San Francisco shimmers in the distance, across from mountainous Marin. Tiny cars crawl across the Bay Bridge, Berkeley’s biggest buildings are toy-sized at the foot of the hills, and on a clear, fogless day there’s sometimes a glimpse of the Farallon Islands through the Golden Gate. 

Couples snuggle romantically in cars parked in dusty turnouts, facing the view. Locals point out the distant sights to newcomers, while motorcycles growl, sports cars zip, and bicyclists strain along the winding road behind them.  

A drive to Grizzly Peak Boulevard for the views is one of those short local excursions that we take for granted—like a springtime visit to the Berkeley Rose Garden, a fresh pastry at the Cheese Board, or a stroll on the Berkeley Pier. 

Once upon a time, however, ascending the ridge above Strawberry Canyon to see the views took several hours, a pair of good legs, and some vigorous hiking. It was only in 1932 that things changed.  

“A dream cherished by Berkeleyans for many years will come true tomorrow,” the Berkeley Daily Gazette reported Saturday, Aug. 20, 1932. Three miles of public roadway running north from Fish Ranch Road to today’s intersection of Grizzly Peak and Centennial Drive were to open. 

At 1 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 21, 1932—exactly 75 years ago today—the “gates to the road” were flung wide and cars streamed along its length from both north and south, clotting together for a formal 2 p.m. dedication ceremony. 

“At the spot where the new boulevard passes just below the summit of Grizzly Peak, almost 1,800 feet about the level of San Francisco Bay, the vista of the East Bay Cities, rising up from the shores of the blue bay, provided an inspiring sight which attracted hundreds of automobile parties,” the Gazette reported. 

“From this vantage point yesterday afternoon, one could look directly out the Golden Gate with the dull purple of the Marin hills to the right and the shadowy pinnacles of San Francisco to the left—panorama of matchless beauty unequalled any place else in the world.” 

Credit for the road project was given to County Supervisor Redmond Staats, who had, the Berkeley Gazette reported, conceived the project and championed it through nearly a decade of planning, engineering, and funding decisions. 

The road was planned after the 1923 Berkeley Fire as a barrier against, and a way to reach and fight, wildfires before they could sweep down the hills into built-up districts. 

It also added a tourist attraction to Berkeley. By 1932, despite the Depression, automobile touring was popular. Millions of American households had acquired cars (“machines” in contemporary parlance) and street, highway, and bridge improvements were the order of the day.  

The “Sunday Drive”—a leisurely excursion after church to nowhere in particular—was coming into vogue, as was weekend tripping into the countryside, jaunting about town and even commuting by car. Berkeley was no exception. The completion of the crucial stretch of Grizzly Peak was just one of the local improvements under way.  

Down on the waterfront, then befouled by sewage outflow, plans were being made for an Eastshore highway that would allow drivers to bypass the congestion along San Pablo Avenue. The Bay Bridge was almost literally on the horizon; construction would begin in 1933. 

As they gathered at the crest of the hills, and lauded the completion of the Grizzly Peak route, local officials took particular note of its value in a car-oriented age. 

“The road brings to us one of the most beautiful scenic drives to be found any place in the world which will be enjoyed in the years to come, not only by the residents of Berkeley and the Bay Area, but also by thousands of tourists who will be driven over this boulevard by their friends,” said Charles C. Adams, managing director of the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce. 

A “car equipped with a loud speaker” and loaned by the Howard Automobile Company was positioned near the ceremony to broadcast the proceedings to the estimated 2,000 attendees. 

Berkeley Mayor Thomas C. Caldecott praised the road as “a dream which Berkeleyans have long looked forward to seeing accomplished.”  

Oakland’s Mayor Fred Morcom—through whose municipality the new road actually ran—then took the podium to proclaim it a “wonderful scenic highway” and publicly wishes for the day when there would be “unification of the entire East Bay, from Richmond to Hayward, into a single city,” a prospect which might have made much of his Berkeley-centric audience squirm with discomfort. 

The formal opening came with a snip of a ceremonial ribbon, scissors wielded by six-year old Patricia Connolly, daughter of the president of the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce.  

The road thus thrown open to traffic was not quite the Grizzly Peak of today. The 25-foot-wide surface was graveled, not paved, and still bereft of finished shoulders, railings, and signage. Tilden Park did not exist to the east. No university developments climbed higher than the Botanical Garden, and no Centennial Drive snaked through Strawberry Canyon to the summit.  

The university had not yet purchased the hillside “Wilson Tract” where much of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory would later be built. Residential subdivisions did not densely crowd the ridge lines north of campus and south of Claremont Canyon. 

Today, Grizzly Peak’s two lanes of asphalt accommodate not only automobile excursionists but motorcycle riders who gather at the vista points, recreational bicyclists and, increasingly, work commuters shortcutting more congested routes at lower elevations. Some commuters to the university’s Space Sciences laboratory even use the shoulders for parking during part of the year. 

Not all the cars stay on the shoulder. Tom Klatt, who manages a number of university projects in the Strawberry Canyon area, says that over the past several years he’s arranged to have 34 vehicles that came down from the road hauled out of the steep ravines of Strawberry and Claremont canyons. One area dubbed “parking lot gulch” yielded no less than eight old wrecks.  

Some tumbles are caused by crashes. Others, Klatt says, are pushed over the edge by joyriders and thieves. That practice has slowed since large logs, from eucalyptus clearance operations, were placed along the shoulders. 

Grizzly Peak remains a popular spot for sightseeing. Local historian Paul Grunland points out that with private development over the years, homes and trees have come to block once-public views from most other points along the ridgeline. 

Klatt adds that recent eucalyptus thinning operations, primarily carried out to reduce wildfire risk, have also opened up the Grizzly Peak views. Outdoors writer Tom Stienstra noted last December in the San Francisco Chronicle that Grizzly Peak was one of the “five best photo spots” of the Bay Area. 

“The sunsets, views and photo shots available from several turnouts on Grizzly Peak Boulevard can stun even longtime residents of the East Bay who have never taken the time to chase this one down,” he wrote. “This is one of the best spots close to an urban area to take in a sunset anywhere.” 

Most of those enjoying the photo and view opportunities today probably have no idea of the third justification for building the road: providing work for hundreds of Alameda County unemployed men, as the Depression deepened. 

The work crews, the newspapers reported, were divided into teams of “blue collar” unemployed who constructed the road and “white collar” jobless who did the finishing work.  

This fairly substantial project took place before Franklin Roosevelt’s election, and well before any of his New Deal programs that provided public works funding. In fact, as the road opened, Herbert Hoover was beginning his formal re-election campaign by telling the Republican National Convention that cutting taxes, not public spending, was the proper approach to economic ills. 

Many locals were in sympathy. Two days before praising the opening of the road, the Berkeley Gazette had editorialized that federal relief should be “a minor function of the federal government, and even a doubtful one,” and local communities should provide for their own.  

There’s a postscript to the grand opening. A few days later, the Gazette reported, “Berkeley’s new scenic boulevard … has been padlocked for being none too dry.”  

County Surveyor George Wilhelm had decided that “there are still quite a few finishing touches to be made, such as the building of shoulders and the installing of safety posts and fences … in places the road is being kept wet for several days in order to make the wide gravel highway solid.” Wilhelm soon relented, however, and the road was closed only at night. 

Perhaps the opening had been intentionally premature. Supervisor Staats was running for Congress, and the public lauding he received as visionary promoter of the new road was good publicity just before the primary election. The Berkeley Gazette—which endorsed Staats early and often—ran a front page photo of him below the headline “Dream Realized” on the day of the opening. 

It was a heated contest—with murky allegations of separate political scandals involving Staats and a candidate for his supervisorial seat—and less than two weeks after the road dedication, Staats was bested by a margin of only a few votes in the Republican primary.  

Back then, the Republican nomination for Congress was tantamount to election in a one-party town like Berkeley, just as the same is true for Democratic candidates today. Ralph Eltse took not only the primary from Staats but also the general election, despite the national Roosevelt landslide. 

Staats does not seem to have held elective office after his defeat, and today seems largely forgotten in the East Bay. Others who helped bring about the road—or who at least were prominent dignitaries at the opening—are better remembered.  

The name of former Berkeley Mayor Thomas Caldecott (who was elected supervisor to replace Staats) adorns the highway tunnel through the Berkeley Hills. Oakland Mayor Fred Morcom, who had also been in that 1932 Congressional primary scrum and placed fourth, behind Eltse and Staats, is remembered by Oakland’s Morcom Rose Garden.  

Even County Surveyor George Posey, who had managed the technical planning of the road, has his name on the Posey Tube, the underwater traffic tunnel from Oakland to Alameda. But Posey never lived to see Grizzly Peak Boulevard’s dedication. He died—an apparent suicide—a few weeks before the opening, as his office came under scrutiny for possible connections to a real estate scam.  

How To Get There: 

Grizzly Peak Boulevard above the UC campus can be reached from the south via the road up Claremont Canyon north (left) of the Claremont Hotel. Ascend the canyon and turn left at the four way summit intersection.  

From the UC campus, head up Centennial Drive behind Memorial Stadium to the top of the ridge above the Lawrence Hall of Science, and turn right.  

Spruce Street and Euclid Avenue in North Berkeley climb to Grizzly Peak Boulevard. Turn right and go south through the residential neighborhoods to reach the vista road. 

There are several dirt turnouts / viewpoints along Grizzly Peak. Take care with the blind curves, fast traffic, and steep shoulders along the road, and share the lanes with bicyclists.

It’s a well-known fact that the city of Berkeley has a worldwide reputation that far outweighs its size. First to settle here were squatters along the bay’s shoreline, attracted by accessible water and farmland. Later, the University of California acted like a magnet, drawing students and staff.  

That magnet continues to pull in all directions. Today, over 120 different languages and dialects are spoken within Berkeley’s 18-square miles. Diversity makes Berkeley unique and is reflected in its neighborhoods, each with its own brand of architecture, culture, parks and businesses. 

So, grab some friends and a bus pass and do some exploring. Discover them for yourself, select your favorites and leave a trail of breadcrumbs for a return visit. 

Cultural diversity rules in West Berkeley. From the Europeans and Chinese of the early 1900s and African American immigration during World War II to the recent influx of Latin Americans, Asian Americans and Southeast Indians, these cultures are its strength. 

Take bus line 51 down University Avenue to Berkeley’s economic engine, an eclectic mix of working-class neighborhood, light industry and thriving businesses. Here warehouses, repair shops and artists coexist among restored Victorians, small bungalows and dilapidated cottages, as well as Berkeley’s most effective retail district, Fourth Street. 

Explore Little India where the smells and colors send you eastward. Pop into fragrant Bombay Spice House, pulsing Bombay Music and dazzling Rupam saris for an all-senses feast. Vik’s Distributors and Chaat Café, on Allston Way, offers delicious fare at incredibly low prices. 

More culture awaits at Takara Sake on Addison Street, from its architectural design and crisp cool sakes to the 19th-century sake production artifacts within its museum. 

Discover hidden Strawberry Creek Park on Allston Way, tucked between residential streets. An expansive lawn and native plantings are the perfect view from an al fresco lunch at Café Zeste. 

North Berkeley is known for innovation in food, an epicurean groaning board. Traveling the length of Shattuck Avenue, along bus lines 9 and 18, you’ll find an interesting assortment of sense-tingling stimuli. What began as a neighborhood of railroad men and their families developed into a quiet, middle-class area. The advent of Peet’s Coffee, the Cheese Board and Chez Panisse put this area on the map. 

North Berkeley is also home to a number of successful collective businesses that support the “power to the people” spirit, including the Cheese Board and its Juice Bar and Pizza offshoots. The ACCI Gallery is an artists’ cooperative with collections of handcrafted jewelry, ceramics and glass. Its changing art exhibits are expressive and thought-provoking.  

After collecting vitals from the cornucopia of choices, amble up to Live Oak Park to picnic, join a basketball pick-up game, follow the paths across Codornices Creek and see what’s on view at the Berkeley Art Center, specializing in the avant-garde work of local artists.  

A day spent in Northbrae, on bus line 9, is a day spent within a mellow environment. From the Berkeley Public Library, at the Alameda and Hopkins Street, to the shops at Hopkins and California, family life thrives. Handsome California bungalows with well-cared-for gardens line streets shaded by mature trees. At the Martin Luther King School Park, joggers circle the track, kids swing and slide and tennis buffs lob balls over the net.  

This is where people shop for quality foods and plants, then linger for an alfresco coffee or lunch at Espresso Roma. Monterey Market has been around since 1961, selling “fruits and vegetables in season” and supporting local farmers. Cart-crowded aisles are lined with both the common and the esoteric, all at reasonable prices. Magnani Poultry sells prime meats, free-range poultry and prepared salads. Everything on offer at Monterey Fish is the freshest quality and sustainable, from eco-farmed Scottish salmon to Northern California oysters. For cheeses from around the world and inexpensive, bulk herbs and spices, try Country Cheese Market. 

An amble through Berkeley Horticultural Nursery will turn any thumb green, and is as satisfying as touring a botanic garden. Multiple choices in every category, helpful staff and a lovely setting make any visit a treat. 

Berkeley’s Elmwood district stretches along College Avenue on gentle terrain, reached by bus lines 9 and 51. This neighborhood invites lingering and strolling, past classic architecture, tree-lined streets, friendly shops, global cuisine and cultural venues. There’s a feeling here that you’ve arrived and aren’t in a hurry to leave. 

Pride in ownership is evident throughout Elmwood’s residential streets. Brown shingles trimmed in forest green and teal, broad front porches decked with Adirondack chairs and Queen Annes with small multi-paned windows make their statements elegantly. Gardens filled with roses and rhododendrons, framed by towering pines, palms and oaks complete the postcard scene. 

The arts are also alive here, starting with the Elmwood Theater. A City of Berkeley landmark, it has survived since 1914 and was saved by the Friends of the Theater in 1994. 

The Julia Morgan Center for the Arts could hold its own as the majestic lodge of a national park. This National Historic Landmark sets the scene for theater, dance and music performances. 

The Judah L. Magnes Museum, housed in a four-story brick mansion, displays art reflecting the global Jewish experience. Permanent and changing exhibits in distinctive galleries seek to promote understanding and commonalities. 

East of Arlington Avenue and upward into the hills is the last Berkeley area to be developed, the Berkeley Hills. Streets named after California counties follow the contours of the land, steeply to the top. The hills can be reached by bus lines 52L and 65. 

With no business district, this is a great place for walking, ideally using the network of pathways and steps that were developed for easier access to streetcars and the university. 

Architecture keeps the walking interesting. Homes designed by Bernard Maybeck, John Hudson Thomas, Julia Morgan and John Galen blend harmoniously with those of more modern design. 

Berkeley’s unique parks make good destinations for admiring flora and fantastic views or just having fun. The Berkeley Rose Garden, on Euclid Avenue, is home to over 3,000 bushes and 250 varieties, planted in tiers overlooking the bay. Across the street, Codornices Park offers an expansive lawn, groves of oak, bay and redwood and a 40-foot concrete slide. 

AC Transit information is available at www.actransit.org or by phone at 511. 

The Map of Berkeley Pathways is an excellent street map. Buy it at local bookstores or order at their website at www.berkeleypath.org, $4.95 

Photo by Marta Yamamoto 

There’s always a crowd at Northbrae’s Public Library, enjoying both its indoor and outdoor facilities.

A few things I wish someone had told me when I moved here, and a few things I’ve learned since: 

If you need prescription drugs and aren’t on UC’s health plan: You don’t have to be a Costco member to use the Costco pharmacy. Tell the doorfolks on the way in what you’re there for. By the way, if you have medical insurance and want to know what a drug will cost you, don’t ask the pharmacy folks because they won’t know until the claim goes through. Ask your insurer; there should be a phone number on the back of your card.  

Oakland’s airport is much more navigable and civilized than San Francisco’s. If you do go to SFO, be sure your vehicle is less than six and a half feet tall including racks, pods, carriers, or you’ll have to park it in the International Arrivals garage.  

When Two-Buck Chuck won’t do, The Spanish Table sells good inexpensive wines and gives decent wine advice for free.  

The East Bay Vivarium is a store but it’s also a good free zoo; don’t go there in large parties though, as it’s a small space. Also don’t go there if you don’t love spiders and snakes, or get indignant when small animals are fed to larger animals. And don’t tap on the glass! 

Another good freebie: Golden State Bonsai Federation’s Northern California collection at Lake Merritt, Oakland.  

Grocery Outlet at the foot of University Avenue is good for East Coast nostalgia chow as well as bargains. Hellmann’s mayonnaise! (Yes, Best Foods really is the same stuff. Nevertheless.) No one out here knows from chili sauce; also, if you get chili on anything or by itself it’ll most likely have cumin in it. Might as well cultivate a taste for the stuff.  

Tokyo Fish on San Pablo Avenue near Gilman, across from Mealticket, gets fresh poi on Wednesdays. You might find frozen poi there or at many other Japanese markets, but it won’t get sour. Mealticket’s worth a visit too for breakfast or lunch. Get a scone. Great scones.  

Those aren’t the world’s biggest mosquitoes; those are craneflies. They don’t bite. They just bumble around and maybe lose a leg or two if you try to catch them. Completely harmless. Some of us consider them the first sign of spring.  

Those aren’t rainclouds either; they’re fogbanks. It probably won’t rain till late October, if then.  

There’s no poison ivy or poison sumac here, but there is poison oak. There are feral pokeberries on campus, too. Eucalyptus isn’t native. Fennel isn’t native. Ivy isn’t native. Those annual grasses all over the lion-colored hills aren’t native.  

Buying spiderplants (“airplane plants”) here is like buying snow in Antarctica. Ask around; someone will have babies for you to root in water. They grow quite well outdoors. So do geraniums; ask for cuttings.  

It is possible to use California bay laurel to substitute for a true bay leaf in cooking, but use only a very small part of a leaf instead of a whole one. The taste isn’t quite identical but most folks think it’s OK.  

Watch for free in-store concerts at Amoeba, Rasputin’s (Telegraph), or Down Home (Fourth Street).  

It used to be called the Albany Landfill, now it’s the Albany Waterfront Park. It’s at the end of Buchanan Street just north of Golden Gate Fields. It starts with a level scrub-covered plateau across from the parking lot. From there you walk up to a narrow strip of land jutting out into the water called the Neck. This is the beginning of the Albany Waterfront Trail. 

There’s a sign announcing that the California State Park system and the East Bay Regional Park require that dogs be kept on leash. The sign is hanging upside down. Off-leash dogs are an issue in the park. As are art works, and structures. And people—who they are and what they do and when they can be there. 

Beyond the sign you can take the lower trail along the water’s edge or the upper trail. Here there is a profusion of shrubs, trees, wildflowers that come and go with the seasons—and the periodic action of a bulldozer. At the end of the neck the trails merge and the land bulges out into the Bulb.  

Years ago the city of Albany negotiated a lease granting the Bulb to the California State Park system to be part of the East Bay Regional Park. The trouble is, the state doesn’t want it. There are rules and conditions which a state park has to conform to in order to be part of the system, things like no camping, no art, no off-leash dogs. 

The Bulb has a short but turbulent history. It started as a dump site for construction debris and for a time garbage and landscaping debris were trucked in. When that all stopped in 1983, a chunk of land had been created, sprouting flowers and grasses and bushes—“native” plants and “invasive species”—and even fruit trees, punctuated with twisted masses of rebar, broken concrete and all sorts of other construction materials. With the vegetation came wildlife, snakes and lizards, rabbits, squirrels, possum, and scores of birds. And soon, in spite of a fence around the place, came people.  

Homeless folks who had been camping along the railroad tracks and under freeways were drawn to this lush piece of land with the inspiring view where they could set up their own secluded little hideouts and live in relative tranquility. They built themselves shelters and created works of art out of the rubble and flotsam around them.  

Some were loners, others formed little “families.” To be sure, it wasn’t a utopia. There were the troublesome folks, the drunks or tweakers or speed freaks, alcohol and other kinds of addicts, the mentally or emotionally twisted running from the law—or sometimes pushed there by the law to keep them off the streets. But for the most part nobody bothered anyone. It was a safe place to stay or just to visit. No one knows how many people were camped there but estimates ranged up to half a hundred or even more.  

It ended in 1999. The city of Albany declared the site a park and sent police to remove the people who were camping there. They also sent bulldozers in to remove the makeshift shelters and belongings the squatters had left and, for good measure, to flatten much of the lush vegetation. There was a token attempt to find shelter for the homeless folks but they soon scattered.  

Some of their story is told in a movie, Bum’s Paradise, made at the time by film makers Thomas McCabe and Andrei Rozen with assistance from, and starring, Robert “Rabbit” Barringer, long-time denizen of the Bulb. It can be rented from Elephant Pharmacy in Berkeley for a dollar. 

The squatters are gone, but a few of them, though not allowed to camp, spend much of their time there and feel a deep connection with the place. Rabbit is one of them. I’ve walked with him up and down the many trails in the Bulb and his love for the place is contagious. Like a gracious host, he greets the visitors along the way. He knows the trees and flowers and animals and birds. Jimbow, another long-timer on the Bulb, joins us and points to the hummingbird sitting on the big tree, the red-tailed hawk soaring overhead. 

There are also the “dog people,” parents and grandparents with their kids who come to let their dogs run free. Even people who don’t have dogs come for the pleasure of watching those animals romping around with their tongues slobbering and their tails wagging happily.  

And there are the artists. The SNIFF collective that lined the path along the north shore with weird, intricate paintings on panels of driftwood seems to have disbanded and the paintings are fading. Art works are vandalized by people or by the elements and wonderful new creations appear. Fantastic creatures of scrap metal, glittering mobiles, a styrofoam arch. Osha Neumann’s monumental figure standing at the foot of the trail to the northern beach is awesome.  

Structures have been created out of broken concrete and rebar and decorated with found junk. There is the amphitheater where young people and counterculture types looking for a temporary escape from convention gather at night to party and carry on their own magical rituals. From Mad Mark’s castle you can sit and enjoy a gorgeous view of the Bay. Another amazing construction has just been completed. A group of truly motivated folks have managed to bring in a cement mixer and a huge number of bags of cement to create a smooth, elegantly curved surface for skateboarding. 

The Bulb is not the kind of park defined by park system rules. The dictionary defines a park as “a tract of land set aside for public use.” Clearly a large and diverse public uses it, people for whom it is a place to escape, a constant source of new surprises.  

It’s interesting to recall that this unique place was first discovered and settled by a bunch of homeless “bums.” And it didn’t really capture the attention of the public until the “bums” were thrown out. 

Photograph by Lydia Gans. 

Osha Neumann’s monumental figure at the foot of the trail to the northern beach. 

Blink and you will miss it. It’s fast and furious, but not necessarily when you want it to be. And if you aren’t fast enough, it’s sure to leave you standing behind in the dust.  

