matching poems by Owen Hill captioning text that chronicles in an upbeat fashion streetlife on the avenue, will be on exhibit at the Gaia Building, 2120 Allston Way (near Shattuck) through Jan. 31. -more-
“Not fair, roaring without telling,” Decca would warn as I read—and roared—over some bit from her latest book or letter. I was nursing a sherry in her Oakland kitchen, and reading hugely funny and provocative items from some of the experiences we’d shared during the ‘40s and ‘50s. -more-
Are you interested in little old white lady, self-supporting, spinster-librarians? Do you assume much doesn’t go on in their lives beyond the spectacles and reading all those books? Well, meet “Miss Breed.” She took chances, risked her career and income by taking an activist stance during World War II. -more-
About the time of year the robins wind down and the naked ladies begin to bloom, we start seeing the garden spiders. They’re orbweavers, probably Araneus diadematus, and at this stage they’re just little orange-and-black specks with legs. Between now and Halloween they’ll get a lot bigger, and plumper. -more-