Call it AC Transit, MUNI or BART, public transport in the Bay Area is a necessary evil.  

Minutes and sometimes an entire hour could pass before an AC Transit bus shows up in Berkeley, but the fact is that its abundant lines and cost-saving options make it a student’s favorite way of getting around the city. 

The problems start when drivers simply refuse to stop because of overcrowding, making you wait twice the time you really should. Sometimes, they ignore the frantic pounding on the glass doors and act like they haven’t seen you at all. 

But then you realize that the powers-that-be are not all that bad. 

If you are under 18, you can purchase a 31-day youth pass for only $15 at places such as Andronico’s or Long’s Drugs.  

UC Berkeley students have access to a discounted Bear Pass from the university. The regular prices are 85 cents for students under 18, and $1.75 for adults over 18. A transfer pass costs $.25.  

The bus lines typically run every 10 or 15 minutes for the popular lines, such as the 51 (that runs from the end of University Avenue, down to Shattuck, and up to College Avenue), 18 (that runs down Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley to the top of Solano Avenue), 72 (that runs down San Pablo Avenue) and the 1 (that runs from Shattuck to Telegraph), while the other buses, like the 15 and 79 (that run down Martin Luther King Jr. Way), 9 (a complicated line that runs in many places), or 7 (that runs from Shattuck Avenue up through Claremont Avenue) sometimes run every twenty minutes or thirty minutes.  

Caveat: You should always expect buses to run slower on the weekends. Also, it’s not unusual to see two same-route buses whiz by one after the other while you are stranded without a bus for a good half-an-hour. 

AC Transit revamped its bus system this summer: routes have lengthened, frequencies have increased. However, not all bus drivers are route savvy yet. 

“Where does the 1R go?” We asked one of the drivers two weeks back. 

“I dunno,” he replied smiling. 

“Does it take you near the UC Berkeley campus?” 

“I dunno, these things are new. You gotta check with the bus driver.” 

We checked with the 1R driver and learned that the only bus which drops you off right at the campus from downtown Berkeley was the 51. 

However, there are a number of buses to choose from if you want to get downtown from the campus: the 51, 52, 1R, 7 and the Perimeter among others.  

We pray for the day when more buses will take us right up to the campus.  

One more thing, be sure to signal to the AC Transit bus driver that you want him to stop or you may risk waiting for the next bus. 

If you are really confused as to how to get around Berkeley, www.511.org will plan out your trip and will tell you exactly what the fastest, cheapest or simplest way to get your destination is. 

The next best way to get around the city is by biking. 

Berkeley is an environmental, bicycle-friendly city, complete with bicycle avenues, such as Milvia and Oxford Streets. You can purchase quality bikes (as well as fix them) at Missing Link Bicycle Shop at University and Shattuck.  

Don’t forget to check out Street Level Cycles, a community owned bike shop, near Aquatic Park (read more about it in the Aug. 7 issue online). 

If you want to go between Bay Area cities, you really don’t want to use AC Transit. 

Get on the BART (www.bart.gov). It’s almost always on time, unless there’s an earthquake, fire or mumble-mumble-we-don’t-know-what-the-problem-is situation.  

The Air BART—which shuttles you from the Coliseum BART station to the Oakland International Airport—can take a while and costs $3.  

If none of the options mentioned for Berkeley works, just walk. Walking brings out the best of Berkeley—wonderful parks, movie theaters, eclectic cuisines, scenic hills and Telegraph Avenue. 

And er, if you do make it across the bay to San Francisco and feel the need to ride the MUNI, we have just one thing to say: good luck. 

With the consolidation of AC Transit Telegraph Avenue and International Boulevard bus lines into the 1 and the 1R earlier this summer, North Oakland and Berkeley riders are discovering a secret that has been known to East Oakland riders for years. The Van Hool 60-footers are one of the most thrilling rides in California, the $1.75 entrance price a considerable bargain against what you might pay at Great America or Magic Mountain or on the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, with the added bonus that while the amusement park rides are all pre-programmed and therefore can become boring after several repeats, you never know what to expect on the bus. 

We’re not talking, here, about the single-body 40s, which are a kiddy ride, with no more excitement than you’d get out of your average merry-go-round. We mean those big, articulated, two-part suckers, with the distinctive accordion wing in the center. 

It’s the two-part construction that gives the 60-foot Van Hools their special kick, and unlike a roller coaster, it’s those who ride in the back half who get the best of it. The average, one-part vehicle bounces up and down on its shocks, which is only fun if your idea of adventure is a plastic children’s bumper seat. Both parts of the 60-foot Van Hool not only give an up-and-down bounce that puts any other ride to shame (something like old-time East Bay residents might remember experiencing on the old Cypress Expressway), but the back part simultaneously exhibits the feeling that you are moving forward while you are bouncing up and down, independent of the front part, to the point where you actually believe that contrary to all physics, the two parts will collide and buckle up into pieces, throwing passengers throughout the bus and out the various windows (something like what more recent East Bay residents remember eventually happened when the old Cypress Expressway was introduced to Loma Prieta). Mind you, the back part of the 60-foot Van Hools does not crash into the front part, no more than the bungee jump will send you head-first into the ground at the end of the cord, or the roller coaster will miss its next sharp turn and send the cars hurtling out over the beach. The thrill, in all cases, is the feeling that it might. 

For those who wish to get special excitement, comparable to what you find in an amusement park fun house, the people at Van Hool have provided standing platforms in the area between the two parts. These are padded braces surrounding the metal swivel on which the two bus parts pivot. Standing with your feet on the swivel you can feel all of the motions of the bus at once as you go—forward, backward, up-and-down, and turning. Youngsters for whom standing no longer provides the proper thrill sometimes jump up to sit on the top of the padded braces, which then become something like the mechanical bull at Gilley’s and try their best to throw the kids off. 

But whether you’re lucky enough to get in the back, or can only find space in the front half, there are several special seat constructions in either half of the Van Hools that provide particular electricity. 

First and foremost of these is the “flying blind” seats, the first two seats behind the solid metal partition that divides them from the driver. Looking out the side window only tells you where you have been, not where you are going, and not even that in areas where locals have thoughtfully taken down the street signs for added uncertainty. The “flying blind” seats are particularly breathtaking when you do not know the route, and so take the entire ride with the feeling that you have already missed your stop, and are barreling miles away from your destination into parts unknown, where there be dragons and other monsters. 

Almost as desireable as the “flying blind” seats are the several backwards seats placed strategically on either side of the bus. While some sense of location can be had by looking out the side windows (see “flying blind” seats, above), the preferred method of travel in the backwards seats is to swivel your head and upper body around and lean out towards the center aisle to try to look through the front windshield, trying not to unduly jostle the strange person who is sitting in the aisle seat next to you (note: jostling strange persons in certain parts of the East Bay can sometimes be adventure above and beyond the level of excitement we would recommend, though liberal use of “excuse mes” and “my bads” can sometimes mitigate the potential damage). That directive aside, the backwards seats are good for those who wish to practice yoga or low impact aerobics while riding. 

Amusement park rides require the rider to be seated and strapped down before the ride can began, an excitement-dampening procedure that is thankfully (for thrill-seekers) non-operable throughout the AC Transit system. The 60-foot Van Hools provide a bonus, however, with several seats set up higher than floor level which require step-ups and step-downs while the bus is in motion (one step for the mid-level adventurer, two steps for those who throw caution to the winds). An added bonus is a sudden braking, accelleration, or taking off while you are still walking down the aisle trying to find your seat, but this option is only available with certain drivers, and not to be expected on all trips. 

With AC Transit being a disability-conscious agency, special attention has been given to the needs and desires of the elderly and the disabled to have a thrill ride. These are provided by the pull-down seats that face inward rather than toward the front of the back. The pull-down seats normally lie flat against the side of the bus—held in place by spring action—to leave space for wheelchair passengers, but can be manually pulled down to accommodate the elderly and ambulatory disabled who, presumably, don’t want to brave the one- or two-step hops and want their seats on the bus floor. Because these seats face inward rather than front or back, there is no way for the passengers sitting in them to brace themselves with their knees or hands on the seat in front. Sitting in the pull-down seats without being propelled out from either side can only be done by passengers firmly planting their feet on the floor and exerting pressure, downward, from the thighs. Since the elderly and the ambulatory disabled are often notoriously weak in these lower extremity areas, the anxiety that ensues makes up for the lack of these passengers’ ability to make their way to other parts of the bus. 

And, finally, any one of the Van Hool seats are designed to give that special and sudden vibration in the area of your buttocks when the bus passes over one of the East Bay’s many potholes, as if you have entered the realm of virtual reality where all padding has been stripped from the seat, both yours and the bus’s, and your buttocks have been transformed into the end of a jackhammer breaking concrete in the street. 

All in all, dollar for dollar, there is no better value for thrills and excitement in the East Bay than riding on the 60-foot Van Hools. 

The East Bay lends itself well to modes of transportation other than driving. Here is a guide to the whys and hows of biking in the East Bay, and Berkeley in particular.  

Driving in the East Bay is an activity that can range from merely aggravating to nearly futile. Among other things, there are the ever-present threats of traffic jams, lack of parking, and having to share the road with aggressive, over-caffeinated drivers, which push the act of driving ever closer to a Hobbesian state of nature: nasty, brutish, and (with luck, mercifully) short. Nowhere more so than in Berkeley are the problems with driving in the East Bay apparent. For example, unless you have a Nobel Prize ( and thereby a prime reserved space on the UC Berkeley campus) the only reliable thing about finding a parking spot is futility. And then, of course, there are the numerous one-way or dead-end streets throughout the town.  

So why not save yourself the trouble? After all, bike riding is fun! Your movement is the product of your own pedaling, not simply from stepping on the gas. Bikes can go places cars cannot (such as straight across campus), and have no fuel costs. Parking is as simple as finding an open space on a rack. Moreover, the Berkeley’s Office of Transportation website claims that “Berkeley ranks as the safest place with a population over 60,000 in California for biking and walking.”  

First, you’re required to obtain a California bicycle license to ride in Berkeley (free for UC students, $8 otherwise) However, I have never seen a rider cited for not having a license. After that, and the purchase of a good lock, you’re free to go wherever you wish.  

If you don’t yet have a bicycle, or if your bike breaks down, Berkeley has no shortage of bike shops. For example, the Missing Link Bicycle Co-op (1988 Shattuck Ave.) sells new bikes and gear. At their Annex across the street (1961 Shattuck Ave.), the co-op sells used bikes and repair services.  

Unfortunately, the paths of bike lanes through the streets of Berkeley often meander erratically. It is sometimes hard to go from point A to point B following only the designated bike lanes. You should, however, try to follow the bike lanes as much as possible, if only to avoid the stress that comes with riding in a busy street while cars whip past. 

A useful website to help a rider plan a course along bike lanes is http://bicycling.511.org. ( a government-sponsored one-stop-shop for transportation-related information; e.g. traffic and bike lanes.) The site includes a Google Maps-style zoom-able street map of the entire Bay Area annotated to show the three types of bike paths: streets that have bike paths on them; streets with little traffic, but no bike path, deemed safe for riders; and dedicated pedestrian/biking paths. The site also has printable maps with the same information.  

As should perhaps be obvious, you should be particularly aware of road-safety precautions when on a bike. The roads of Berkeley, particularly when narrow, can be dangerous for the unwary rider. 

Another useful site is BicycleSafety.com. The website’s main page—titled “How to Not Get Hit by Cars”—lists 10 different types of collisions and how to avoid them. The types of collisions range from the “Red Light of Death” to the “Wrong-Way Wallop,” and are presented along with practical advice like “Don’t ride against traffic.” Also good to keep in mind: bicyclists must obey the same road rules that govern cars.  

Once you have arrived at your destination, you must make sure to securely lock your bike to a bicycle rack. Unlocked or improperly locked bikes do get stolen, particularly when left outside overnight. Theft should not be a constant concern. Hopefully you will enjoy years of bicycling in Berkeley.

Oy, cheeses of frustration, cheeses of timing, 

chesses pregnant with children and cutting 

back on their hours. Young cheeses full of commitment, 

cheeses of cooperative effort — will you ever  

change the world? 

—Jonas Osmond, former member,  

Cheese Board Collective 

Pliny wrote about it. The moon is made of it. Legends are full of it. And the best part is, you can get it all right here in Berkeley, courtesy of the Cheese Board Collective. 

There’s a new kind of buzz going around the Collective, and it’s not the recipe for the Vacherin Mont d’Or that’s behind it.  

The Cheese Board is turning 40 this October, and the Collectivists are busy scratching their heads to find ways to celebrate it. 

“There is a lot of excitement about it,” said Cathy Goldsmith, member, who first got hooked on cheese when she tasted Buffalo Mozzarella in Florence, Italy, almost twenty years ago. 

“It’s like a milestone. We don’t know what we want to do about it but lots of ideas were thrown out. Honestly, we are a bit stymied by what we should do. I was thinking of handing everyone the joker card on Saturday but that would drive everyone crazy.” 

Instead of taking a number while you wait for service, customers at this quaint North Shattuck cheese shop grab a playing card from a hook. 

You know it’s your turn to taste the delicacies behind the counter when the cheese clerk calls out ‘who’s got the queen of hearts?”  

You’re in luck if you draw the joker, because it’s wild. 

“It’s like playing a game,” Goldsmith said, wiping some dough off her arms. “People seem to like it and we like it too. Our 3,400 different kinds of cheeses might seem a bit intimidating at first, but we try to give everybody a taste of everything. The thing about cheese is that it’s just salt, water and rennet, but then it comes out in so many more ways. It takes you back to a different place.” 

Goldsmith attributes the success of the business to its old world charm 

“It feels like the village marketplace,” she said smiling. “People want to connect with other people. You can buy your bread and cheese here, fish there, vegetables down the block and support your community. I hope it continues to be this way. It’s what makes Berkeley Berkeley.” 

10 a.m. on a Friday morning is chaos incarnate within the four walls of the cheese shop.  

Babies cry in their strollers while moms shop for Provolone olive bread. Couples stroll around lazily tasting the deep dark chocolate loaves. The Cheeseboard is the the center of the universe for its customers.  

Peace reigns inside its bowels however, as the collectivists work their magic to rustle up English muffins, cherry scones and baguette pieces. 

“It just feels so fresh,” said Tara Rayder Baker, breaking off a piece of the cherry scone and giving it to her son Jake. 

“We just moved here and I’ve been coming here every week since then. It’s a Berkeley institution, there’s no doubt about that.” 

What is now a full-fledged bakery, cheese shop and pizzeria first opened its doors in 1967 as a small specialty store in a tiny, narrow storefront tucked into a converted alleyway on Vine Street.  

Owners Elizabeth and Sahag Avedisian wanted to bring a little bit of Europe to Berkeley and in doing so brought the whole world to their store. 

Guided by a strong belief in the equal distribution of wealth and inspired by their travels to an Israeli kibbutz, the Avedisians sold their shop at a loss to their employees. 

The Cheese Board has remained worker-owned and-operated since 1971, functioning as a dynamic fluid single democracy. 

“Who’s the boss?” is a question that’s tossed around often by curious visitors who are new to the idea of a co-op. 

“No one,” yells out Steve Manning, who works next door at the pizzeria. “I look like the boss but that’s just because I have a gray beard. I also like teasing all my co-workers mercilessly and endlessly. It helps take off the pressure a bit.” 

The line outside the pizzeria is endless. It’s lunchtime and there are mouths to feed, pies to sell and money to be made. 

“But the fact remains that it is a collective,” Manning who worked as an environmental affairs officer for the Discover Channel store said.  

“We aren’t getting rich but we all make a decent wage together. There’s a benefit in knowing that the money is not going to some fat cat in a corporation. We can put more money into our ingredients and that’s why our customers stand in line.” 

Manning added that one individual could stop anything at The Cheese Board. 

“We try not to come to a strict majority,” he said. “We try to come to a consensus.” 

Goldsmith quips in, “We are all the big boss. We are all very bossy.” 

Nine hundred whole pies have seen the light of day since 7 a.m. on Friday morning and more will be made till the store closes at 10 p.m. The hours are funky but no one really cares. 

“We don’t know what we are making until the very last minute,” said Manning, dividing the dough into batches and letting it rise. 

“It’s bell peppers, onions, cilantro, olives, sharp feta cheese and herbs today but it will be four cheese pizza Tuesday. We try to find out what’s fresh and in-season in the local produce market. We are not real strict about organic but if we can and the price isn’t too much we try to get it.” 

A quasi-separate entity from the cheese store and bakery, the pizzeria recently doubled its floor space after it took over a former hardware store in the building.  

Customers can now enjoy their sourdough crusts in the store itself, while live jazz plays in the background and the smell of roasted garlic turns the spot into a little piece of heaven. 

“Our pizzas are variations on a theme,” said Artemio Maldonado or “the mastermind”, who has worked at the collective for a decade. 

“Most of our pies are built by layering the ingredients in the following order: Mozzarella, onions, other vegetables, more Mozzarella, a different variety of cheese, and, after baking, the application of a flavored olive oil and an herb garnish.” 

It’s past 2 p.m. but there’s no sign of the line dwindling. Janet Newman, a Berkeley resident has been waiting for ten minutes. 

“It’s that good,” she said smiling. “Sometimes if you are lucky the line moves fast enough. But I really don’t care. The Cheeseboard will always be a special trip for me.” 

Photograph by Riya Bhattacharjee. 

The Cheese Board, at 1512 Shattuck Ave., offers a wide selection of breads and cheeses.

If you’ve driven around California, you’ll no doubt have seen the ubiquitous signs that grace the entrance to various cities, directing you to the historic district or what’s left of it. Berkeley has no such sign—probably because it’s preserved more of its historic heritage than most cities, and because our landmarks aren’t confined to one area but can be found all over town. 

At the heart of Berkeley is the University of California campus, whose classic Beaux Arts core was designed by John Galen Howard between 1902 and 1924. The campus plan was created as a result of the Phoebe Apperson Hearst International Architectural Competition of 1898–99. 

Although Howard did not win the competition, he was appointed Supervising Architect and determined the look of the campus, designing two dozen structures, including its most famous sites: Sather Tower (the Campanile), Sather Gate, Doe Library, Hearst Greek Theatre, California Memorial Stadium, Wheeler Hall, California Hall, and Hearst Memorial Mining Building. Many of the buildings are clad in granite (or stucco when the budget was tight) and surmounted by red tile roofs; a few are Brown Shingles in the Arts & Crafts style. 

As an ensemble, they constitute California Historic Landmark No. 946 and are also individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

Just south of the U.C. campus, at 2315 Durant Ave., stands the Berkeley City Club, designed in 1929 by Julia Morgan. Like Morgan’s Hearst Castle, the six-story clubhouse combines Moorish and Gothic elements that earned it the moniker “The Little Castle.” Originally the Berkeley Women’s City Club, it was entirely financed by subscriptions from 4,000 women.  

The fabulous interiors include an indoor swimming pool, a ballroom, various reception halls, dining rooms, courtyards, and a terrace. California Historic Landmark No. 908, the building is now run as a hotel, and the restaurant is open to the public. 

A few blocks to the west, Downtown Berkeley boasts an eclectic mix of architectural styles from different periods. Occupying an entire block of Shattuck Avenue between Kittredge St. and Allston Way is the venerable Shattuck Hotel, designed in the Mission style by Benjamin G. McDougall and inaugurated in 1910.  

The hotel was built on the former estate of Francis K. Shattuck, one of Berkeley’s founders. Next door, also on former Shattuck land, is the Berkeley Public Library, a fine example of Zigzag Moderne designed by James W. Plachek in 1930.  

Shattuck Hotel (photo: Daniella Thompson, 2007) 

Just across Shattuck Ave. from the library you can delight in one of the Bay Area’s best Storybook-style structures, the enchanting Tupper & Reed Building (William Raymond Yelland, 1925), originally a music store and now a restaurant. On the corner of Shattuck and Addison St. stands the former S. H. Kress & Co. five-and-dime store. Built in 1933, this striking Art Deco edifice now serves as the gatepost to the Arts District, housing a bookstore, Berkeley’s famous Jazz School, and the acclaimed Aurora Theatre Company. 

Berkeley’s earliest founding community was Ocean View, on the shore of San Francisco Bay. The former town, now West Berkeley, is home to a large collection of 19th-century architecture. Strolling along the 800 block of Delaware Street with its boardwalks, water towers, picket fences, and beautifully restored Victorians, the visitor can taste the rural character that once characterized this neighborhood. At 834 Delaware St., you’ll see the charming yellow building that served as Captain Bowen’s Inn since 1854. Preserved Italianate and Queen Anne houses, as well as 19th-century workmen’s cottages are scattered on surrounding streets, just steps away from the elegant shops and restaurants of Fourth Street. 

About a mile north of the U.C. campus, the Berkeley Municipal Rose Garden is a favorite venue for June weddings, tennis games, picnics, hiking, or daydreaming. A Depression-era Civil Works Progress Project, the garden was opened in September 1937. Arranged in an amphitheater, wide stone terraces planted with fragrant rose bushes face west toward the Golden Gate. A semicircular redwood pergola draped with climbing roses crowns the terraces. Boasting 3,000 rose bushes and 250 varieties of roses, the garden is considered by many to be the finest rose garden in Northern California. A block to the south on Euclid Avenue, the famous Rose Walk, laid out by Bernard Maybeck and lined with cottages by Henry H. Gutterson, is worth a look as well. 

The Berkeley Municipal Rose Garden. Photograph by Daniella Thompson.

Welcome to the East Bay. You’re just in time for some of the area’s best weather – warm days, long shadows and gentle breezes. They make up the perfect combination to get outdoors, explore and develop a relationship with nature. 

The East Bay Regional Park District is an amazing resource, one that offers over 97,000-acres encompassing 65 regional parks, recreation areas, wilderness, shorelines and preserves and 1150-miles of hiking trails. Within is habitat for a wealth of wildlife, 235 family campsites and 2,082 picnic tables. Add to that, 11 freshwater lakes for water sports and nine interpretive centers.  

Several parks are close enough for a morning or afternoon escape, less than 30 minutes from Berkeley. Hike the classic landscape of the East Bay hills, search out evidence of our volcanic past and a verdant canyon unchanged for millions of years, stroll north on coastal prairie and enjoy San Francisco vistas along with man’s best friend. All you need is time to enjoy our great outdoors and, in some cases, the cost of the parking fee. 

Briones Regional Park is a secret wilderness nestled in the hills north of Lafayette, a discovery you’ll want to repeat. Cows can often be seen grazing the rolling hillsides in this 6,000-acre spread of oak forests, shaded canyons, hidden lagoons and impressive views, once part of Rancho San Felipe. 

A number of hikes originate from the Bear Creek Staging Area and there are also well-shaded picnic facilities there. One loop, the Abrigo Valley-Mott Peak-Crest-Old Briones Road, takes you past a diversity of environments, and is a good introduction to the park. You’ll walk through a cool canyon beneath mature bays and oaks, past meadows and tuck-and-roll hillsides of native grasses, up a steep climb to Mott Peak where vistas spread out for miles and to lagoons ringed with reeds. 

Briones’ summer climate is hot, so an early morning start will keep you cool as well as increase your chances of viewing resident wildlife. 

Bear Creek Staging Area: on Bear Creek Road, off of San Pablo Dam Road. Parking fee is $5/car, $2/dog. 

Closer to home, in the East Bay Hills, are two parks less than 1 mile apart, Sibley Volcanic and Huckleberry Botanic, connected by Skyline Trail. 

Once home to volcanoes, Sibley is one of the Park District’s original properties, dedicated in 1936. The open-pavilion Visitor Center is a good place for an introduction to the park’s diverse plant communities and its tumultuous past, the survival of a land in transition. Here you can also pick up the self-guided tour of Round Top loop where numbered signposts match brochure descriptions. 

On this loop you’ll see the interior of Round Top volcano and layers of tuff-breccias at a former quarry pit. Other signposts point out redbeds, red streaks and layers of oxidized iron and good fossil sources, and massive sandstone blocks left over from the Age of Dinosaurs. 

Though rich in geologic history, Sibley’s abundant flora keeps plant-lovers happy. Through grassland, brushland, mixed broadleaf woodland and conifer forest, coast live oak, bay laurel, madrone, buckeye, coyote bush and wild current thrive and provide habitat for a variety of wildlife. 

Sibley Volcanic: 6800 Skyline Blvd, Oakland. No parking fee, dogs allowed.  

At Huckleberry the collection of California natives, on 240-acres of ocean floor strata laid down 12 million years ago, are reminders of a cooler, moister climate. This is a landscape that can’t be seen anywhere else in the East Bay. A year-round display of blooming plants among coast huckleberry, ceanothus, chinquapin, bay forests and chaparral thickets makes every season a lure.  

Huckleberry Path, a 1.7-mile loop along a self-guided nature trail, traverses a wide range of landscapes as it leads you up and down the canyon along steep undulations. The nature trail brochure, available at the trailhead, points out unique vegetation while providing lessons on ecological succession and competition for resources. Though nearby, the experience will take you far away. 

Huckleberry Botanic: on Skyline Blvd. between Broadway Terrace and Snake Road, Oakland, no parking fee and no dogs allowed. 

Point Pinole Regional Shoreline offers the best of all outdoor worlds – sparkling bay views and accessible shoreline, gently undulant meadows and lush marshes, rich birdlife, eucalyptus groves and shaded picnic grounds. Walking along the 12 miles of mostly flat trails, it’s hard to imagine the explosive past of this quiet retreat. 

Between 1880 and 1960 four explosive companies manufactured over two billion pounds of dynamite here. Forty years later, Giant Powder Co. created its own town. Today, only their footsteps remain in oddly shaped foundations, sunken bunkers, raised earth berms, wood pilings and partially visible railroad ties. 

The Bay View Trail is a gentle loop taking you through most of the park’s habitats with strategically placed benches and beach access trails along the way. A public fishing pier extends 200 feet over the bay and is often crowded with anglers hoping for a catch of sturgeon or perch. 

Point Pinole: 5551 Giant Highway, Richmond. Parking fee is $5/vehicle, $2/dog.  

When your four-legged best friend wants an outing, the place to go is Point Isabel Regional Shoreline, the largest public off-leash park in the U.S. Here you can ogle views of the Golden Gate Bridge and bird watch while Fido makes friends.  

Though small at 21 acres, the 1.7-mile trail takes you along the waterfront and past grassy fields. There are lots of mud-flat and bay- access points for dogs that enjoy wallowing and swimming. It’s a great place to people and dog-watch and enjoy brisk breezes off the water. 

The Sit & Stay Café, a rewarding treat for masters, and Mudpuppy Tub & Scrub, a treat for both of you, are within the park grounds. 

Point Isabel: at the west end of Central Ave, Richmond. No parking or dog fees. 

The East Bay Regional Parks District has an excellent website where you can get specific directions to each park, hours of operation and a list of scheduled activities, including naturalist-lead hikes. Go to www.ebparks.org/parks or call 562-PARK.

We’re never too far from nature here in the East Bay. Sometimes nature builds a nest in the vine outside your window, gets in through the cat door, eats your prize roses, or settles into the crawlspace under your house. Venture a little farther away from home and you can expect less problematic encounters—lots of options for viewing spring wildflowers, watching migrant and resident birds, appreciating butterflies, or meeting newts, horned lizards, and gopher snakes. 

Two web sites are useful: for birders, the California Birding Lists Digest (www.sialia.com) compiles sightings from regional online mailing lists, including East Bay Birders. Wildflower aficionados should check Carol Leigh’s Wildflower Hotsheet (www.calphoto.com/wflower) for statewide coverage. 

For more about the East Bay Regional Parks listed below, including trail maps, visit www.ebparks.org/parks or read Marta Yamamoto’s recommendations here in the Planet. 

Grizzly Island Wildlife Area: OK, this is more North than East Bay, but it’s the closest site for big-game watching. The resident tule elk are best observed in late winter, or during the late-September gap between elk and waterfowl hunting seasons. Also good for wintering ducks, geese, swans, year-round raptors and river otters. More information: www.dfg.ca.gov/lands/wa/region3/grizzlyisland. 

Antioch Dunes National Wildlife Refuge: The only federal wildlife refuge created for endangered plants (the Antioch Dunes evening primrose and Contra Costa wallflower) and insects (Lange’s metalmark butterfly). Join free docent-led tours of this remnant dune habitat on the second Saturday of every month; it’s otherwise closed to the public. The flowers bloom in April and May; the metalmarks fly in late summer. Information: www.fws.gov/ refuges/profiles/index.cfm?id=11646. 

Mount Diablo State Park: Many trails, many options, but Mitchell Canyon Trail on the north side remains a personal favorite. Try it in spring for wildflowers (including the Mount Diablo globe lily, which grows only here) and returning migrant songbirds, or in early fall for wandering lovesick tarantulas. We’ve run into everything from bramble hairstreaks to kingsnakes to coyotes in Mitchell Canyon. In late spring, the Mary Bowerman Trail around the summit has flowering bitterroot, swarms of butterflies, and some very personable whiptail and alligator lizards. Information: www.mdia.org. 

San Francisco Bay Trail: Part of the new Eastshore State Park, stretching from Richmond to Emeryville, this trail offers access to open water and tidal marsh habitats. This summer a party of black skimmers graced Meeker Slough in Richmond. California clapper rails are possible. Information: www.ebparks.org/parks/eastshore. 

Berkeley waterfront: Check the restored seasonal wetlands north of University Avenue for wintering ducks and geese, and the shoreline riprap at Cesar Chavez Park for burrowing owls. Peregrine falcons and other raptors hunt here. Nearby, Berkeley Aquatic Park hosts hooded mergansers, redheads, and the occasional tufted duck, a regular stray from Asia. 

Tilden Regional Park: The Packrat Trail from the Nature Center to Jewel Lake is great for spring and fall migrant birds. At the lake you can meet California’s only native water turtle, the western pond turtle. Visit the Wildcat Gorge Trail in spring for coralroot orchids and singing Swainson’s thrushes. 

Briones Regional Park: Grand Central Station for amorous newts in winter. The Sindicich and Maricich Lagoons are recommended. Good birds too, especially along the trail to the archery range. This is the only place I’ve ever seen the endangered Alameda whipsnake. 

Sibley Regional Park: Home to a nesting pair of golden eagles, and an excellent place to meet chaparral birds like the California thrasher and lazuli bunting. Fascinating geology as well—this was an active volcanic site some 10 million years ago. 

Redwood Regional Park: One of the few East Bay locations for the impressive and elusive pileated woodpecker. Sightings are usually posted at sialia.com. 

Arrowhead Marsh, Martin Luther King Shoreline Regional Park: Excellent for rail-watching during winter high tides, Arrowhead has the East Bay’s highest concentration of endangered California clapper rails. Waterfowl, shorebirds, and raptors frequent the established marsh and the nearby restoration project, and there’s a chance burrowing owls may still be present. Caution: last parking lot may be partially flooded at high tide. 

Don Edwards San Francisco Bay Wildlife Refuge: Water birds—gulls, terns, egrets, skimmers, phalaropes—thrive in the refuge’s converted salt ponds. If you spot a flamingo, don’t be alarmed; escapes show up here from time to time. Information: www.fws.gov/desfbay. 

Sunol Regional Wilderness: Out of the way, but worth it. The hike to Little Yosemite has white fairy-lanterns and mariposa lilies in spring, California fuchsia in fall. Oak-savanna and chaparral birds abound. On warm days, keep an eye out for rattlesnakes. 

Mines Road: Not a park or refuge, but a good driving tour; most of the land along this road south of Livermore is privately owned. In a good year, Mines Road (and Del Puerto Canyon Road, which continues into Stanislaus County to I-5) can have outstanding wildflower displays. Both roads are good for locally hard-to-find birds: phainopepla, Lawrence’s goldfinch, Lewis’s woodpecker, Costa’s hummingbird, roadrunner.  

Sometimes you feel like a walk in the woods, sometimes you feel like a stroll near the coast. Whatever your pleasure, Tilden Regional Park and the Berkeley Marina form the eastern and western boundaries of the city of Berkeley. Each offers a broad range of outdoor attractions to fill an hour, an afternoon or an entire day. 

Tilden Park is an ideal playground—2,077-acres preserved for natural beauty and recreation. It’s been an integral part of Berkeley life since it opened to the public in 1936.  

On offer are miles of trails for hiking and biking, a fresh water lake for swimming and fishing, picnic sites galore for groups large and small, a Nature Area and Little Farm, a Botanic Garden rich with California natives, and for the child in all of us, a merry-go-round and steam train. More than enough fun for multiple visits. 

The Tilden Nature Area is ideal for getting acquainted with the park. Walk through the model exhibit of Wildcat Creek Watershed inside the Environmental Education Center to learn how the movement of water carved and shaped the geologic features, plants and animals that make up this park. Then head outside and visit the animals at the Little Farm, build in the 1950s by a Berkeley High School Woodshop class. 

Seven trails wind through the 70-acre Nature Study Area. Don’t miss the Jewel Lake Trail loop along the never-ending bridge, built through a marshy, lush green jungle of trees and resident wildlife to a small lake where ducks, turtles and a resident Great Blue Heron make their home. Park maps and the posted schedule of ranger-led activities will help you plan for future events. 

Lake Anza is a special place in any season. When warm weather calls, enjoy its sandy beach and crisp water surrounded by a forest of conifers and eucalyptus. Visit in the early morning or when mist drips from the leaves. Explore the entire lake and its creek by walking the perimeter trail, along or with a water-loving canine friend. 

Well-marked hiking trails lead you through a variety of habitats: Big Springs Canyon’s colorful wildflower display, the lost waterfall of Laurel Canyon, riparian forests of alder and bay, cool and alive with the sound of water over creek cobbles. 

The ten acres of the Botanic Garden are divided into ten floral areas, representing California’s 160,000 square miles. Within the garden’s boundaries is the world’s most complete collection of California native trees, shrubs and flowers, landscaped for exploring, study and relaxation. Pick up a map of the garden and a list of scheduled events at the Visitor Center. 

Picnic areas are abundant throughout the park, many available for reservation. Big Leaf, Meadows, Buckeye, Lake View—all equipped with tables, grills and water. 

Leave enough time to celebrate the kid in all of us. At the Herschel-Spillman antique merry-go-round wonderful, hand carved and painted carousel animals and the music of the calliope will have you smiling. On the scaled-down Steam Train you can sit inside boxcars or out in the elements for a scenic ridge ride, complete with appropriately attired engineer, billows of steam and a piercing whistle. 

Down the hill and five miles across town is the Berkeley Marina, on the shores of San Francisco Bay. Here resources abound for a variety of interests and levels of activity. Enjoy walking, cycling, boating, fishing and bird watching or just sitting and soaking up the scenery. 

Wide, paved paths circumnavigate the entire marina, making a walk or bike ride ideal methods to check out the marina’s hot spots. Follow them past landscaped grounds of lawns studded with pines; the 52-acre marina where boats of all sizes with bright marine-blue sail coverings fill 975 berths; all the way to a kite-flying and dog-romping paradise. 

At Shorebird Park, the sound of hammering and the zing of a zip-line signal Adventure Playground, popular with both children and their parents. Here kids can build using recycled materials, nails and paint to construct forts, boats or towers, letting imaginations soar and developing skills not often called upon. 

At the Nature Center, the goals are to put out the word about the ecology of the bay, watershed and estuary, using salt-water aquariums, touch-tables and outdoor activities. Children can visit with their schools or sign up for afternoon classes. 

The Straw Bale building is an attraction in itself, drawing in everyone interested in sustainable architecture. This handsome building of gray stucco, trimmed in teal, is a showcase for recycled and salvaged materials. Interpretive panels describe the building process and a brochures list the products used and their suppliers. 

Reaching out 3000-feet into the bay is the Berkeley Pier. At the entrance, try a tasty dog or link from Eat and Run, then take a photo of Frederick Fierstein’s Guardian, a mysterious sculpture that appeared in 1985. Walk out and join hopeful anglers dropping lines for perch or traps for crab. Enjoy views of Alcatraz and Marin County across the bay. 

If you’re interested in with sailing or windsurfing, visit the Cal Sailing Club, a non-profit cooperative. It’s been around for 60-years, offering lessons, equipment rentals, cruises and races. Free rides are offered at open houses twice a month. 

The Marina Deli stocks more than hot dogs, chips and soda. Fishing lures, line, weights and live bait are ready for purchase. Home to the Berkeley Marine Sport Center, you can sign up here to cruise the bay or out to the Farallon Islands, fishing for salmon, cod and tuna. 

Cesar Chavez Park attracts kite-flyers and dog-walkers, as well as everyone else who’s ready for some outdoor fun. Once landfill, 96-acres now offer multi-use turf, wetland and shoreline areas. Fido can run off-leash in the 17-acre center section or join you on-leash along the 1.25-mile Dorothy Stegman perimeter trail past picnic areas and an undeveloped wildlife sanctuary frequented by bird watchers.  

Tilden Regional Park: entrances off Wildcat Canyon Road and Grizzly Peak Blvd., 510-843-2137, www.ebparks.org/parks/tilden. No entrance fee for the park. Fees required for swimming at Lake Anza, the merry-go-round and steam train. Picnic Reservations:1-888-EBPARKS. 

Berkeley Marina: 201 University Ave., 981-6740, www.cityofberkeley.info/marina. No entrance or parking fees.  

Photograph by Marta Yamamoto. 

Everyone is anxious to see Peaches’ litter of 11 piglets at Tilden Park’s Little Farm.

After the ritual stop at the Lawrence Hall of Science parking lot for the view of the bay, you might want to show your parents around your new home.  

If you’re a Goth and want to give them a dose, you know where to find others of your kind. But don’t miss The Bone Room for atmospherics and jewelry (1569 Solano Ave., 526-5252), or the East Bay Vivarium for lovely snakes, lizards, and arachnids (1827-C Fifth St., 841-1400). 

Mom’s a gardener? Take her to Mrs. Dalloway’s, a unique independent bookshop in the Elmwood neighborhood (2904 College Ave., 704-8222). Dedicated to the literary and garden arts, the store has a thoughtful selection of books and periodicals, live plants and containers.  

If it’s the first Sunday of the month and the weather’s decent, give them a megadose of yesterday and the surreal for a mere $5 each at the Alameda Antiques Fair on the former Naval Air Station (follow Pacific Avenue; 522-7500). There’s no shade, but there is chow, and you can listen to the folks exclaiming, “My mother has a pair of those!” or, “I used to have that game!” 

If they brought the dog along, they’ll all love the scene at Berkeley’s Cesar Chavez Park or Richmond’s Point Isabel Regional Shoreline, where they can mingle with Catahoula hounds, komondors, and other canine curiosities. At Point Isabel, dogs that have found a splash in the Bay irresistable can be hosed off at Mudpuppy’s Tub & Scrub. 

For out-of-staters, the Oakland Museum of California provides a painless introduction to the state’s ecology, history, and art (100 Oak St., 238-2200). Check out the 1940s kitchen and the beat and hippie exhibits. 

Food and drink? There’s a wealth of options. For cocktails by the bay, try Hs Lordships at the Berkeley Marina (199 Seawall Drive, 843-2733). Unlike many popular bars, you can actually have a conversation there. And for Hong Kong-style dim sum with a view, you can’t beat Emeryville’s East Ocean (3199 Powell St., 655-3388). For tiki and pupu aficionados, Emeryville also has the legendary Trader Vic’s (9 Anchor Drive, 653-4300). 

There’s a tiki bar run by actual Hawai’ians down at the bottom of University Avenue: Templebar, (984 University, 524-6403 messages and reservations; 548-9888 during business hours: Wednesday through Saturday, 5:30 p.m. 'till Last Call).  

Eating your way down Solano Avenue can be a rewarding experience. Start with Ajanta (1888 Solano, 526-4373) for some of the Bay Area’s best Indian food; other choices include Japanese, Thai, Nepalese, several kinds of Chinese and Mediterranean. On University Avenue, Lagosia offers Nigerian cuisine in a stylish setting (1725 University, 540-8833), and the same stretch of a few blocks also offers Indonesian, Salvadoran, Indian, Thai, and more. 

Fourth Street, the Anti-Telegraph Avenue, has splendid Mexican food, mostly small plates, at Tacubaya (525-5160) and breakfast fare at Bette’s Oceanview Diner (972-6879). 

Everyone knows about North Shattuck’s Gourmet Ghetto, but downtown Shattuck Avenue offers microbrews at Jupiter (2181 Shattuck, 843-8277) and rustic French at La Note (2377 Shattuck, 843-1535). College Avenue has memorable Italian food atTrattoria La Siciliana (2993 College, 704-1474). 

If your parents are more the meat-and-potatoes or fish-and-fries type, The Dead Fish is worth the drive to Crockett: crab and prime rib, white-tablecloth nautical decor, and a view of the Carquinez Straits (20050 San Pablo Ave., 787-3323). 

The same sorts will like Fatapple’s classic burgers and pies (1346 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, 526-2260), and for breakfast, lunch, and weekend brunch, don’t miss the scones, cornmeal pancakes, and oyster po’-boys at Meal Ticket (1235 San Pablo Ave., Albany, 526-6325). 

Just over the Oakland border but technically in Emeryville, try Lois the Pie Queen (851 60th St. just off MLK, 658-1516) for downhome cooking; Lois has passed on, but her son keeps the culinary tradition going.  

Diversity is not just a lofty abstraction: it tastes great, and you can dance to it. With the exception of the wet months, the East Bay calendar is full of street fairs, music festivals, parades, and other events where you can hear everything from mariachi to taiko and sample endless variations on grilled-stuff-on-a-stick. 

A sampling follows, and my apologies to anyone whose favorite event I’ve inadvertently omitted; write to the Planet if you have suggestions. Once again I tried really hard to find a local observance of Loy Krathong, the Thai celebration where you apologize to the spirit of the waters, but no luck. 

For updates, see www.sfgate.com/traveler/events/fairsfestivals.shtml. 

Oakland Chinatown StreetFest, Aug. 25-26: The 20th year for this pan-Asian event, bigger than anything in San Francisco; martial arts demonstrations, taiko drumming, Polynesian dancers, music from Chinese classical to rap, food. www.oaklandchinatownstreetfest.com. 

Art and Soul Festival, Sept. 1-3: A multi-block Labor Day weekend party in downtown Oakland. Lucinda Williams headlines.www.artandsouloakland.com 

Scottish Gathering and Games, Sept. 1-2: Watch out for the caber! Food (haggis at your own risk), music, dancing, sheep dog trials, falconry exhibits. Alameda County Fairgrounds, Pleasanton. www.caledonian.org/games/gamesmain.html 

How Berkeley Can You Be? Parade and Festival, Sept. 30: Is Berkeleyan an ethnic group? A philosophy? A cult? You decide. The parade up University Avenue ends at Martin Luther King Park with more entertainment (South African reggae, Latin rock, Afro-Fusion balafon). http://www.howberkeleycanyoube.com/ 

Ardenwood Cajun/Zydeco Festival, Sept. 22: Local and Louisiana talent perform at Fremont’s historic Ardenwood Farm. Zydeco ace Geno Delafosse heads the bill. There’ll be gumbo and crawfish, of course. www.ebparks.org/activities/events#sep. 

Indigenous Peoples Day, Oct. 6: Pow-wow dancing and drumming, traditional and modern arts and crafts, frybread, bison burgers. Martin Luther King Park, Berkeley. www.red-coral.net/Pow.html 

Ukulele Festival of Northern California, April 2008: All ukuleles, all day, with occasional hula. Kalua pig and other island treats available. Hayward Adult School, 22100 Princeton St., Hayward. (415) 281-0221, http://www.pica-org.org/ukulele. 

Oakland Cinco de Mayo Festival, May 2008: Celebrate the end of one of Napoleon III’s really bad ideas, when Mexico defeated French imperial troops in the battle of Puebla. International Boulevard between 34th and 41st avenues. 535-0389, www.oaklandcincodemayo.com. Other Cinco de Mayo events in Berkeley and elsewhere. 

Festival of Greece, May 2008: Souvlaki, bouzouki, maybe ouzo in the Oakland Hills; dancing with and without tables. Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Ascension, 4700 Lincoln Ave., Oakland. 531-3400, www.oaklandgreekfestival.com. 

Himalayan Fair, May 2008: Safer than Katmandu—music, dancing, arts, and crafts from the Roof of the World, plus curries and handmade momos. Live Oak Park, Berkeley.  

869-3995, www.himalayanfair.net. 

Juneteenth, June 2008: Commemorating the day that word of the Emancipation Proclamation reached Texas, this celebration of African American heritage also features music, food, and crafts from Africa and the Caribbean. Adeline Street, Berkeley. 655-8008. 

Berkeley International Food Festival, June 2008: Celebrating West Berkeley’s cornucopia of ethnic foods: kahlua pig, pupusas, Pakistani kebabs, Indian ice cream, and more. www.berkeleyinternationalfoodfestival.com. 

Festival of India, August 2008: Fremont’s Indian community hosts a two-day event with Bollywood celebrities and a dance competition. www.fiaonline.org.

Sooner or later, well-used cooking knives and sewing scissors get dull. I use a steel to keep my knives sharp, but eventually they need a professional to do the job. At that point, I call California Cutlery’s Mobile Sharpening Service. Based in Richmond, they come to your house or business, take your implements at the door, sharpen them in their van and bring them right back to you. 

The first knife is free. After that, it’s $5 for a kitchen knife of any length ($8 for serrated blades), $10 per food processor blade ($15 serrated), $5 for scissors and shears. California Cutlery will also sharpen pizza wheels, garden pruners, screw drivers and other tools. For large orders and repair services, they will pick up and deliver your tools for free in Albany, Berkeley, El Cerrito, El Sobrante, Pinole, Richmond and San Pablo.  

Using onsite service is safer and more convenient than carrying around big blades (even when they’re dull). For information or an appointment, call 525-6700. Website address: www.californiacutlery.com. 

I owe Herb Caen, the dearly loved and sorely missed San Francisco columnist, a debt of gratitude for having totally changed my life. To put it more precisely, it was his book published back in 1949, Baghdad-By-The-Bay that turned my life around, and all for the better. 

How could this slim book, a compilation of San Francisco Chronicle articles, have had such an impact on my life? Perhaps this will explain it. Most of my early years were spent in South Bend, Indiana, a nice little town with pretty homes, big green lawns, close to Notre Dame University. In fairness I have to say South Bend had much to offer—it, uh, it—(give me time; I’ll think of something.) I should add, the weather was foul; below zero in the winter, near 100 in the summer. 

It was on one of those miserable, muggy days that I dropped into the Public Library, the only building in town with air conditioning. While the New Fiction shelf was ordinarily my first stop, that day I headed straight for the Travel Section. One book instantly caught my eye, Baghdad- By-The-Bay. I knew nothing of the author, Herb Caen. Possibly the name Baghdad struck my fancy. (I should point out that this book was written long before the United States left that formerly beautiful city in ruins.) In any event, I plopped down in a comfortable arm chair and started reading. The afternoon passed and I read on, enchanted with the book, drinking in vivid descriptions of the many wonders of Caen’s adored city. I was still reading when it was time for the library to close. Checking out the book, I continued reading as I walked home in the blazing sunshine. As the hot summer wore on, again seeking shelter in the cool public library, I read and re-read the book until I had practically memorized it. Written several decades ago, much of it was dated and irrelevant, especially well-known figures who had since passed on —Pierre Monteaux, Harry Bridges and William Saroyan, to name just a few. But the city itself had not changed that much; I came to know all the colorful neighborhoods and the people living there (i.e., the Italians in North Beach, the Chinese in Waverly Place). I grew familiar with the more elegant areas—St. Francis Wood, Pacific Heights, Nob Hill, and Sea Cliff “where the homes have room to puff out their chests in the satisfaction of success.” Likewise, “those two distinguished neighbors, the Mark Hopkins and the Fairmont, staring blankly at each other across California Street.” I soon became acquainted with other, less aristocratic parts of the city—the Mission District, Visitacion Valley, the Castro, Golden Gate Park and Powell Street, where I could almost hear the clang of Cable Cars and imagine myself hanging on for dear life with all other happy tourists.  

Given Caen’s vivid passages in the book, I was not only becoming familiar with the geography of San Francisco, but also the flavor and smells—garlic hanging in the windows in North Beach, the tantalizing odors along Fisherman’s Wharf, and seeing “Newly formed whitish fog filtering through the harp strings of Golden Gate Bridge.”  

Languishing as I was all that summer in Indiana’s soaring temperatures, it was the thought of fog creeping in off the Bay that lured me to San Francisco. Tuning in for the weather report one evening in August when the announcer predicted temperatures would hit the century mark with no relief in sight, I shouted, “This is it! San Francisco, here I come! And I came. With two suitcases, a thousand dollars, Herb Caen’s book tucked under one arm, and not the slightest idea where I’d lay my head that first night.  

It soon became evident that I could not afford even a modest studio apartment in S.F. As fate would have it, I ran across a house-sitting advertisement in a local paper and found myself ensconced in a lovely home in Pacific Heights. What a glorious six weeks that was! I walked and walked and walked all over town -- across Golden Gate Bridge, up Telegraph Hill to Coit Tower, through Golden Gate Park, along Fisherman’s Wharf, the Marina and China Town. But, alas, all good things come to an end. Reality set in and I faced the cruel fact that I needed to find a job and an apartment I could afford. It was suggested I get myself over to Berkeley and apply for work at the University of California. (This, of course, was not suggested in Herb’s book.) But it turned out to be another fortuitous move. 

Berkeley was not too dissimilar to San Francisco, boasting beautiful old homes (Maybeck and Julia Morgan), steep hills. stunning bay views, and a world-famous University, where I immediately landed a job in the Law School. My new sixth floor apartment in the South Campus area afforded a view of the Campanile, International House and the stately old Claremont Hotel. And, more important, I could see the fog roll in over the East Bay hills.  

So, Herb, dear old friend, I thank you once again for directing me to your glorious Baghdad-By-The-Bay and, subsequently, to my new exciting life in Berkeley. Incidentally, I arrived there just in time for the Free Speech Movement turmoil and the Viet Nam protests. Was even tear gassed when Ronnie sent in the National Guard. I look forward to thanking you in person some day, Herb—though not too soon. 

You should never lack good food in Berkeley. Although good food is often expensive (commensurate with the price of high-quality ingredients), it doesn’t have to be. Here is a list of cheap Berkeley restaurants that serve great food. 

Brazil Fresh Squeeze Café 

While it might be easy to overlook the Brazil Café, it would behoove you not to. Housed in an unpretentious little shack below campus with only outdoor seating, the Brazil Café has amazingly good food. If you are willing to spend a dollar or two more than the cheapest Berkeley restaurants (still below $10), then you should look no further than the Brazil Café. 

The tri-tip steak sandwich on special bread, covered with creamy garlic cilantro sauce ($8 with a mango smoothie) is cult-worthy. I have seen more than a few pedestrians passing the restaurant who, upon eating free samples of the tri-tip handed out by the restaurant’s gregarious owner, Pedro, immediately queue up to buy a whole sandwich. 

Everything is reasonably priced, comes in large portions, and the staff is friendly. So sit back in your lawn chain under the tarp that makes up the restaurant’s roof, listen to the bossa-nova playing over the speakers, and enjoy your tri-tip sandwich. 

2161 University Ave. 

Daily 11:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m. 

Naan ‘n’ Curry 

The best cheap Indian restaurant near campus, Naan ‘n’ Curry has good food served in large portions for relatively little money. Although the a la carte dishes are more expensive—like the delicious prawn masala ($10)—it is a better deal to buy a combo dish. For example, $6 buys you a generously proportioned dish of channa masala, samosa, and naan or rice.  

2366 Telegraph Ave. 

Daily, open 24 hours a day. 

Le Petit Cheval 

Le Petit Cheval, which serves Vietnamese food, is worthy of mention if only for the great deal that is their lunch special. For $6, you can get a large plate with three different dishes (such as lemongrass chicken, green curry, and vegetables with tofu), plus rice, all of which is delicious. The restaurant itself is also very nice. You can sit either indoors or outdoors.  

2600 Bancroft Way 

Mon.-Fri. 11 a.m.-9 p.m. 

Durant food court 

The Durant food court is a veritable cornucopia of cheap food. A food-court-style grouping of independent restaurants, the place is perfect for hungry students with not much money. There are restaurants serving Korean barbeque, sushi, ramen, satay, Chinese, Italian and Greek food. Although there might be better restaurants in Berkeley, the convenience of having so many different types of restaurants in one area, each with such cheap food, outweighs any arguments against the food court.  

2521 Durant Ave. 

Hours vary by restaurant. 

Top Dog 

If you are going to buy a hot dog in Berkeley, head straight for one of the three Berkeley Top Dogs. Not only will you get a better sausage, but it might save you some gastrointestinal distress. Top Dog does not serve the usual limp sausage on a slightly soggy bun. If the (very good) plain ‘top dog’ hot dog is not enough, there are 11 other types of sausage you can try. (All sausages are $3.) For further entertainment, you can admire the Libertarian propaganda pasted on the restaurant’s walls as you munch your dog. 

2534 Durant Ave., Daily 10 a.m.-2 a.m. 

2160 Center St. 

2503 Hearst Ave. 

Mon.-Fri. 10 a.m.-11 p.m. 

Sat.-Sun. 11 a.m.-8 p.m. 

Gomnaru 

Although some people prefer Steve’s Barbeque, located in the Durant food court, Gomnaru serves better Korean barbeque at lower prices. All the barbeque dishes—each of which comes in a massive portion with rice, salad, miso soup and fried potato—are good. If you are trying to save money, go for the BBQ Chicken ($4.87) or the chicken and vegetable bibimbab ($4.60, both are significantly cheaper than at Steve’s). Otherwise, go for the barbeque spicy pork ($5.47) or bulgogi ($5.75). Even better, there are two locations: one on the north side of campus, and one on the south (next door to the Durant food court).  

2517 Durant Ave. 

2505 Hearst Ave. 

Also Worth a Visit... 

Udupi Palace  

Order #13 (lentil pancake stuffed with spinach and potatoes to be eaten with lentil soup and spicy condiments) for about $6.95  

1901 University Ave. 

Taiwan  

They’re open late and have very good General Tso’s chicken. 

2071 University Ave. 

Cancun Taqueria  

Excellent burritos. 

2134 Allston Way 

Oriental Restaurant  

Good fish. 

1782 Shattuck Ave 

Café Intermezzo  

The Veggie Delight salad feeds two for about $6, comes with a hunk of fresh-baked bread. Sandwiches are good too. 

2442 Telegraph Ave. 

La Familia 

Good inexpensive Mexican food. 

2971 Shattuck Ave. 

One of my favorite places in the East Bay is Mountain View Cemetery at the end of Piedmont Avenue in Oakland. There you find a great expanse of open space with wide, curving streets and mature trees, beautiful landscapes, a variety of wildlife, and historical artifacts. 

Tombstones, some of which date to the 1860s, of all sizes, shapes and designs, inscribed with names and languages that reflect Oakland’s international heritage, are scattered throughout the grounds. Family crypts of the Crockers, Merritts, F. “Borax” Smith, and other Oakland families prominent at the turn of the 20th century and in California history dominate the upper reaches and form “Millionaire’s Row.” One familiar San Francisco name—Ghirardelli—is there, too. The view of San Francisco from those tombs on a clear day is spectacular. 

Among the graves at the foot of “Millionaire’s Row” is that of Julia Morgan, famed architect of the early part of the twentieth century. Her grave is humbly tucked into a family plot. You’ll have to search for her name among a number of others on a large stone. A more fitting memorial to her lies just outside the cemetery gates—Chapel of the Chimes Mausoleum, a beautiful building she designed to hold ashes of people who have been cremated. 

One section of Mountain View, distinguished by cannon balls, is set aside for Civil War Veterans and another, with a near-full-sized bronze elk standing guard, for members of the Elks Lodge. A section for Jewish graves is on one side of the main road. Another, newer area, has predominately Southeast Asian names on the stones. 

But this place serves the community as more than a site for the graves and memorials. In every kind of weather, runners can be seen using the streets to get their daily miles in. It is not unusual to see young mothers from the neighborhood pushing their children in strollers on Mountain View’s streets or sidewalks, or bicycle riders. Birders come here to see a wide variety of species. In winter, especially, migrants stop over, and some ducks spend their winter on the three ponds formed by Cemetery Creek that originates higher up, in the hills. Domestic ducks are year round residents, as well as turtles.  

In addition to being of interest because of its historical and recreational benefits to the community, Mountain View Cemetery took on another historic role in 1991 when it acted as a firebreak in the Oakland hills firestorm. People from the neighborhood stood at the cemetery gates, their hearts in their throats, and watched the flames approach as they worried whether their homes would be destroyed. But the wide expanses of open land at the cemetery and at the adjoining Claremont Country Club, plus turning the sprinklers on at both places, was enough to turn the fire away.  

This is an interesting, beautiful part of Oakland. Open to the public all day, every day, it is well worth a visit. Docent led tours are available at Mountain View. Call them for days and times. Both Mountain View and Chapel of the Chimes can be reached by taking the No. 51 AC Transit bus and walking from Broadway and 51st or transferring to No. 12 AC Transit bus and exiting at the first stop on Piedmont Ave. You can get the No. 12 from MacArthur BART station, too.  

In Calcutta I heard a 6-year-old ragamuffin call out, “Baksheesh. Baksheesh. No Mommie. No Daddee, Baksheesh. Baksheesh.” Here the Berkeley street person mumbles, “ Any spare change? Spare change?” whether on North Berkeley Shattuck Avenue or South Berkeley Shattuck, or not surprisingly, on Telegraph Avenue.  

I’m a white-skinned, older retiree and fugitive from the Michigan winter and summers, and these days I live close enough to walk to the Gourmet Ghetto. For almost 25 years now I have been aware of the Shattuck Avenue street life ever since I have made myself a part of it, the walking forth , and then back, erranding along this main street.  

They are there, sitting in the sun, aimlessly talking with buddies, then again, to the passerby, “Got any spare change?” In fact, that litany of “any change today?” seems to be their reason for being out where the action is rather than stuck in a small room all day. Early on I decide that the streets and sidewalks belong to me, too. 

On my Shattuck Ave by Long’s Drugs, two regulars squat along the wall holding paper cups, or hawking the street paper. Their dreadlocks look dirty, long screws of hair fall around the faces. The clothes are nondescript. I always turn my head to glance their way, to give them a nod of recognition. So maybe I smile tightly. I keep on going, but not making eye contact. Nor giving them my change.  

The sociologists are right: We uprights—uptights—do not look at them. If we don’t look at them, we don’t see them. Perhaps they will go away. And, of course, some one of them always says, “God Bless, Ma’am”  

Did the panhandled bottle of wine, the shot of street stuff, was that what kept the one raggedy man wrapped up under the bank bay window long after sunrise, long into the afternoon? I noticed the old, frail, wizened white man, neat, with tie, collar, and worn, almost shapeless coat jacket. Nothing scruffy. Just the aura of “Poor.” 

First when the cashier at the Safeway took a dollar bill from the till in exchange for three quarters, two dimes and a nickel which the old man wordlessly poured into the cashier’s hand. Later I saw the gent lingering outside the doorway. He is new here. Maybe just on this side of town after a ruckus on the south side? This little old man would certainly have been bowled over, trampled upon in any rush. But he probably cowered inside himself, somewhere, shivering at the noise. I turn quickly as I don’t want to hear his mutter. I’m ashamed to say that I want to wipe him out of my atmosphere. And who wears a shirt and tie in public these days?  

One day a young black woman appeared on the street. Two shops past the hardware store and in front of the Cheese Board with benches in front—where the traffic for fresh bread and cheese is maintained all day. She has a good spot: A small hand lettered sign said, “Help the Homeless.” Neat. She stood for all the first weeks I saw her. Then a chair appeared. Where was she from? Where does she stay? In my mind, I ask all the questions which out loud would be nosey and impolite. How much does she rake in? Is she on drugs? What are her hopes? Her dreams?  

At my end of Berkeley, there are the regulars who know enough in 2007 to either stand or bring their own chairs. And they never sit on the benches.  

Then to top it off: There’s this white, elderly man who schlupps around Berkeley; that is, he passed underneath my balcony apartment one Sunday. I know he’s not homeless. But he’s part of the Street Scene. His shoes are newish, clean Nike-like sports. Floppy,unlaced. A dirty plaid shirt, grey hair, springing out like a rumpled washcloth. And grimy overalls.  

I picked him up once on The Arlington in Kensington as he was hitching a ride—his thumb out, but not aggressively so. I remembered him. “What are you doing up this far from home?”  

“Oh, I go to the library here. It’s different. More interesting,” he mumbled. As we whipped down and around the curves, it was mostly chat about where to let him out without directly asking him where he lived. But did he smell!!! GREATLY VERY unwashed. In moments this man so filled the car with the stench of his body, I was breathing thru my mouth.  

I know why the librarians have asked him to sit outside on the back steps.  

I do feel uncomfortable. There’s great uncomfortableness at feeling pressured. Is it my guilt that I have life easy? and they have it hard? How can I show compassion for one and not the hundreds of others?  

“Regular people don’t spend their days that way,” says my innards. “No?”  

What should we be doing for the irregulars of our town?  

Would it make a difference if the street-people had benches to sit on?  

Neighborhood residents bought the land for Cragmont Rock Park from the Cragmont Land Company and donated it to the City of Berkeley at purchase price. It was dedicated for park purposes in 1920. Dick Leonard, the “father of technical climbing,” formed the Cragmont Climbing Club, which was absorbed a few months later into the Sierra Club’s Rock Climbing Section.  

Using the techniques he had learned climbing at Cragmont Rock, Leonard planned the first technical rock climb in Yosemite in 1934. Leonard led over a hundred expeditions and climbs in the Sierra Nevada, at times with his friend, environmentalist David Brower, making many first ascents on mountains earlier thought impossible to climb. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/parks/parkspages/CragmontRock.html  

As a lifelong resident of Berkeley (born here, 1949), I have enjoyed Cragmont Rock Park at many times during my life: as a kid playing football on the oddly-shaped terraced fields; as a teen in a film my Berkeley High School English class made of Henry Fielding's novel Joseph Andrews; as a young adult showing my Cal English professor the beautiful view.  

Now in middle age, as a librarian at the Berkeley Public Library and as a poet and performer working with another Berkeley native, dancer Lucinda Weaver, I want to celebrate this wonderful park.  

I have done research at local, regional, and national institutions, and I have found little: its history remains hidden, but still I persevere.  

If you have information on the history of Cragmont Rock Park, its beginnings, its Easter Celebrations, the Friends of Cragmont Park, its many uses for climbing, picknicking, and recreation, please contact me at: 684-0931 or abbern@sbcglobal.net  

A Dream of Set-ups: Tableaux Vivants  

At Cragmont Rock Park  

There are Terraces there,  

two flat as playing fields,  

one just barely level  

that spreads to a steep hill  

encouraging rolling down.  

Any of these spaces  

invites us to parade  

music, dance, poetry  

and instructs with drama,  

characterful or not,  

primal dreams of set-ups,  

figures sculpted, moving,  

or imaginary,  

measured Tableaux Vivants.  

By figures we mean not  

only dogs or people,  

but anything that fits  

the dream, once medieval  

and miniaturized,  

but now universal,  

if we agree, joyful,  

and, yes, mandatory.  

Imagine with us, please,  

those spaces at that Park,  

Cragmont Rock Park, with trees,  

grass, climbing rocks hidden,  

views to both Town & Gown,  

Bay and Tamalpais,  

Oakland and Albany,  

Richmond, San Francisco,  

whose patron saint, Francis,  

has moved the world to peace  

for these 1000 years,  

his Tableaux in Chapels  

in the Sacro Monte  

above Lago d'Orta  

in Northern Italy.  

Here at Cragmont Rock Park,  

these wondrous 3 acres:  

"Neighborhood residents  

bought the land for Cragmont  

Rock Park from the Cragmont  

Land Company and  

donated it to  

the City of Berkeley  

at purchase price. It was  

dedicated for park  

purposes in 1920."  

From the earliest years,  

Easter ceremonies  

awakened neighbors there  

with trumpets, songs, and walks  

up Easter Way from Spruce,  

Cragmont, Euclid to the top.  

Later, with Cragmont rock,  

the CCC built walls  

and park bathroom building  

under WPA  

to beautify the Park  

à la mode so that rock-  

to-rock they built fit to  

Nature's rocks and wild brush  

as cousins, exactly as the preservation  

would dictate and desire.  

Picture on climbing rocks  

David Brower, leader  

of the Sierra Club,  

learning from Dick Leonard  

“the father of modern  

rock climbing,” holds for  

Yosemite's long climbs:  

Brower "used this special  

knowledge to prepare training  

manuals during World War II,  

which proved critical in  

enabling the 86th  

Regiment of the U.S.  

Army to surprise the Germans  

at Riva Ridge in the North  

Appennines in Italy,  

the major action  

disrupting German lines  

in southern Europe."  

All this from a small park  

hidden in Berkeley's hills!  

The upper terrace there,  

later a parking lot  

for neighbors and for teens,  

viewing from their large cars  

the views that teens must view.  

A call to festivals  

dedicated to parks  

and the ecologies  

of harmony we dream.  

Remember the sweet songs  

and find the little building  

tucked into the north side  

of Cragmont Park's hill rock,  

a building framed with rock --  

self-same rock -- once bathroom  

to the park, now shut down  

unsafe. Open locked doors,  

put inside as set-ups,  

behind the barred windows,  

clear glass for visitors,  

to view a new set-up,  

glory to Cragmont Park,  

to San Francesco,  

to Leonard and Brower,  

even to Easter Way,  

to the teens who still come,  

and to all of us here  

who would visit the Park  

for a celebration of peace, harmony  

and some resolution  

of the other dark roads  

we must travel, if not  

alone or underneath  

Imperial Bush skies,  

then at least together.  

And the briefer set-ups,  

waystations for our stays  

on the drying grass lawns,  

that will be created  

to tell partial stories  

of Cragmont Rock Park, jewel  

hidden in Berkeley's hills,  

waiting for your walk up.  

A few years ago, Michael Pollan moved here and wrote about his new garden for the New York Times Magazine. Clearly conscious of who his purported audience was (and wasn’t), he said those boilerplate things about missing fall color and spring budbreak, and that California’s seasons are “all messed up.” He also had the wit to say this: 

“It’s a good thing that states don't license gardeners the way they do drivers, because if I had to take a written test to requalify as a gardener in the state of California, I would definitely have failed. … So little of what I brought with me as a gardener seems to apply. I'd be lucky to get my learner’s permit.” 

Too few people get that clue that fast: We’re not in Kansas any more. Pollan has since written about the virtues of locality and seasonality vis-à-vis food in The Omnivore’s Dilemma, and has given other evidence that he’s got a handle on this place.  

He had some typical questions then: 

What month should you plant tulips?  

Buy them as soon as you see them for sale; keep them in the fridge for a month; plant them in October or when things start to cool down. 

What's the name of the tree with fruits that resemble miniature pumpkins?  

That would be Fuyu persimmon, the kind you can eat when it’s still crunchy.  

Will basil survive the winter outdoors?  

Maybe. 

Should you stake an artichoke?  

No. And if you miss one when you harvest, you’ll get a spectacular flower to cut anyway. 

Is Mexican salvia an annual or a perennial?  

Perennial; not particularly edible. Hummingbirds appreciate it, though, and it’s tough. Prune it to almost ground level when it gets straggly. 

The next couple of months are prime planting time, when the soil’s still warm. If you have space for ornamentals, plant natives; go up to the Tilden Botanic Garden to see why. Birds migrate here, and you and they can enjoy each other this winter if you plant for them and the other locals. 

If you have, say, a windowbox or a few square feet of free dirt, you can have fresh greens and herbs PDQ.  

Lettuce, arugula, mache, chicory, endive, most salad greens do well in winter, especially with sun part of the day. If you plant them before the hot days of September and early October, they will probably bolt, so don’t rush. You can plant root veggies soon, too; carrots get weird in our clay soil, so try them in a box of potting soil for early spring eating. Cabbage relatives like broccoli (or better, broccoli raab), collards, kale, bok choy, and turnips (for roots and greens) grow all winter.  

Swiss chard, sorrel, purslane/verdolaga (which grows as a weed here), and other cooking greens love winter, and so does spinach, easiest in a box of loose, sandy soil. Radishes and scallions are practically instant gratification. Plant a chayote vine for lots of tasty weird squashlike fruit; fava beans for a spring harvest plus soil improvement. Snow peas, no surprise, are a classic winter crop. 

Herbs! Lemon balm is easy—it’s feral in Tilden Park. Winter savory wants sun; so do parsley and cilantro. Try any perennial herb, even lavender, now for a good start with minimal irrigation. You’ll have to can water until the rain starts, but many will benefit from still-warm soil temperatures.  

I like to plant some seeds and a few six-pack starts by way of role models. Some great places to shop are Spiral Gardens (Tuesday-Sunday Noon-7p.m. 2830 Sacramento St., 843-1307); the Longs Drugs (no kidding) at 51st and Broadway, Oakland; Yabusaki’s Dwight Way Nursery, 1001 Dwight Way, Berkeley (closed Thursdays; call 845-6261 for hours); Westbrae Nursery (1272 Gilman Street, north Berkeley, 526-7606); and for things you never saw before, The Dry Garden, across from Flint’s at 6556 Shattuck Ave., 547-3564.

Although I’ve been a home-owner for many years, it’s not hard to remember my renting days. I lived communally, like many of us in Berkeley, and shared cooking, food shopping and the lack of attention to property care that says “I’m a renter. Painting the house is someone else’s problem!”  

Although this was probably more emblematic of my youth than my housing status, in truth, I did care about the houses I lived in, but not to the extent I do now. That’s reasonable. Who wants to fix up someone else’s property? I certainly didn’t, although I did like making the place suit me. That included some painting inside, hanging hooks and perhaps changing a light fixture. Moreover, I should say that I didn’t have a distaste for landlords and did not, as was the aphorism of the day, consider property ownership a crime. 

I came to Cal during the slam-dancing days of Barrington Hall when Jell-O Biafra of the Dead Kennedys crooned “Let’s Lynch the Landlord.” (We still joke that Jell-O’s surprising vote count during his abortive run for S.F. Mayor only confirmed the power of the Kennedy name.) Nevertheless, many do consider landlords criminals and will cut off their noses to spite their faces sticking it to the landlord. Making the landlord an enemy and ignoring the welfare of your living space is a mistake.  

Granted, there is no reason to fix up someone else’s place but there are reasons to be conscious of the conditions around you for your own benefit and that of others. Some of those others are your fellow renters. These can quickly become the other faces set aglow by the firelight as you stand watching your homes go up in flames and yes, it IS your home, at least for today. 

Here are a few of the things you, as a tenant, can do for yourself AND your landlord to keep life and limb together and to keep the peace. In general, the thing that helps the landlord also helps you. 

Fire safety is always uppermost in my mind when I’m looking at houses and the better part of fire safety is fire escape. If you’re a renter, take 10 or 20 minutes (preferably with roommates or family if you have ‘em) to look at how you would get out in a fire from every part of your space, especially where you sleep. Give up the illusion of magnificent acts of heroism. If you’re stuck in a smoky space, you have a very short period in which to act, so be sure that the windows open wide enough to get out. If they don’t, talk to your landlord and calmly and blamelessly explain that you can’t get out of your bedroom window and that a fire could result in a death.  

Most landlords don’t want a death on their hands, and most of them don’t know much about their own property. Surprising but true. If the window is too high to jump to safety without resulting in a broken you, then get yourself a rope or chain ladder at the hardware store and install it just below the window. Make sure that you don’t block access to the ladder. I like to see one end of these screwed onto the wall so that you don’t end up throwing the whole thing out the window in a panic. Your landlord might be willing to reimburse you for this but don’t let their cheapness cost you your life. Just buy it. 

Smoke detectors are required in housing and if you don’t have a working smoke detector, please ask your landlord to install one in the hallway. It’s also a very good idea to put one in each room that’s being used as a separate living space. If someone is crashing in the attic or growing pot up there, put up an extra smoke detector. I don’t care what you’re growing. I just don’t want those grow-lights to kill everyone in the building.  

A fire can start almost anywhere in a building and the reasoning behind smoke detectors in halls, as well as inside of rooms, is that smoke simply takes too long to get through that door and that lost time means fewer minutes before your home is engulfed in flames. O.K. I’ll stop. Or not. There’s one more fire thing I want to present (no—two). Heating systems can cause fires that can cost lives or at least destroy all your stuff. Here are a couple of recommendations. First, don’t use extension cords any more than absolutely necessary and never use them with electric heaters. If you must use an electric heater, make sure it’s plugged directly into the wall and that you turn it off prior to saying your prayers (I don’t care which god(ess) is involved). 

If you have a gas heater (wall, floor or otherwise) do not put candles, fabric, newspapers, underwear or anything that can burn on or near the thing. As Mazda is my witness, I have seen wall heaters in rental units with candles melted right down inside the grate and covered over with Hindu Madras. If you die this way, you don’t get to ascend to any of the good planes of existence and probably have to come back, own property and rent to a bunch of thankless, stupid tenants who will, in turn, burn your houses down for all eternity. This is called Karma. 

Another handy item you can ask for, or simply buy, is a carbon monoxide (CO) tester. Most rentals don’t have these but should, in my rarely humble opinion. A young woman in Berkeley was killed by CO in a rental a few years ago, unleashing one of the most lurid tales of slavery, human importation and corruption we naïve Berkeleyites had ever heard.  

CO kills at least 500 people a year unintentionally (sadly suicide numbers are much higher) but many more are walking around sick and debilitated by the weakening effects of this poison. CO is utterly without taste or smell and can only be detected with the proper equipment. A CO tester costs as little as 20 bucks and is worth far more in peace of mind so…go buy one. Ask your landlord to buy it for you. This is like an intelligence test. If they say no, it’ll prove that they’re stupid. 

There there’s Mold. The word elicits fear and disgust. Many assume that mold is inherently toxic and that enough can be fatal. Mold is, in fact what makes milk into cheese and is a normal part of our world— ask any biology student, especially a mycologist. Molds are in your apartment right now. They can hurt some people some of the time. So can a glass of water. If mold (or something that looks like it —remember, you’re not a mycologist) appears to be growing in your space, contact your landlord. If it keep growing and they are seriously ignoring you, call the city housing office or a tenant advocacy agency (Berkeley has several). Mold, mildew or other fungi are almost always associated with excessive moisture. This may mean a plumbing leak, a roof leak or ground water that’s seeping into your space. These are usually not very dangerous (unless you have a specific allergy to what’s there) but should be viewed as a litmus test for excessive moisture. If your landlord is smart, they’ll take an interest, get help and eliminate the source of moisture. Bleach can be used to kill the remaining growths. 

So these are a few of the things you can, as a tenant, be attuned to. Sadly, we can’t cover the wider range but I would like to finish by offering a little advice on how to deal with landlords and how to improve your rental experience. 

Now some landlords are just plain dumb. There’s no lipstick for this pig, it’s just the simple truth but it’s not pandemic. Most landlords are smart about money and, at least somewhat smart about the care of property. Since many tenants are less than sterling, they may tend, as a group, to be somewhat callous toward those dear souls whose welfare has been entrusted to them. 

If you try, just a little, to appeal to the logical side of the landlord, you may find success. Tell the landlord when something has broken or begun to fail. Leaks should be presented at once. It’s only the real stinkers who will accuse you of wrong-doing. Most will be very happy to know that there’s a problem and most will similarly be perturbed to discover that a leak in your abode has been doing damage for months. The landlord has a right to know as soon as possible of anything that may affect the condition of their real estate. Keep in mind that most owners of property are pretty cheap. They may do what is necessary but few will spend much that has no obvious return. Remember, they bought the property to make money, not to spend it. It may be hard to imagine but you may, one day, view your own rental property in just the same way. 

Tenants and landlords don’t necessary have to hold hands, sing songs or cuddle up and watch Terms of Endearment. It might be enough for them to simply play their parts and not bounce too many checks. 

A few of years ago the California College of Arts and Crafts (CCAC) decided to change its name to the California College of Art (CCA). While it may not have been a direct slur against craft, I took it pretty hard (I’m very sensitive). What’s wrong with craft, I thought. We craftspersons need not hang our head in shame. Ceramics are neither lowly or common. Wood working is as valid and rich as painting and weaving, well, just ask any weaver; I’ll say no more.  

Personally, I think Frederick Meyer would be saddened. Herr Meyer, a German emigre, cabinet maker and founder of the School of the California Guild of Arts and Crafts (the original name of CCA) in 1907 (yes, one hundred years ago!) was an ARTIST. Crafts are a form of art, as much as poetry, drama or dance.  

One of those CRAFTS that I call art is home-building, and the Bay Area, and certainly our East Bay, are galleries of thousands of wonderful works, some by well-known architects like John Hudson Thomas and many by unknown common geniuses. 

America is nearly last in the world in supporting the arts and California is dead last among the 50 states (for shame). The very least we can do, if nothing else, is to buy up and restore these many fine works of art (or craft if you like) thus saving them from becoming compost. They can, for the most part, last for hundreds of years, if properly cared for and, far too often, fall apart in mere decades from simple neglect.  

Now, the garbage manufactured for mass consumption in the ‘70s is welcome to this demise, but the gorgeous little gems of the 1920s should be blessed and caressed and brought back to full constitution wherever we can. 

If you buy an older house in the Bay Area, you may want to have some idea of what sorts of jobs will be required and setting aside aesthetics for a moment, I’d like to lay out, what I see as the primary tasks needed when taking possession of your art work. 

Quakes 

We’re overdue by roughly a decade for a really big one. Older homes were not built with this in mind, but luckily most can be “retrofitted” with the additional bolting and bracing that they need for roughy 10K. Given the huge losses that can occur this is well worth it. Make sure you have someone extremely well versed in these techniques. Many who are not sufficienty expert can waste your money, despite their best intentions, and leave you with a false sense of security.  

The single best seismic upgrade is the installation of an automatic seimic gas shutoff valve. These are being required in some communities as part of the sale or remodeling process but don’t wait for it to become law. Just do it. At around 400-500 bucks it’s good no-fault insurance (yes, I am having fun at your expense). 

Fire 

First day in the new house, put up smoke detectors. Fire is our greatest enemy, even in earthquake country. In fact, fire is our greatest enemy during earthquakes since you’re more likely to lose your house to fire than to shaking. That’s why the gas valve is so important (although explosions are no fun either). 

Smoke detectors should be on ceilings, never on walls. Smoke goes to ceilings. Get them away from corners. Smoke curls past the corner. Put them inside and outside of rooms. Basically, put them up in the bedrooms and in the hallway. If you have more than one floor, put at least one on each floor.  

Change batteries when you reset your clocks; twice a year. You can remember that, right? When you’re buying smoke detectors, pick up a carbon monoxide (CO) detector as well. One should be fine and location is not critical. CO is deadly and odorless. The only house that doesn’t need one of these is one that is all electric. Any gas appliance can produce CO. 

The most important part of fire protection is ready escape. Make sure you can operate every window and door without a tool or key. The building codes have now caught up with this and those inside keyed locks are now in violation of the lastest codes. Sadly, it will take decades for us to get rid of them all. Remember that children can’t operate sticky windows or find keys. Make it as easy as possible to escape and this include removing window bars or at very least making sure that you have openable ones. Frankly, even they restrict access and prevent fire personnel from quick entry. 

Lead 

Old houses have it. All of them. Lead is extremely poisonous and can cause developmental disability in children. Many thousands of East Bay children have been exposed in recent years and there is no safe level. Our bodies cannot tolerate and do not need lead. Main rule; Don’t sand. If there are paint chips visible, call your local lead prevention program. Alameda’s is the ACLPPP and is found, not surprisingly at www.ACLPPP.com.  

Most communities will give you a lead kit and will loan you a powerful and highly filtered vacuum for clean up. The best plan is to do no prep yourself. If you want to wash walls inside and apply a new coat of paint, fine. If you want to strip, sand or refinish parts of the interior (even clear finishes may contain lead!), hire a licensed professional and stay away ‘til they’re done (actually, it is possible to seal off several rooms using plastic and tape. They even make zippers for plastic barriers). 

Slips and falls 

Old houses, and newer ones as well, often lack good fall prevention. The codes still allow windows 2’ above the floor, which I think is loony. If you have little ones, take a look at the windows and think about the potential for falls. You may choose to use special locks or guards that raise the effective sill level to 3’. Stairways should have handrails that you can easily grip. It’s best to place these about 3’ above the stair nosing. If you have outside stairs that are smoothly painted, just imagine them wet and slippery when your high-heeled house guest leaves the party after dark, a little tipsy. Oh yes, it’s also dark outside because there’s no lamp on the front porch and she’s in a hurry. Now, I won’t lecture you on high heels or alcohol but it is wise to add texture to smooth outside surfaces (you can add it to the paint), to make sure hand rails are present, and to add light to any stairway or level change around the outside of the house.  

If you have a set of stairs leading from the yard down to the sidewalk or driveway, don’t forget to add a handrail there (if there are more than three steps) and to add a little lighting (solar lamps don’t require any wiring and are a nice easy choice for a spot like this). 

Electricity 

We can’t cover everything that you might want to know about your old house in one short article but these are a few of the things that I consider most important. Let’s finish with your old electric system. 

Electrical systems burn houses down. It’s not a myth. It’s the truth. Electrocution is rare and should not be overplayed but bad wiring can and does cause fires. There are a LOT of terrible electrical system around. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with an old “knob and tube” system, (these are the first wiring systems and run from the turn of the 20th century up to around the 1950’s. (technologies changed veerrry sloowwly)) older wiring system have often been abused by non-professionals and made dangerous.  

Fuses are also not inherently dangerous and are, in some ways, superior to breakers but when abused or misued can also become dangerous.  

There’s no easy fix for all of this. When you get into your new house, get yourself an electrician (or a home inspector) and give it the once over. While you can say no to a large number of new outlets and lamps, adding more circuits is a central method in creating safer wiring. The more branches we have, the cooler they all stay. If your wiring is from before 1910, you may want to replace nearly everything. If it’s from 1930, you may be able to save much while adding much. Again, talk to someone who knows. 

A few last thoughts. Do fewer jobs and do each one really well. It’ll create joy and you won’t be doing that one again. When picking contractors, don’t pick the cheap one. It’s rarely worth it. 

For every practical job you do, do one just for fun. This cuts down on owner burnout. Go wild with paint and lighting and flooring (in fact, paint your floor). Go look at other houses and copy what you like. It’s not cheating and if it is, who cares. Throw parties to show off your house or, if you prefer, hide inside with your cat. 

One last thing, don’t worry about your roof. Everyone worries about the roof and I haven’t yet heard of one death caused by a leaking roof. 

I didn’t go up to Telegraph Tuesday to find mellow—to watch flowers bursting out in carefully tended gardens at People’s Park, to hear merchants talking happily about businesses growing or to watch the moms and dads with kids in tow join students and graying elders moving in and out of shops.  

My original plan had little to do with the smile I received from the old bearded man sitting on a street corner or the song sung for me by the youth with a guitar.  

I went up to Telegraph Avenue looking for the trouble I often hear about as I take copious notes at City Council meetings—the acting-out, aggressive, mentally ill person who chases nice Walnut Creek women away from The Avenue.  

And I didn’t find it. 

In my role as city hall reporter I’ve sat through multiple sessions where the community shared its angst at the closing of Cody’s on Telegraph one year ago. City officials suddenly realized The Avenue was sliding downhill fast. 

It’s been more than a year since the Cody’s crisis catapulted Telegraph into the headlines, and my day on The Avenue made me believe that people are ready to take a broader look at what’s truly troubled Berkeley’s most famous street, applaud efforts that have succeeded and pinpoint what needs to be done. 

As I hung out in the area for almost 10 hours Tuesday, I saw no yelling or screaming—the only really loud annoying sounds came from the amplified Save Our Streets Christian ministries streetcorner songfest and speechifying.  

I looked for it, but saw no one out of control. With one blaring exception, everyone was mellow and polite.  

I didn’t even get a grouchy remark when I explained to the 20-something man sitting on the street with the dark glasses and tattoos up and down his arms that I wouldn’t exchange money for the interview he‘d given me. He just smiled and said, “That’s O.K.” 

The only hostile and rude person I encountered the entire day was a Berkeley police officer. 

At about 10 a.m. I’d just finished a walk around the business district with Dave Fogarty of the city’s economic development division and left him as he got on the bike he’d parked next to the popular new Peet’s at Dwight Way and Telegraph. With the recorder I use for walking interviews still in hand, I went over to two bike officers standing near the doorway, introduced myself and asked if they had a couple of minutes to talk about what they were seeing on The Avenue.  

To my dismay, one of the officers angrily ordered me to turn off the recorder and told me it was illegal to record him without first asking permission. (I was on a public sidewalk with the recorder in plain view and was later told informally by an attorney that the officer was mistaken.)  

One merchant, who did not want to be quoted for this story, said what is needed on The Avenue isn’t police who threaten or intimidate, but a kinder, gentler breed of officer, a sort of officer-psychologist who can relate to disoriented street people, young aggressive punks, college drunks (and reporters, I might add). 

I am told there are such individuals within our police department. 

Avenue lookin’ good; sales going up 

Most of what was happening on The Avenue was pure mellow. Unlike the rush of crowds flying through malls where the purchase is key, people on Telegraph seemed to meander. I ran into Italian tourists window-shopping for shoes, moms and dads with first-year students in tow looking for the right place to eat, teens admiring handcrafted silver jewelry and even Assemblymember Loni Hancock enjoying the sunny day after a “very good” Thai meal. 

Things are looking up, said Roland Peterson, who heads both the Telegraph Business Improvement District (TBID) and the Chamber of Commerce. 

Dirty sidewalks are no longer an issue. They sparkle. Morning and evening crews sweep and scrub and even power-wash sidewalks (though the drought-conscious water district might cast a disapproving eye) and graffiti is removed frequently. It’s a combined effort by the city, TBID and BOSS, Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency. 

In the evening, street lights glow brighter—among the city’s contributions—and for the last couple of months, cars can park in the yellow zones from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. as long as drivers can figure what the two signs mean, one saying the yellow is a loading zone from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and the other saying there’s no parking from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. 

“The minute there were cars on the street, it made people comfortable walking in the evening,” said Al Geyer, who owns Annapurna, the 40-year-old shop he describes as “multi-denominational.”  

Geyer heads the newly-formed Telegraph Avenue Merchants’ Association and sits on the TBID board. 

“We celebrate religions, we celebrate philosophical opinions, we celebrate political expression, sexual expression,” he says of Annapurna. “We basically celebrate diversity, but try to shake people up, juxtapose many different things. We try to open people’s minds.” 

An addition to The Avenue is the new express bus that can turn red lights green and is bringing people to Telegraph, Geyer said.  

With two city bike officers back on the streets—eliminated during a bad budget year, but returned as part of city efforts to revitalize Telegraph—police visibility is another plus, making the area appear safer, merchants say. (At the same time, advocates for street people told me they question police practices in the area.) 

The city has helped business by making it easier to get some permits. It used to take months to get use permits on Telegraph when one business was to be replaced by another whose use was different. With the change in permit policies, Fred’s Market will replace the old Rexall Drugs with a simple across-the-counter permit, Fogarty said.  

“Restaurants have been the sector that has defied the trend in terms of the downturn,” Peterson told me. That was apparent as I watched people line up all day to eat at the Intermezzo. Smart Alec’s healthy fast food was doing a brisk business most the day and customers also seemed to favor Mario’s La Fiesta, a fixture on The Avenue for almost 50 years.  

Geyer sees signs of business returning to the area. Within a day of Cody’s closure, his incense and card sales dropped by one-third; people who shopped at Cody’s also stopped by at Annapurna, he said. “But in the last two months our incense sales are better than they’ve ever been and our card sales are going up. People who traditionally came to The Avenue have to be returning for that to happen,” he said. 

And with the demise of Cody’s, “People are rediscovering Moe’s and Shakespeare’s,” he added.  

Despite horror stories of struggling shops on Telegraph, Craig Becker took over the Mediterranean Caffe—best known as “the Med”— a year ago. According to Fogarty, the previous owner lacked control over what was going on in front of his business. “There were fights, there were people drunk, there were tables and chairs scattered all over the place. It was in general an attractive nuisance,” Fogarty said. 

Becker is trying to restore the old ambiance he found when he would frequent the Med in the ’80s. “I’d always come by here and there’d be someone I knew,” he said. He has plans for an art gallery upstairs and sometimes hosts music downstairs—but nothing loud enough to interrupt conversation, he says.  

As for keeping order on the sidewalk, Becker says anyone can sit at the tables and chairs, but if they’re engaging in inappropriate behavior, he reminds them the tables are reserved for customers. “We have a right to do that,” he said. “We always treat people with courtesy and respect.” 

Becker’s work is paying off: “We’ve had three record weeks in a row,” he said. 

Another success story is Jeff Goldberg’s Framer’s Workshop, on Channing Way off Telegraph tucked under the city’s parking structure. The business is 30 years old and has found a niche. “We are one of the few do-it-yourself framing places in California,” Goldberg said, though they also do custom framing.  

“The baby boomers used to do a lot of do-it-yourself framing and they’re reaching retirement and coming back to do do-it-yourself framing,” he said. 

Like many businesses on The Avenue, Goldberg takes advantage of the web: www.framersworkshop.com. Geyer’s gone to the next level with an Internet Radio station at www.annapurna.com. Much of the eclectic music played there comes from Amoeba Music. 

Amoeba is successful where other music stores fail because it sells hard-to-find CDs and vinyl. The store now anchors the business district, Peterson said. 

Problematic street behavior 

Goldberg at the Framers Workshop said problematic street behavior was much worse a couple of years ago; that seems to be the general consensus. From time to time people act out in front of his store and he’ll call the police, but that’s not often, he said. 

In other years the street scene included more aggressive and hostile people, he said. “Now I think it’s just people who are mentally ill and have no place to go and plump themselves down.”  

He’s among those who have worked to create the detox center slated to open in San Leandro in December. It will be a short-term place to get sober or withdraw from drugs. 

Fogarty said he’s concerned with behavior reported to him, such as panhandlers following middle class people.  

But in general, “If [the street people] were drowned in a sea of students and middle class, they wouldn’t be a problem,” he said. “When they stand out, there gets to be a reputation of marginal people, a skid row.”  

Worthington was among those who called for an increased police presence. He got more police, but he had wanted beat police willing to walk and talk to merchants and street people, getting to know the regulars, he said. 

The councilmember reflected as we walked along The Avenue: “Most people walking up and down the street think that it’s quite positive and we haven’t had to create 20 new laws to do it. Some people of course would be deeply offended that this gentleman is sitting here,” he said, pointing to a white-haired man seated at Telegraph and Bancroft asking for spare change. “They may think he‘s a threat to civil society.” 

I asked Osha Neumann, an attorney whose clients are often homeless and poor, why I hadn’t seen any aggressive street behavior. 

“I don’t think that the problem is up here,” Neumann said, as we sat at a table outside Peet’s in the late afternoon. “Generally the people up here sit or stand on the sidewalk and have a sign. It’s really rare that I see someone hostile.” 

Neumann opposed the mayor’s proposal for harsh laws against sitting on the sidewalk and similar statutes, a proposal the council will address in the fall. There may be fewer people panhandling these days, because they have been intimidated, Neumann said.  

“The police have really done quite a job of getting people off The Avenue by various means: ticketing, citations, threats, warnings,” he said.  

“What really concerns me now is all the stories I’m hearing from different sides about the kind of harassment that’s going on. People are told by certain officers up here that they can’t sit on The Avenue, they can’t sit in front of a restaurant because it sells liquor, that they can’t sit in a place that a vendor might use—it’s all made up. That is really troubling to me. The message it seems to me that the police have got from City Council is that their marching orders are to clean up The Avenue and get rid of the kids. And that’s what they’ve been doing. These are the people who are most vulnerable—all they’ve got is the public space.” 

Earlier, Neumann and I had spent time with a friend of his in People’s Park. He introduced me to an older man sitting peacefully under a tree wrapped in a sleeping bag. Neumann plopped himself down and I followed.  

It wasn’t your everyday conversation that we engaged in, but a thoughtful one about the levels on which people relate to one another. I wouldn’t have known how to start a conversation with the man without the introduction.  

And that made me think about my own hesitations around people who look and live differently from me.  

What would happen on Telegraph if people pushed themselves beyond their comfort level and engaged people who make them uncomfortable— it could be with homeless people, business people, or disabled people. 

“With more imagination, people could come together to figure out how to make The Avenue work without the violation of people’s rights,” Neumann said. “It’s a beautiful day and The Avenue could absorb more people asking for change politely. The easiest thing to do is to blame the homeless. They don’t vote; they don’t have a constituency; they are not ‘stakeholders.’”

The hysteria of Cody’s closing having subsided, merchants and city officials have had time to evaluate what’s caused customers to frequent Telegraph Avenue less often. Chain stores going belly up, high rents and city bureaucracy are among the problems cited. 

“Sometimes there are reasons that have nothing to do with Telegraph,” said Roland Peterson, executive director of the Telegraph Business Improvement District. One is the impact bankruptcy of national chains have had on The Avenue. A big loss was when Tower Records, a regional draw, went out of business last year, Peterson said. It’s left a large empty building on Durant Avenue off of Telegraph.  

Another was Berkeley Athlete’s Foot. While the local store was profitable, the chain was not, Peterson said. And when the Gap sold off some 20 percent of its stores, the Telegraph Avenue store was among them. 

Another problem is the high rents charged on Telegraph, said Jeff Goldberg, whose business, Framer’s Workshop, has been on The Avenue 30 years.  

“I think the market rate has forced a lot of businesses to go elsewhere or in some cases, not really make it,” said Goldberg whose store is city owned, part of the municipal parking structure. Goldberg says his rent rate is “quite good.” 

While the city has been helpful in some ways, bureaucracy sometimes gets in the way of progress on Telegraph, such as the vacant storefront at Bancroft Way and Telegraph, directly across the street from the university. Councilmember Kriss Worthington said that the owners had brought retrofit plans to the Planning Department four different times; each time the city came up with a new requirement.  

“These people are willing to spend three-quarters of a million dollars to seismically upgrade the building and the city is throwing obstacle after obstacle in their path,” Worthington said. “The city has to get better at telling people what it wants them to do the first time.” 

Reached Wednesday, Planning Director Dan Marks confirmed the problem, but underscored how difficult it is to retrofit a historic building and bring it up to code for disabled access. The city had been working with outside plan checkers and he was only recently informed of the problem, Marks said. 

Now he is bringing the project in-house to speed it along. “It’s complicated. Maybe it should have been in-house earlier,” he said. “We are bending over backwards to get this thing going for them.” 

Dave Fogarty of the city’s economic development division points to changing demographics in Berkeley as one reason for fewer people shopping on The Avenue. The middle class is getting older and more conservative, he said.  

And, there’s been a change in the student body—they’re more interested in computers and technology, Fogarty said: “Telegraph has not adapted.” On Peterson’s wish list is an Apple Store on Telegraph Avenue. 

Fogarty pointed to competition, which has grown over the years—especially Emeryville. He also said he thinks the emergence of other shopping areas has changed how people perceive shopping. In a mall, for example, panhandling can be outlawed. People then become used to shopping in that environment, he said.  

Peterson said Telegraph has missed out by not taking advantage of the 15,000-strong faculty and staff with disposable income. He’d like to see a better mix of businesses, such as a Men’s Warehouse-type store and some slightly higher-priced restaurants—“somewhere between McDonald’s and Chez Panisse,” he said..

The year 2007 will go down as the year downtown Berkeley’s biggest developments passed into the hands of some of America’s biggest corporations. 

Two months after Patrick Kennedy and David Teece sold their seven downtown apartment complexes to Sam Zell’s Chicago-based Equity Residential, Library Gardens was sold to New York-based BlackRock properties, a financial titan with $1.23 trillion in assets, at the end of June. 

“We were able to contribute another million dollars to the city budget before the end of the fiscal year,” said John DeClercq, chief operating officer of Equity Management Group (EMG), which sold the 176-unit building in June. 

DeClercq said the sale represents “another commitment to the City of Berkeley, another investment by the large real estate investment community, a commitment to mixed housing with good amenities, parking and retail, all designed into the project and deemed valuable by the real estate community.” 

Formerly known as TransAction, EMG involves the same players and properties, though with the sale, the firm no longer has a presence in Berkeley, DeClerq said—having decamped to Oakland. 

The sale of Library Gardens represents the end of a 23-year history, which started with acquisition of the old Hinks Department Store in the southern end of the Shattuck Hotel building along with its parking structure, located just across Kittredge Street at western end of the Berkeley Public Library. 

Under TransAction’s ownership, the vacant store was transformed into the Shattuck Cinemas, storefronts and a basement complex that includes the Habitot children’s museum. 

But the fate of the parking structure remained in doubt.  

“It had been the preferred site of a new courthouse after the state wanted the courtrooms in Berkeley consolidated into one building, so a potential cloud of eminent domain had kept us from development,” DeClerq said. 

Then, in 2000, California voters approved consolidated the state’s justice, municipal and superior courts into a single superior court system, which meant that most Berkeley cases would be heard in courtrooms in Oakland or Hayward. 

“We were then able to begin unfettered development,” he said. 

One controversy was the fate of the 362 parking spaces in the former Hinks parking structure, slots popular with people who came to see films in downtown theaters. 

Originally, TransAction was to replace all the spaces in a two-level underground lot. Then controversy erupted when the company submitted plans calling for only 116 ground-level spaces, with all but 11 reserved for tenants. 

The Zoning Adjustments Board approved the project when another 124 underground spaces were added, but in the final version of plans given the city’s blessing in Feb. 2004, the number had dropped again, this time to 130. 

In November, 2004, Roy Nee, who owns a spa in Marin County, had purchased the theater, consolidating ownership of the entire hotel building for the first time in decades—leaving TransAction with the site where the excavations had already removed much of the earth for the remaining underground parking. 

Flush with cash, DeClerq handed the city a $1,028,000 check to pay for his building permit. 

The building was ready for temporary occupancy late in 2006, then opened formally in December. 

Evening before construction had been completed, GMH Communities Trust, another major national real estate investment firm, had signed a non-binding letter of intent to add the building to its portfolio of apartments geared for college students. 

DeClerq said several major firms had expressed interest through a broker, but in the end it was BlackRock that came up with the cash. 

“There were about a dozen companies circling Berkeley,” he said. “The crop had matured.” 

The Panoramic sale—estimated at about $145 million—netted the city $2.1 million in transfer tax, with the addition of another million from the Library Gardens adding frosting to the cake at the close of the city’s fiscal year. 

One estimate placed the value of the sale to EMG at about $65 million. 

City Manager Phil Kamlarz said that without the sale of Library Gardens and the Panoramic Interests buildings, the city wouldn’t have been able to meet its revenue projects for the last fiscal year. 

“It helped a lot,” he said. 

Residential sales had fallen over the year in the downtown area, and a general sales decline is likely for the current fiscal year, given the ongoing crisis in financial markets, Kamlarz said. 

Library Gardens, which dominates the block between the library and Berkeley High School, remains somewhat controversial, and Matt Taecker, the city staffer working on the development of the new downtown plan, used photos of the project as seen from the sidewalk in a presentation to the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee as an example of designs to be avoided. 

DeClerq, a man with a ready smile despite the criticism his project generated, said he had learned two things when working on real estate development in the sometimes humid political climate of the city by the East Bay. 

“You need patience and good humor,” he said, along with the help of good people. 

A former employee of the state Department of Real Estate before jumping to TransAction/EMG and the private sector 23 years ago, he said Library Gardens was his first development project. 

“It’s been a real education,” he said. 

DeClerq said he and EMG are looking for more “good dirt” in the Bay Area to begin their next project. 

“We are looking for good infill development on transit corridors,” he said..

Mark Rhoades, Colossus of Berkeley? 

Though not so physically imposing as a long-vanished harbor-spanning statue of Helios (another hot name in Berkeley these days), he looms just as large in the minds of folks on either side of a major political divide. 

So when he announced last month that he was leaving his post of city zoning officer and current planning manager, the plans for parties began. 

Colleagues at the city’s Permit Service Center gave him a festive sendoff on the 9th, but the heavy hitters from in the city’s development battles gathered—on opposite sides of the same street, appropriately—to hold their own farewells. 

While some of the biggest names in Berkeley development—think Patrick Kennedy, John DeClerq and Ali Kashani for openers—hoisted farewell toasts at Epicurious Garden at 1513 Shattuck Ave., some of his heartiest detractors were celebrating his departure with “Roads to Recovery” at Cafe de la Paz less than a block to the south at 1600 Shattuck. 

Pressed with deadlines and a 7 p.m. meeting, a Daily Planet reporter was able only to attend the former event, sponsored by the Downtown Berkeley Association, represented at the meeting by President Mark McLeod and Executive Director Deborah Badhia. 

A sizable number of Berkeley citizen officials were on hand, including Planning Commissioners Harry Pollack and Susan Wengraf, Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee Chair Will Travis and member Victoria Eisen and Design Review Committee members David Snippen and Burton Edwards. 

Former Zoning Adjustments Board chair Dave Blake, a sometimes critic of the honoree, was also on hand with some accolades of his own. 

Among the developers on hand were: 

• Patrick Kennedy, his wallet recently fattened by the sale of his downtown apartment builders to Sam Zell, 

• John DeClerq, also flush with new cash from the sale of Library Gardens, 

• Ali Kashani, recently stymied by some of the folks celebrating across the street from his plans to erect a mixed use project on the site of Iceland, 

• James Peterson, developer and one-time City Council candidate. 

“Mark is probably better than anyone else in the city at explaining our arcane ordinances in ways that anyone can understand,” said Pollack who served two terms as chair of the Planning Commission. 

“Henry Kaiser said, ‘When a man’s work speaks for itself, don’t interrupt,” said Patrick Kennedy, praising Rhoades as a force for hope and reason. “I always thought he was doggedly, obsessively neutral,” said the man the folks down at the Roads to Recovery party love to hate. 

“I have no idea what the future’s going to be like without him,” said Wengraf. 

“I’ll never get my project through now,” quipped James Peterson, developer of the long-proposed Prince Hall Arms senior housing building at 3132 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. 

“You have elevated the level of professionalism of the planning staff to a level never before seen in Berkeley, and you have also elevated the level of discourse,” said David Early, a planning consultant and the founder of Livable Berkeley, an alliance of infill development advocates, also much disparaged by many of the Roads to Recovery partisans. 

When the toasts had finished, it was up to the departing planner to have his say. 

“I’m overwhelmed,” he said. Working for the city, he said, had consumed a fourth of his years and half of his professional life. 

His decision to leave began when he took a leave of absence with the birth of his second son 10 months ago. 

“I was gone,” he said, spurning phone calls about work and trips to the office. 

“About four weeks into it, Erin (spouse Erin Banks, a former employee of Early’s planning firm and Livable Berkeley board member) looked at me and said, ‘You’re a different person.’ At that point I realized this job was probably not the best place for me now. 

“That’s unfortunate,” he said, “because I love this job. This may be a crazy-assed place, but it’s still a great place.” 

But Berkeley could even be a better place, he said, “and it all boils down to housing. Not buildings, but housing. We’re diverse, but we’re also the least diverse community in Alameda County. 

“Hopefully, we’ll all step up to the plate, because the idea that there should be any change, or that all buildings should be two or three stories, is killing us. All the noise comes from a few folks, a few who are interested in neighborhood issues, but in the worst way. They do not want any change,” he said. 

Rhoades called for an overhaul of the city zoning ordinance, citing a quip by Planning Commissioner Gene Poschman, a sometimes adversary, that referred to the state of city zoning law as “50 years of scar tissue.” 

And while Rhoades is gone from City Hall, he said, his voice breaking for a moment, “I intend to maintain my focus on this community, for all the reasons standing here, and for those out there in the community—to make it a better place for them and their kids.” 

Applause and raised glasses followed.

There will be no pitter-patter of tiny feet at St. Joseph the Worker School this fall. No giggles or hushed whispers along its long winding corridors. 

The 28 students who would have returned to the school’s hallowed portals to witness the very last bit of the Catholic school’s 130-year-old-history will not do so anymore. 

The school, which was scheduled to close next June due to financial constraints, announced its premature closure last week and cited an abysmal drop in student enrollment. 

“We just couldn’t keep up with the dwindling numbers anymore,” said Fr. Stephan Kappler, parochial administrator of the parish, as he walked down the school’s silent parish hall Wednesday. 

“Over the last six or seven years, enrollment has been consistently low. Last year it was 128, the year before 112. The school building holds 350 students. We had to pull the plug when we saw that only 28 students were returning in the fall.” 

Since the majority of the students were attending classes at a reduced tuition rate, the school was running at a huge deficit. 

“Last year the Diocese of Oakland contributed $100,000 to make up this deficit, and we poured in $50,000,” said Fr. Stephan. 

“We were losing $169,000 dollars every year. We thought that we would keep the school open one final year to find alternative schools for our students and employment for our staff. That was our hope, but it was not to be.” 

Adriana Betti, a former Berkeley High teacher who directs an after-school native dancing program at St Joseph’s school during summer, said that the closure meant a big blow to the Latino community. 

“Most of my students either graduated from here or are here right now,” she said, practicing Aztec dance steps in the school’s parish hall. 

“I remember celebrating the Day of the Virgin with them every year on December 12. The church is a very big part of the families I work with. They either work here or send their kids to school here. To have the school taken away from them is a big piece.” 

Some parents have enrolled their children in the Berkeley public schools, leading to an increase in student enrollment in the Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) this year. 

“A new kindergarten class has been created to make room for more students,” said district spokesperson Mark Coplan. “I am assuming the increase is due to the St. Joseph’s students coming to our schools.” 

There are some like St Joseph’s sixth-grader Kevin Gorrostieta who have no clue as to where he will land up after summer break. 

“My parents said they would talk to me about it,” he told the Planet Thursday. “I don’t know anything else.” 

Founded by the Presentation Sisters in 1878, the school was established at 2125 Jefferson St. to provide K-8 Catholic elementary school education. 

A convent was built across the street for students who wanted to enroll in high school, and that initiated the golden age of catholic education in Berkeley. 

“It was blooming back then,” said Fr. Stephan. “The schools were full of students. But then the sisters moved to San Francisco and the convent was turned into UC Berkeley housing about twenty years ago.” 

With the high school gone, families were less eager to send their kids to the elementary school. 

“Before the church and the school were like one unit,” said Fr. Stephan, who took over as pastor since last year. 

“People were proud to send their children to St. Joseph’s. That has changed. Only a third of the students left in the school were Catholic. Most were from outside the parish.” 

The cost of tuition, Fr. Stephan explained, was something else which kept the predominantly Latino community who attended church at St Joseph from sending their kids to its school. 

Without financial aid, the cost of tuition came to approximately $5000 every year. 

“I never thought of putting my daughter there because of the money,” said Angelica Hernandez, who had her communion at St Joseph’s church. 

Angelica, who works as a care provider in Berkeley, sends her daughter to a public school. 

“Public schools have a lot more programs. My daughter is traveling with Barbara Lee in Washington D.C. right now, talking about the problems of the Latino community. That would not have been possible at St. Joseph.” 

“We called but it was the cost,” said Alicia Contreras, who wants to enroll her 3-year-old daughter in Cragmont Elementary School because of its Spanish program. 

“We heard good things about St. Joseph so we compared it with another religious school in Albany. This one was cheaper but it was still far too expensive. It’s like $100 every month with the waiver and I couldn’t afford it.” 

Memories of happier times appear on the school’s orange walls, its cabinets filled with trophies won in regional and local competitions from a not so distant past. 

The class of 2005 St. John’s Christmas Tournament champions rub shoulders with the 1996 West Contra Costa League winners, their surfaces dusty yet reflecting the glory of bygone days.  

Murals created painstakingly by small hands adorn the second floor stairway with vibrant colors evoking special dates, festivals and people. 

Lily, class of ’05, remembers Mrs. Soria with red and yellow hearts while Damajeria Dubose cheers the school mascot, the mustang. 

As Fr. Stephan donned his collar for evening mass, he added that there was still hope for St. Joseph in the near future. 

“It may not reopen as a Catholic school in 2008, but it might reopen as a charter school,” he said. He added that his experience as a pastor with the Aspire Charter School at St Louis Bertrand in East Oakland had been good. 

The parish is currently in negotiation with the Aspire Charter School to lease out the school site starting next year. 

“It’s sad to close 130 years of Catholic education, but at least we are not turning it into an apartment complex,” he said, looking at the rows of university housing that had replaced the convent decades ago. “We’re just turning it into a charter school.” 

Photograph: Riya Bhattacharjee 

Father Stephan locks the doors of St. Joseph the Worker School Wednesday. The 130-year-old Catholic school closed this month after citing financial crunches and abysmal enrollment rates.

At first glance, the Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) showed a point gain over last year in the 2007 Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) program released by State Superintendent Jack O’Connell Wednesday. 

School district administrators and principals, who were away on a retreat till Wednesday, are still poring over the results, said BUSD superintendent Michele Lawrence. 

A statement from O’Connell called statewide results encouraging but at the same time troubling. 

“This year’s results offer both encouragement and reason for serious concern,” he said. “We can be pleased that gains in student achievement made over the past five years are either increasing or holding steady. This progress means that hundreds of thousands of California students will have a better shot at success. But the data also show the persistent achievement gaps in our system that California simply cannot afford to accept—morally, economically, or socially.” 

Berkeley Unified English scores were above the state average, which helped to move the number up to 50 percent, one percentage point more than 2006. 

Students also met the state average score in math, and the number increased one point from the previous year’s 42 percent. 

While half of the students earned proficient or better marks in English, 43 percent of students tested proficient or better in math. 

Lawrence told the Planet that the school district would analyze the results over the next week. 

“Nobody’s had a chance to see it yet,” she said. “I was away at the retreat with 70 of my staff, we haven’t spent any time on it.” 

Assistant superintendent Neil Smith handed over the overall school report and individual student reports to all the principals at the retreat, which was held at His Lordship’s in Berkeley. 

The STAR program tests proficiency levels in English and math for every student in California according to one of five levels of performance on the California Standardized Tests for each subject tested: advanced, proficient, basic, below basic, and far below basic.  

According to the State Board of Education, the desired achievement goal for all students is “proficient,” which is consistent with school growth targets for state accountability and the federal No Child Left Behind Act. 

Under the No Child Left Behind Act, schools could suffer federal sanctions if a certain number of students in each district do not pass the English and math tests. 

Although only 47 percent of sophomores and 48 percent of juniors scored proficient or advanced in English, the numbers are above the statewide scores. 

At Malcolm X Elementary School, which was named a California Distinguished School in 2006, English and math scores rose by six and eight percentage points over last year respectively. 

“I am still in the process of looking at the results for my school,” said Berkeley Arts Magnet principal Kristian Collins. 

“I am going to be looking for growth and the areas that need to be uncovered for progress. The STAR tests have become very important for schools. There is an accuracy system that tracks how we do. It’s not only a measure, but we also want our children to do well in it. It’s a reminder of what we need to do to make our children successful.” 

In his statement, O’Connell repeatedly drew attention to the lack of progress in closing the achievement gap among racial groups. 

The test scores reflect that while student subgroup populations continued to improve since 2003, achievement gaps between African Americans and whites as well as Latinos and whites remain unchanged. 

"Once again, these annual test scores shine a glaring light on the disparity in achievement between students who are African American or Hispanic and their white or Asian counterparts,” he said. 

“We know all children can learn to the same high levels, so we must confront and change those things that are holding back groups of students.”  

Lawrence commented that one of the important things to be considered was the number of new non-native English speakers who came to California to attend a public school every year. 

O’Connell, in his statement, pointed out that that the achievement gap could not “always be explained away because of the poverty that has been so often associated with low performance.” 

“The results show this explanation not to be universally true,” he said. “In fact, African American and Hispanic students who are not poor are achieving at lower levels in math than their white counterparts who are poor. These are not just economic achievement gaps, they are racial achievement gaps. We cannot afford to excuse them; they simply must be addressed. We must take notice and take action.” 

An Achievement Gap Summit—which will examine strategies to close achievement gaps—is scheduled to be held in Sacramento from Nov. 13 to14.

A California tribunal handed an unqualified defeat this week to Ray Chamberlin and his lawsuit challenging the reconfiguration of Marin Avenue by Berkeley and Albany. 

Chamberlin, a retired engineer and Berkeley hills resident, had won a partial victory in Alameda County Superior Court, but even that was stripped away in the opinion written by Associate Justice William D. Stein, with Justices James J. Marchiano and Douglas E. Swager concurring. 

Both the City of Berkeley and Chamberlin had appealed the Jan. 13, 2006 ruling by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Bonnie Sabraw which handed a victory to Albany and a partial defeat to Berkeley. 

Arguing his own case against lawyers for the two cities, Chamberlin sought to convince the court to order both cities to prepare environmental impact reports (EIRs) examining the full implications of the fait accompli which had transformed the avenue from four lanes to two, adding a two-way center turn lane and a pair of bike lanes. 

Sabraw ruled that Chamberlin had acted too late to sue Albany, filing suit on Feb. 28, 2005, more than two months after Albany approved the project and just making the 30-day period for appealing Berkeley’s Jan. 28 decision. 

Sabraw didn’t require Berkeley to prepare a full EIR, but only to conduct further studies to the degree the city considered appropriate. 

In his argument before the court Chamberlin didn’t seek to enforce his victory against Berkeley absent a finding that would bind both cities to a review of what he argued was a single, integrated project rather than two separate projects. 

While the two cities didn’t prepare a full EIR, they did join in a lesser document, the EIS, or initial study, which the three justices ruled was adequate to justify adoption by both cities of a finding called the Negative Declaration, which holds that there are no adverse affects that can’t be remedied. 

The justices also rejected Chamberlin’s argument that the cities had “piecemealed” the project in violation of the California Environmental Quality Act. 

The term applies to large projects that are slipped through the administrative process piece by piece, to avoid an analysis of cumulative impacts. 

“Clearly they didn't care to decide my abstract legal issue,” Chamberlin said. 

The one concession the justices made was to order that their ruling would not be included in the court’s published findings, cases that may be cited as precedents in future lawsuits. 

“We are pleased,” said Deputy City Attorney Zach Cowan. “Now we’re done with that, hopefully, and staff can continue to monitor the traffic situation just as they have been doing all along.” 

The next move is up to Chamberlin. The decision becomes final Sept. 13, leaving him 10 more days to decide if he wants to appeal to the California Supreme Court.

A fight between community activists and real estate developers partnered with a cellular phone carrier is shaping up in Point Richmond. The point of contention is a recently installed high-power cellular phone antenna array on an apartment complex on a hilltop at 260 Water Street in Point Richmond, disguised by an orange-painted flat case which is visible from far away.  

A group calling themselves RAP4 Richmond (Responsible Antenna Placement and Planning for Richmond), led by locals Andy Olmstead and Robin Carpenter, contends that the antenna installation is ugly and bad for the neighborhood. 

The property owners, Richmond real estate developers Jerry and Jan Feagley (represented by their lawyer, Kathleen McKinley) and their business partner in this venture, the T-Mobile Corporation, defend the antenna placement as unobjectionable, legally and ethically. 

Residents worry that having high-powered radio equipment nearby will be harmful and make their property less valuable. 

The 1996 Telecommunications Act blocks any legal challenges to cellular phone installations on the basis of health objections. Neighboring property owners claim that some tenants have already moved out because of the antennas, and say that the installation is a commercial use in a residential zone.  

RAP4 Richmond is trying to use the controversy over the antenna installation as a launching point for advocating bigger policy changes regarding cell-phone antenna placement in Richmond and throughout California.  

McKinley contended that although the Feagleys and T-Mobile obtained their permit for the antennas “over-the-counter” with limited public notice, the Feagleys have broken no Richmond City planning ordinances. The city’s planning department decided that the Feagleys’ permit application met the requirements for an over-the-counter permit under Richmond law and granted the permit without a public hearing. 

In response, RAP has gathered roughly one hundred signatures from people in the community on a petition. The group used the petition on July 31 at a Richmond City Council meeting to persuade the City to stop issuing any more over-the-counter permits for antennas for six months—essentially a moratorium on further new cell-phone antenna placements in Richmond. According to McKinley, “the Feagleys don’t have any problems with someone trying to change the way antenna installations are approved.” 

RAP’s petition demands that T-Mobile and the Feagleys either apply for a conditional use permit or remove the antennas. Conditional use permits allow for some flexibility within zoning laws following a public hearing. Prior to the public hearing, T-Mobile and the Feagleys would have to have an environmental study of their installation done to ensure that they are not violating the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). A proven violation of CEQA in this case could be used to block further residential antenna installations around the state. 

One factor that affected the City’s decision to grant the permit was the covering the Feagleys had built around the installation so that the antennas themselves were out of sight. For example, Pat Crowther, an elderly local resident who lives within view of the covered antennas, said that she was not aware for a long time after the installation that there was anything unusual about 260 Water Street: “They put [the covering] up a while ago, but I had no idea what it was.”  

RAP claimed that the Feagleys disguised the antennas as a solar panel covering in order to circumvent City ordinances. McKinley insisted that this is fully within the law: “The City of Richmond does not prohibit residential antennae ... they’re allowed if the antennae are enclosed.” 

Carpenter said she feels that the Feag-leys “use this loophole to get around any problems with safety ... if they camouflage it, they can do whatever they want there.” McKinley, on the other hand, asserted that “the RAP4 Richmond group misunderstands City ordinances.” She says that “regardless that the individuals spearheading this campaign don’t like [the installation], [the Feagleys] complied with the City’s guidelines.” 

Further complicating the situation are a number of personal attacks RAP4 Richmond has leveled at the Feagleys. For example, on the RAP4 Richmond website www.rap4richmond.org, the group asserted that the Feagleys “are blinded by greed and love money more than their fellow human beings.” McKinley was quick to respond that while “it’s OK to raise an issue about cell-phone tower installations, it’s not appropriate to attack fellow citizens.” On the other hand, in a letter to the City of Richmond, McKinley described the way RAP represented their health objections as “Frank-Capra-esque appeals for truth-telling and loving your neighbor” and “shamelessly maudlin and sentimental appeals to babies and the elderly.” Moreover, she said, “T-Mobile approach-ed the Feagleys.” 

The combative RAP4 Richmond also claimed that the Richmond planning department is, essentially, bad at its job. Said Carpenter, “I keep praying [the department is] corrupt, because it’s a shame if it’s just incompetence.” A recent internal audit of the department, called the Zucker report, has spotlighted several problems with the department. Carpenter claims that “the planning department constantly breaks its own ordinances.” McKinley said that the city planning department alone made the decision to allow the installation after the department determined that it met the requirements for an over-the-counter permit. 

A representative of the office of the mayor of Richmond, Gayle McLaughlin, said the mayor supports RAP 4 Richmond in their quest for a moratorium on further residential antenna placements, particularly if the community wishes for such a moratorium. 

Although scientists are still researching the health effects of such installations, Richmond is not the first town where residents have feared that cell-phone antenna installations are dangerous. In a similar case last year, residents of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, successfully blocked Verizon from building a cell-phone tower near a school.

UC Berkeley issued a final call for bids today (Friday) on the building designed to house the $500 million alternative fuel project funded by a British oil company. 

Only four prequalified bidders will be allowed to compete for the building project, which will cost an estimated $125 million. 

Other figures released by the university point to a final cost, including improvements, of $160 million.  

Three nationwide firms are in the running, DPR Construction, Hunt Construction Group and McCarthy Building Companies, Inc., and one firm with offices only in California, Rudolph and Slettin, Inc., which has its headquarters in Redwood City. 

The bidding documents became available this morning, and bidders are required to attend a conference on campus on Aug. 21. 

Bids are due by 2 p.m. on Sept. 11, and will be opened at 2:02 p.m. 

The building will be located on the slopes of Strawberry Canyon at the western end of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. 

The largest tenant will be the Energy Biosciences Institute, the entity created by the university to run research under the half-billion-dollar grant from BP, the former British Petroleum. 

That project has been the target of protests and teach-ins, and involves extensive use of genetic technology to modify both crops and microorganisms to break them down into the components of fuel for internal combustion engines. 

Lab officials held a scoping session Aug. 8 to receive comments to address in the project’s Environmental Impact Report—a document that won’t be completed until January, shortly before the UC Board of Regents is to vote its final approval. 

Construction would begin the following spring and be completed by the fall of 2010.

Armed with trash bags, notepads and pens, thirty teens walked the streets of Southwest Berkeley Wednesday to protest rising violence in the neighborhood and to bridge divisions within the community. 

Berkeley Organizing Congregations for Action (BOCA) and Berkeley United Youth in Action (BUYA) joined forces with the City of Berkeley to discuss issues ranging from crime to cleanliness during the walk. 

“This is just the beginning of what we want to do to build a better community,” said Ariana Casanova, BOCA member and a assistant to Mayor Tom Bates. 

“There is a perception among adults that youth are the main perpetrators of violence. But youth are also the victims of violence. We want to show the community that the youth can also make a difference.” 

Students, neighbors, city officials and plainclothes police officers got a chance to connect and learn more about the neighborhood that was rocked by eight shootings over the summer.  

“This is the first time I have seen a real spike in crime in Southwest Berkeley since I moved there eleven years ago,” said councilmember Darryl Moore in a telephone interview to the Planet from Southern California. 

“I wish I could have been there for the walk, but I am sure the kids will do a great job in making their concerns heard to the city. Youth have to feel comfortable and be a part of the neighborhood. It’s important that the city work toward providing youth employment to keep kids occupied during summer.” 

Moore said the recent surge in crime would be best solved by increasing police protection. He called neigborhood watchgroups the city’s best “eyes and ears.” 

On Wednesday, Berkeley High graduates Netza Ramero and Ariadne Jorrostieta helped pick up stray pieces of paper littering the pavements as the walk progressed north to Sacramento from San Pablo Park. 

“We are also noting down things that should be improved,” said Ramero, 18, who lives on Russell Street. Ramero joined BUYA after his friend Salvador Villarreal was killed in a drive-by shooting in Oakland.  

BUYA offers tutoring, lecturing and dance lessons to students every week as part of a pilot program. The majority of their students are Latinos and African Americans. 

“We want to show people that unlike what they see on the streets and in the newspapers, the youth are not bad. Half of our neighbors are not even aware of our efforts to build a better relationship with the community. We’d like to see more interaction between adults and youth. We want to change things for the better.” 

Jorrostieta, who will be going to Diablo Valley College in the fall, said that she felt like a stranger in her own neighborhood. 

“Some neighbors never talk to me or say hi and I feel weird because I know they are my neighbors,” she said. “We need to have more communication. That’s the only way things will change.” Two of Jorrostieta’s friends were shot outside her house on Russell Street about a year ago. 

“Yes, crime has definitely gone up in Southwest Berkeley,” acknowledged BPD spokesperson Lt. Wes Hester. “Most of them have occurred around south of Ashby. Shots have been fired on people’s property. We are currently developing a strategy to find out who the culprits are.” 

Hester added that the walk had helped him meet the faces behind the emails and phone calls he receives from neighbors everyday. 

“Graffiti vandalism has also gone up in the area,” he said. “The city has organized a citywide task force to address graffiti vandalism, which includes the police, public works, code enforcement, parks and recreation and the city manager’s office. Outreach is also being done to Berkeley and Albany middle and high schools.” 

Councilmemer Max Anderson, who organized a similar walk in his district, also walked on Wednesday evening. 

“We are talking about the same issues, so it just makes sense,” he said.  

“This walk is meant to encourage people to take part in anti-violence. We want to address crime as well as the underlying issues that drive crime. The lack of education and job opportunities, especially for youth of color, is a big problem. The community can make a difference by providing opportunities for young people to express their interest in a safe place.” 

Anderson added that the 2007-08 city budget provided summer job programs for young people. 

“The mayor, councilmember Moore and I are also trying to beef up the economic development department to make job training available to the youth. That way they can earn some money and understand what it takes to hold a job. We are also trying to figure out how to create a youth center. We have recently had a lot of complaints about the lack of recreational and after-school programs for kids.”

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to landmark three of the buildings at the UC Berkeley Extension Laguna Street Campus at the San Francisco City Hall Tuesday. 

The landmarking of Richardson Hall, Woods Hall and Woods Hall Annex means that the proposed UC Berkeley and AF Evans mixed-use project would now have to go through the LPAB’s Certificate of Appropriateness process in order to alter the structures and to construct adjacent new facilities. 

Middle Hall Gymnasium—the oldest building on the campus—and Richardson Hall Annex were not landmarked although they were deemed “contributing” to a potential California Register Historic District by the Planning Department and the State Historic Preservation Officer.  

If the Planning Commission approves the demolition of the buildings, as is proposed, the campus may become ineligible for listing in the National Register. Other preservation incentives and tax credits may also be lost. 

The current gymnasium building houses a brand new professional-dance-troupe-quality floor and a state-of-the-art computer center. The Richardson Hall Annex has a community room with a large fireplace and Richardson Hall contains a tiered theater. 

Preservationists who oppose the demolition would have to file a lawsuit under the California Environmental Quality Act to save these structures. 

The move to landmark the buildings signaled a partial victory for the Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board, San Francisco Heritage, the San Francisco Preservation Consortium, the Friends of 1800 and the Save the UC Berkeley Extension Laguna Street Campus group, who have been advocating to preserve the National Register-eligible former San Francisco State Teacher’s College at 55 Laguna St. 

First used as a city orphanage from 1854 until the San Francisco State Normal School was established in the 1920s to accommodate public school teachers, the campus also served as the original home of the San Francisco State University. 

After citing prohibitive maintenance costs, UC Berkeley closed its Laguna Street campus in 2004 and leased it to private developers AF Evans to turn it into a mixed-use development featuring residential rental units and retail space. 

The Planning Commission is scheduled to hold a hearing on the final Environmental impact report for the proposed project this fall.

With their deadline fast approaching, eight Berkeley citizen-policymakers are setting the stage for an almost certain showdown over the fate of old buildings in the new downtown. 

Four members each from the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) and the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee (DAPAC) gathered Monday night to hammer out the final draft of a key chapter in the new downtown plan. 

DAPAC members are under the gun to come up with a draft plan by the end of November, and the DAPAC/LPC subcommittee is only one of several working to come up with critical language before the deadline expires. 

Three frequent critics of some of the panel’s proposals were in the audience for the start of the meeting: DAPAC Chair Will Travis, Planning Commission Chair and DAPAC member James Samuels and committee member Jenny Wenk. 

The divisions were apparent in the paperwork before subcommittee members as they began their line-by-line revisions of their proposed Historic Preservation & Urban Design Chapter. 

“I’ve talked to a lot of people, and I know we’re not very far apart,” said Victoria Eisen, a DAPAC member who is not part of the subcommittee. 

The subcommittee’s focus was the latest revision of the chapter, prepared by DAPAC members Patti Dacey and Jim Novosel. 

“I’m just a little confused,” said Samuels, speaking from the audience. “”I thought the operative version was the staff review. I’m a little confused now, because I see another chapter.” 

The chapter Samuels hoped to see was a revision of an earlier subcommittee draft that he had amended with suggestions from DAPAC members Travis, Wenk, former City Councilmember Mim Hawley and retired UC Berkeley development executive Dorothy Walker. 

The version had been dubbed the “minority report” at the subcommittee’s last meeting, a term chair Steve Winkel said Monday night hadn’t been intended as a disparagement of Travis and his four colleagues. 

“The staff tried to accommodate the views of others, then the subcommittee prepared another draft. I think some things were omitted I would like to see the subcommittee include,” said Matt Taecker, the city planner hired to oversee the planning process. 

Seeing the new Dacey/Novosel version, Travis said, “It appear to me” the Taecker revision “was rejected out of hand. It would be very helpful to walk through it and see ‘here’s why we rejected this or that.’” 

As they worked through the first two sets of goals—of a total of six—subcommittee members added some of suggestions from the staff revisions, but on the whole members kept to their own version. 

The first critical vote was unanimous, rejecting the proposal from the Travis/Taecker draft to rename the chapter “Historic Preservation & New Construction.” 

The committee then made a concession, to adopt a preamble drafted by Eisen, Dacey and Travis, incorporating it into the chapter’s opening strategic statement. 

The subcommittee was adamantly opposed to Travis’s suggestion that the document not call for creation of a new historic district in the downtown, a designation that recognizes both specific properties and the district they share as legally significant embodiments of an historic era. 

“You don’t need a historic district if you have these other policies,” said Travis, only to be greeted by an immediate chorus of “nos” from subcommittee members. 

The tension between strong infill development activists and preservationists reaches a flashpoint over landmarking, which gives legal protections to designated buildings and places restrictions on nearby properties. The protections are more extensive in a district, affecting all structures, new and old, within its boundaries. 

During his earlier tenure on the landmarks commission, Samuels often found himself voting against designations supported by the majority, a tension that carries through to his role as a DAPAC member. 

Subcommittee members insisted on keeping in the chapter a sentence mandating city support for any LPC effort to create a new downtown historic district. 

“I keep looking ahead to bringing something out of this subcommittee DAPAC can accept,” said Travis.  

“I would like this chapter to be adopted without any disagreement, but that’s unlikely to happen with any chapter,” said subcommittee and DAPAC member Jesse Arreguin, a supporter of the proposed district. 

Carrie Olson, an LPC representative to the subcommittee, said she was concerned about the hostility to the idea of creating a historic district, suggesting that some on DAPAC wouldn’t be satisfied until they “level downtown and build a new one.” 

The subcommittee will get back to work on Aug. 27.

With Oakland Unified school board president David Kakishiba calling his district’s financial situation “precarious,” the newly-empowered OUSD school board issued a sharp criticism last week of the district’s fiscal condition under state receivership, directing state-appointed administrator Dr. Kimberly Statham to adopt a new five-year financial recovery plan to put OUSD’s fiscal house in order. 

“The board wanted to provide direction to the state on how the district can meet the important fiscal challenges that lie ahead, and we wanted to go on record to show that we are profoundly concerned about the present fiscal situation,” Kakishiba said this week by telephone. “The current budget represents a step backwards in moving towards solvency.”  

In its first official meeting following the return of limited authority after five years of full control of the district by the office of State Superintendent Jack O’Connell, board members passed a resolution saying that while the original fiscal recovery plan developed after the state takeover called for a positive fund balance and a restoration of the district’s state required 2 percent reserve fund by the 2006-07 fiscal year, “the state-appointed Administrator adopted a 2007-2009 fiscal budget that includes a $1.4 million negative fund balance, and a $1.5 million shortfall” in the 2 percent reserve.  

Last week’s board resolution directed Statham to present a new five-year recovery plan to the board by January 30 of next year. The board wants the recovery plan to include, among other factors, the impact of declining enrollment on the district and the financial, instructional and human resource impacts of proposed school closures and the Expect Success! program that was introduced by Statham’s predecessor, Randolph Ward, that Ward once called “essentially a redesign of OUSD.” 

Kakishiba said that the district’s current budget problems comes from “assumptions made by the state that were clearly wrong,” including “failure to take into account the impact of charter school competition on the district. That was the biggest wrong assumption.” 

Under state control, the number of public charter schools operating in Oakland under OUSD administration has increased dramatically.  

The Oakland school board recently won return of control over the area of “community relations and governance,” with the state administrator retaining control over all other areas of district operation, including finances, personnel, facilities, and educational instruction. Kakishiba admitted that the ability for the school board to “direct” the state administrator under such circumstances was “murky,” but noted that the board took its authority for the action from the language of the Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team reports outlining professional standards for community relations and governance. Kakishiba also said that the administrator told board members at last week’s meeting that “she intended to get the plan together.” 

Statham’s office did not return a telephone call by deadline asking for a comment on the resolution.  

Statham was hired a year ago by State Superintendent Jack O’Connell to run the Oakland school district after the original state administrator, Randolph Ward, resigned to take the post of Superintendent of the San Diego County School District. Many of the fiscal problems detailed in the board’s resolution had their beginning’s in Ward’s administration. Critics have charged that Ward left the district deeper in debt and in worse financial shape than when he took over in 2003, and that the former administrator concentrated more on changing the district’s education program than on righting its finances.

The attorney for the man accused of murdering journalist Chauncey Bailey two weeks ago claimed today that his client is innocent and was ordered by a Your Black Muslim Bakery associate, in the presence of Oakland police, to take the fall for the shooting incident. 

After a brief court hearing for DeVaughndre Broussard, 19, a handyman at the bakery, San Francisco defense attorney LeRue Grim told reporters he was “astonished” when Broussard told him in a jailhouse interview Wednesday night that police were present when another bakery associate told him to take the blame for the shooting. 

The Oakland Tribune is reporting today that Grim said that the bakery associate made the statement to Broussard after being brought into the police interrogation room by Oakland police detectives. 

Broussard had earlier claimed in a television interview that his original confession to Bailey’s murder came only after Oakland police beat him while he was in custody. 

Grim, who officially entered the case today, said Broussard “could be completely innocent” based on the limited information he has on the case at this time. 

Grim said he knows the name of the person who Broussard says ordered him to take the fall but declined to identify anyone. 

Oakland Police spokesperson Officer Roland Holmgren released a written statement shortly after Grim’s press confrerence, saying, “The case is in the hands of the District Attorney’s office. We are not going to make any comments regarding his statements at this point. I believe the Oakland Police Department has some of the most professional and ethical investigators. The homicide investigators have done an excellent job with investigating this case. They have done so with dignity and respect for all parties involved.” 

Grim said Broussard “feels betrayed” by his bakery associates and he's concerned about his client's safety in jail, where he's being held without bail. 

Bailey, 57, was shot multiple times on 14th Street near Alice Street shortly before 7:30 a.m. on Aug. 2 as he was walking from his home near Lake Merritt to his job as editor of the Oakland Post several blocks away at 405 14th St. 

Oakland police say Broussard told them that he murdered Bailey because he didn’t like stories Bailey had written and researched about the bakery.

Hatem Bazian of UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law, Phyllis Bennis of the Institute of Policy Studies, and Sandy Tolan of UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism and author of “The Lemon Tree” will highlight a weekend conference entitled “Breaking Down the Wall of Silence: Voices We Need to Hear.” 

The conference dedicated to peace in Palestine is sponsored by Friends of Sabeel, an international peace movement initiated by Palestinian Christians, and will include the appearance of the parents of Rachel Corrie, crushed by an Israeli bulldozer in 2003. 

“At a time when so many people find the situation beyond a solution, a lot of people here see hope and ways to solve this peacefully and nonviolently,” Barbara Erickson of the Friends of Sobeel planning committee told the Daily Planet on Thursday.  

Erickson underscored the importance of the group’s bringing together Jews, Christians and Muslims to work for a peaceful resolution in Palestine. “It’s got to change,” Erickson said. 

The conference will take place from 1–9:45 p.m. Friday, Aug. 24 and 8 a.m.–6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 25 at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Registration is $70. 

Register online at www.fosna.org or by calling (925) 324-4595. 

As federal budget priorities starve urban America, the outcome has been predictable: rising murder rates from Newark, New Jersey to Oakland, California, and virtually no low-income African-American or Latino neighborhood has been spared. Who is to blame for this problem? According to the media, it is the nation’s black mayors. From the New York Times castigating Mayor Booker in Newark to the San Francisco Chronicle’s absurd attack on Oakland’s Ron Dellums, the message is clear: black mayors, not the white elite in Washington D.C., are failing to serve the needs of minority communities. Where is our Martin Luther King, Jr. to speak out against such nonsense? 

Two recent murders have brought renewed attention to the rising violence in African-American communities. And in both cases, the media has exempted the federal government from responsibility, while blaming recently elected black mayors. 

In Oakland, the murder of journalist Chauncey Bailey by individuals connected to Your Black Muslim Bakery led Chronicle columnist Chip Johnson to engage in another attack on Mayor Ron Dellums. According to Johnson, Bailey’s killing “signaled the abysmal failure of the city’s elected leaders to come up with a strategy to address the violence.” 

After unfairly criticizing Dellums’ handling of the garbage lockout—for which all sides praised him to the hilt—Johnson now claims Dellums lacks a strategy to reduce violence. Rarely has a journalist made such a demonstrably false and unfair statement. 

It is fair to say—and I do not make this statement lightly—that since Ron Dellums entered Congress in 1971, no federal elected official has fought harder, longer and more consistently to redirect federal spending toward the needs of low-income communities. 

Dellums was so committed to addressing the problems in poor communities that each year he created an alternative budget. A budget that took from the military and gave to jobs, schools, health care and other programs central to fighting the root causes of violence. 

If Ron Dellums’ alternative budget had been enacted in the 1970’s or 1980’s, America’s current prison population would be dramatically smaller. Nor would our low-income communities besieged by violence today. But the nation elected Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, both of whom sent a clear message to these communities not to expect any help. 

The Chronicle’s Johnson appears to have forgotten this history, as well as the fact that Ron Dellums has advanced an anti-violence strategy for forty years. He is the last person in the United States who should be blamed for the federal government’s refusal to fund this strategy. 

Dellums announced an anti-violence strategy in his January 2007 inaugural address as Oakland’s mayor. Seven months later, Johnson sees an “abysmal” lack of mayoral leadership for Dellums not to have bucked national trends and turned the city around. 

Dellums has been operating under former Mayor Jerry Brown’s budget. But Brown never took the kind of heat from the Chronicle that Dellums has already been subjected to. 

But Brown is white. And he got elected California attorney general despite Oakland’s murder rate. 

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is also white. San Francisco city has also seen a homicide wave in multiple neighborhoods. 

But neither Johnson nor any Chronicle columnist has blamed these murders on Newsom’s lack of leadership, nor should they. Newsom gets no blame despite being mayor for nearly four years, while Dellums is castigated after seven months. 

Of course, any Chronicle columnist attacking Newsom the way Johnson goes after Dellums would quickly be looking for a new job. The paper’s editors simply would not tolerate it. 

As for Newark, New Jersey Mayor Cory Booker, his city witnessed an execution-style murder of three African-American college students, and the wounding of a fourth. This nightmarish squashing out of some of the best and brightest of the community’s youth horrified the city, and infuriated Mayor Booker. 

Allies of former longtime mayor Sharpe James—and the DVD, “Street Fight” about his 2002 mayoral campaign against Booker, is a must—understandably used the brutal killings to attack the new mayor. But even the usually pro-Booker New York Times argued in an Aug. 10 editorial that “when Mr. Booker took office 13 months ago there were high hopes—in Newark and nationally—that he would bring the city together and turn it around. The killings have dimmed those hopes and further divided the city.” 

So forget about Newark’s lack of a tax base, its rundown federally-funded public housing, and the lack of federal economic development investment in the city: it is up to Booker, not the President or Congress, to turn the situation around. 

And what should/can Booker do? According to the Times, “he owes it to everyone to renew his efforts to end the mayhem and crack down on the underlying problem of gang activity. Mr. Booker can start by going from neighborhood to neighborhood and asking ministers, community leaders, parents and others for their help and suggestions on what to do. 

Think Booker already has not done this, particularly during his mayoral campaigns in 2002 and 2006? 

Does the Times really believe that such action would have stopped a sociopath (since captured) from engaging in these senseless killings? 

Times columnist Bob Herbert has been among the most insightful and persistent voices on the rising violence especially plaguing black communities. Herbert has frequently predicted that the lack of federal investment in these communities would result in rising violence and gang activity. He also holds African-American parents and community leaders responsible for not doing more to instill anti-violence attitudes in youth. 

But Herbert has never been foolish enough to blame black mayors for the violence in their cities. He understands that mayors’ have no power to raise the billions of dollars necessary to solve the problems faced by their low-income constituents. 

Nor do mayors decide where federal dollars are spent (and if they did, as evidenced by the annual report of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, federal urban spending would be dramatically higher). 

Americans are delusional if they believe that the nation can spend billions on overseas invasions without paying a steep price at home. And holding local black mayors accountable for these priorities, while ignoring the true wrongdoers, is shameful. 

Randy Shaw is editor of BeyondChron.org, where this article first appeared.

Happy New Year! That’s right. In Berkeley, the end of August is the beginning of a new year for many of us—for students, for teachers and researchers, and for many of the thousands of service workers who make life easier for them. The University of California is our largest employer, with the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley City College, the Berkeley Unified School District and several independent schools bringing many more students and employees to town every fall. 

And though Berkeley is the center of all of this academic activity, it doesn’t stop at the Berkeley borders. An ever-increasing percentage of those who are drawn here by our educational institutions live outside the city limits, even though they still think of themselves as being “at Berkeley.”  

What this means is that every year about this time thousands and thousands of new readers are discovering the exciting urban area we call the East Bay. East of what, you may ask. Well, on the other side of the Bay Bridge you’ll find what is sometimes called the West Bay Area, but it’s more familiarly known nationally as San Francisco. It’s a fine city in its own right, but here on our side of San Francisco Bay we have a good sampling of the best of everything to be found in what many of us think, with no false modesty, is the best place to live in the world.  

We’d like to help you to get to know this great area and to get to know the Berkeley Daily Planet at the same time. The Planet is a very unusual publication, appropriate for a unique area like the East Bay. In the first place, despite the name (a tribute to Clark Kent’s paper in Superman lore) it’s published twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays. Then, it’s an independent paper, locally owned, not part of any chain. This is important because almost all of the papers you’re likely to see here are now part of corporate conglomerates. The Media News corporation has recently swallowed up almost every paper in a ring around San Francisco, from the once-great San Jose Mercury News all the way down to the “East Bay” Daily News, one of a string of similarly named papers with almost identical content. In fact, on any given day in Berkeley you might pick up three or four Media News papers with different mastheads but many stories repeated verbatim. 

And the San Francisco Chronicle is now part of the Hearst empire and, sad to say is being dumbed-down at a rapid rate. Many of its best writers and editors have recently departed for greener pastures, and fluff rules on the front page.  

The Planet is one of the few papers left in the United States which refuses to talk down to its readers. Our surveys tell us that the New York Times is the other paper read regularly by people who read the Planet, and our readers also get a lot of their state, national and international news from the Internet. But for a serious look at what’s happening around here, news that you need to know because it will affect you, there’s no substitute for picking up a Planet twice a week.  

Our opinion section is probably the most informative part of the paper. We don’t just present “both sides”—in Berkeley (and everywhere in the East Bay) issues have many sides. We show them all, hotly debated by our literate reader-contributors, and not just as two-hundred-word soundbyte letterettes.  

But we’re not all serious all the time. There are a lot of things to enjoy about life in the East Bay, and we want to help our readers find out about them. That’s the purpose of this special issue, which doesn’t contain any hard news at all. Instead, it’s a guide to just a few of the amazing resources that make our home—now perhaps your new home—a special place. Save it. You’ll use it again and again.  

One thing that makes our area, and especially Berkeley, different from places you might have lived in before, is the surprising number of owner-operated businesses. The Planet is just one of them. There are a lot more, many of them our loyal advertisers. 

Next Sunday a free outdoor event in Berkeley’s charming Fourth Street shopping area will celebrate the kind of transition that seldom happens elsewhere. A chain store is being replaced by a unique, locally owned store (which has, however, an international reputation). Hear Music, since 1999 just an arm of the enormous Starbucks chain, is out, and Down Home Music, one of the few businesses which deserve the over-used adjective “legendary,” is in. The elegant digs, originally designed for Hear in its pre-Starbucks incarnation by Fourth Street czar Denny Abrams, remain intact in a historic building, and some of the knowledgeable Hear staff members are staying on. 

Down Home’s original store, which will stay open, has been in a strip mall in El Cerrito. It was founded in 1976 by the also-legendary Chris Strachwitz. He’s the genius behind Arhoolie Records, the repository of every conceivable kind of what is loosely called roots music from around the country and the world. The party will feature some of Down Home’s artists who are based in the East Bay: Eric and Suzy Thompson, Barbara Dane, Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum, Johnny Harper, Los Cenzontles, Alexa Weber Morales, and the Tri Tip Trio Zydeco Band, plus special surprise guests. It’s at 1809 Fourth St. in Berkeley on Sunday, Aug. 26, from noon to 5 p.m. 

Photograph by Michael O’Malley. 

Founder Chris Strachwitz discusses news of the music world at his new Down Home Music store on Fourth Street with Dwayne Sparks, booker for Kimball’s, which is rehabilitating the old UC theater in downtown Berkeley for a new jazz club.

First, let me vaccinate myself: “The left is ... easily distracted, currently by the phantasm of impeachment. Why all this clamor to launch a proceeding surely destined to fail, aimed at a duo who will be out of the White House in 16 months? Pursue them for war crimes after they’ve stepped down. Mount an international campaign of the sort that has Henry Kissinger worrying at airports that there might be a lawyer with a writ standing next to the man with the limo sign. Right now the impeachment campaign is a distraction from the war and the paramount importance of ending it.” 

That’s Alexander Cockburn in The Nation, nobody’s limousine liberal, a man who has devoted his life to being lefter-than-thou and funnier about it to boot, and he’s not pushing impeachment. Nor is he even urging anyone to run against the poor bedraggled congressional Democrats, though he can’t resist roasting them because they haven’t managed to get much done with their thin majority (quelle surprise!). So please don’t jump on me for agreeing with him that impeachment is a foolish fantasy. 

But getting down to brass tacks, electing a Democratic president instead of the Bush-Cheney-Rove-Gonzales axis is bound to make some difference. I’m doing my periodic poll of some of the opinion leaders in my print universe. In brief, Bob Scheer, George Lakoff, Alex Cockburn, Katha Pollitt and Barbara Ehrenreich have all said publicly that they don’t find Hillary Clinton very appealing, but that they do find Barack Obama surprisingly so. They all express skepticism, in varying degrees, about the Democratic party, the Democratic Leadership Council and the Democrats in Congress, but realistically, no one denies that the Dems are what we’ve got to work with if we want to dump the bad guys. 

There’s a lingering undercurrent of affection for John Edwards’ populist rhetoric, and some think Richardson might be a possibility. Scheer, however, speaks strongly against Richardson because he was energy secretary when Wen Ho Lee was kept in solitary for many months for something he didn’t do, which Scheer blames on Richardson. The sentimental favorite is Al Gore, who might descend from policy-wonk heaven at the last minute as a deus ex machina to save the day, but probably won’t.  

That leaves Obama as what used to be called in less enlightened times The Great White Hope, though it’s obviously inappropriate here. The Obama candidacy isn’t really about race at all, oddly enough, despite his African father. To his credit, he has embraced the experience of the African-American descendants of slaves who share his genetic background, but his history is not theirs. His family of origin was white and upper middle-class, with the attendant privileges, including education at private schools like the excellent Punahou School in comfortably multi-ethnic Hawaii. Nevertheless, it would be a very good thing for America to finally have a person of color in the bully pulpit, if he gets there. 

The cynic is tempted to view him as just another Harvard Law Review president: smart as a whip, ambitious, a smooth talker, but aren’t they all? But the recent dust-up with Hillary Clinton shows him from another angle: quick to speak from what seem to be deep-seated principles, not a fence-sitter or an artful dodger like many another smart lawyer (including Bill Clinton.) Hillary C. came off poorly in the exchange, jumping all over Obama for saying that he might be willing to sit down and talk to the miscellaneous bad actors now visible on the world stage. Whatever happened to the great line someone wrote for JFK’s inaugural address: “Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate”? Maybe Hillary was still a Goldwater Girl at that point.....or was she in junior high in Illinois? Either way, she should know about it, and she doesn’t seem to. 

Then there was the back-and-forth about who’s ready to nuke and who’s not. Again, Obama’s reflex answer to a poorly-phrased question—that he doesn’t favor the nuclear option—was criticized by Hillary and her supporters. But he’s right and she’s wrong. Period.  

Both of these exchanges reveal more about her than about him. Many a candidate has talked peace in the campaign and made war later, including John Kennedy, but the ones who talk war even on the pre-election circuit usually find a way to use force later on. Sadly, women are often tempted to act macho just in case anyone suspects them of not being men: viz. Dianne Feinstein, police groupie, or Margaret Thatcher, who went to war with Argentina over the Falkland Islands. (Who can remember where the Falklands are anymore?) 

The DLC crowd, the centrists who believe that trying to please everyone is the sure road to electoral success, have been quick to praise Hillary for blurring the lines between herself and the average Republican. The problem with that is that there are few average Republicans any more. The voters are now exhibiting an overwhelming anxiety about the ongoing Iraq war which crosses party lines and brings together many strands of opinion. Isolationism, the traditional Republican fear of foreign entanglements of every kind, is kicking in, and is being woven together with the traditional pacifism of the otherwise internationalist Democratic left.  

Henrik Hertzberg, a good writer and often a clear head, makes light in the current New Yorker of the Clinton-Obama clashes, dismissing them as “squabbles” and looking forward to more substantive debates. But the world now moves faster than we might like it to, and on a fast track reflexes count—and Obama’s look pretty darn good.  

He seems to be too smart to let himself get run down in the middle of the road. Hillary on the other hand, who after all did vote for the Iraq invasion and stuck with that bad decision for way too long, seems to be to continuing the dead armadillo posture. For the two or three of you who might not know what that is, Jim Hightower wrote a book entitled There’s Nothing in the Middle of the Road Except Yellow Lines and Dead Armadillos. More Democrats, the Clintons included, should read it and take its wisdom to heart.  

• 

A LOCAL JEWEL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The Berkeley Art Center is an undervisited jewel. This tiny , beautiful building astrides a creek just east of Live Oak Park, 1275 Walnut St., 644-6893, www.berkeleyartcenter.org. It feaures changing exhibits of local artisits and other themes of interest to the community exquisitely displayed. The site is serene and beautiful.  

Ruth Bird 

• 

END OF THE PIER 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Proceed to the foot of University Avenue and over the viaduct. Continue straight (except for the bend) down Marina Boulevard to its end and park. Walk to the end of the pier. 

You will find yourself in the middle of a sphere, whose equator consists of buildings, bridges, ships, peaks, and ranges, even lights. 

This is best done late in the day, although pre-breakfast is cool, too. 

Phil Allen 

OBAMA IS NOT READY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I usually admire and agree with Becky O’Malley’s editorials, but this time I could not disagree more. Obama may be very attractive by his youth and forcefulness but he is immature and not prepared for such an important job as the presidency. He seems like a young dog on the attack and lumping the Bushes and Clintons together was ridiculous. When he raised the possibility of sending troops to Pakistan, it raised the specter of another endless Iraq war, totally antagonizing the Muslim world when diplomacy and helping their economy can do more good. Obama needs to grow up. 

There are a lot of very good candidates running. My favorite is John Edwards, who is totally intent on helping the poor and starting a comprehensive health care plan in this country. I believe he would also make a good diplomat and might be able to repair the horrible damage that has been done by this presidency. Let us make friends, not war. 

Andree Leenaers 

• 

TELEGRAPH WOES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Judith Scherr, in her Aug. 17 article, has finally punctured the inflated myth that there is anything at all wrong with Telegraph Avenue that can be blamed on the poor. Bravo! And please issue her some Kevlar. 

Carol Denney 

• 

ANONYMOUS CALLER 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

An anonymous caller to the Daily Planet, who claims to be a frequent reader of the paper, left a charming message accusing me of liberal hypocrisy based on his notion that I haven’t drawn a cartoon about Rent Board Member Chris Kavanagh’s questionable Berkeley residency. The man’s theory is that I don’t criticize leftist people or causes, and that I—and others who fall into his broad category of “liberals”—only see what we want to see. 

I would refer the misinformed caller to the Aug. 14 issue of the Daily Planet, which included precisely the cartoon he accuses me of avoiding, regarding Kavanagh’s legal and ethical hedging. I would also refer the caller to the dozen or so cartoons I drew about the Berkeley mayoral election, which included criticisms of Mayor Bates and all his challengers, each one of whom would certainly identify themselves as left of Bates. He might also check out the many cartoons in which I have pointed out the hypocrisy, timidity and lack of vision of the Democrats in Congress over the past seven years. This is just to get him started. Other examples may be found at www.jfdefreitas.com. 

While I certainly skew left in my politics, the primary subject matter for political cartoonists is the hypocrisy, cowardice, inflated egos, and general wrong-headedness of politicos of all stripes. And while there is certainly no shortage of material in local, state or federal government, I am always eager for more. Thus I strongly urge the caller to seek public office.  

Justin DeFreitas 

Daily Planet Editorial Cartoonist 

• 

YOUTH COMMUNITY WALK  

IS MAKING A DIFFERENCE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

With its second walk, 50 percent more South and West Berkeley youth walked to protest violence, reclaimed their neighborhoods, cleaned up and noted needed changes. What a model youth have set for Berkeley’s adults!  

Led by Berkeley United Youth in Action (BUYA) and Berkeley Organizing Congregations for Action (BOCA), walk participants began building a better community and changing mistaken perceptions about youth. Isn’t it amazing how much difference a walk makes? It would be great to have Youth Community Walk continue as a regular event, documenting ongoing community change.  

Walk&Roll Berkeley congratulates everyone involved in this effort. If your youth organization, neighborhood association, church group, child care, senior, community center or other group would like to organize walks or learn more about walkable communities, contact Walk&Roll Berkeley at 883-9725 or e-mail wrb@americawalks.org . 

Wendy Alfsen  

Coordinator, Walk&Roll Berkeley 

• 

STUDENTS ON  

CITY COMMISSIONS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

One of our city councilmembers thinks it is a good idea to appoint lots of students to city commissions. Your recent article states that he has 10 current student appointees (out of around 40 total).  

At a recent fundraiser in Omaha, Nebraska, Sen. Obama said, “When people say they are looking for experience, what they really mean is judgment. The assumption is experience is a proxy for judgment and in some cases it is...” but, because he has less experience than his competition, he went on to address exceptions to that assumption and gave examples of people who had lots of experience and no judgment, e.g., Dick Cheney. His general statement is easy to agree with. I know that what I want above all in elected officials (and appointed commissioners) is good judgment and good thinking, and yes I assume that usually, although not always, good judgment goes with experience.  

If we can agree that it is desirable for councilmembers to appoint persons who have good judgment to our boards and commissions, what is the best way for a councilmember to accomplish that? Does it include deliberately de-selecting people with experience in the interest of “diversity”? Or is it possible that it might not be good judgment to hand over a significant portion of the appointments in our city’s policy advisory bodies to inexperienced students just because they are students? 

Can we not simply observe the obvious about why this particular councilmember appoints lots of students? His district is composed primarily of students, and students elected him. For him to proselytize his appointment criteria as having a broader significance for the cause of human rights in Berkeley, putting it in the same league with issues of race and racism, is disingenuous. On the other hand, I suppose it is possible that he could instead be one of those exceptions that Sen. Obama referred to as having lots of experience and no judgment. 

Dennis White  

• 

FLUORIDE IN THE WATER 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I have received several phone calls from folks responding to my letter to the editor regarding fluoride in water. For those of you who would like more information about fluoride, you can contact a local holistic health group: Health Medicine Center, 3799 Mt. Diablo Blvd. (adjacent to Lafayette Reservoir), Lafayette CA 94549. (925) 962-3799. 

These folks put on regular Health Forums, and recently did a series of these on fluoride. 

Also, there is an organization called Protect Our Water Alliance, who is concerned about the problems with fluoridation. They can be reached at www.powalliance.org Protect Our Water is circulating a petition to Congress, asking them to re-consider the mandatory fluoridation of our water. 

Yolanda Huang 

• 

GREEN PARTY CANDIDATES 

SHUT OUT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Green Party candidates are being systematically shut out of debates all over the country. When this happens, democracy loses. Voters have a right to know which candidate best represents their values. When debate sponsors bar candidates, they violate this right. Recent polls show that the majority of Americans believe the war in Iraq was wrong and want to bring our troops home now. The majority of Americans support the right for everyone to have healthcare, living wages, and renewable energy choices. Americans are disgusted by the influence of corporations in politics and want a change to politics as usual. Democratic and Republican candidates all across the United States take millions in corporate campaign contributions. The public has a right to hear from candidates from the Green Party who represent We the People over big business interest. Please get the word out there so we as Americans can make a change for the better. Will the Daily Planet do this for us? For the people, show the truth on the Green Party and how they are fighting for the people unlike our Republicans and Democrats who only hold the values of the big corporations that support their pocket book. We need change in 2008, we need a better way for Americans we need to break the boundaries that have been holding us back. If the media don’t show the truth then what good are the media ?  

Robert Gapen 

• 

RESPONSE REGARDING  

STICKY SIDEWALKS ON  

UNIVERSITY AVENUE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It’s the damn trees! They attract aphids who secrete the goo. If only the city would replace these trees with a more suitable street tree, not only would the sidewalks not stick to our shoes but the buildings next to the trees would not have the black rain on them and their windows, and cars parked beneath would not drive away with nearly unremovable spots. Also, it is not just University. Try walking down Addison some time and then tracking the goo and the leaves stuck to the bottom of your foot into the house. It is an unpleasant experience all the way around. 

Constance Wiggins 

• 

LAB PROJECTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

We have until Aug. 24 to submit written comments for the draft environmental impact report on two gigantic new Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory projects 

• Helios Energy Research Facility for biofuel research with BP, including 160,000-square-foot building, access road, and parking lot. 

• Computational Research and Theory Facility, including a 150,000-square-foot facility for computer and offices, plus access roads. 

These projects planned for Strawberry Canyon are next to and associated with the six-story Nanotech “Molecular Foundry.” This frightening project was slipped in without City Council requesting an EIR, under the “improved university relations” of a Mayor Bates majority. The new projects are two of approximately 15 huge buildings LBNL would like to build in Strawberry Canyon. These developments would include deforestation and paving acres of Canyon land, and yet are being called “Green” by LBNL. The area is still contaminated from previous Lab/DOE projects, is crisscrossed with earthquake fault zones, and is at risk of fire and landslide.The Canyon contains an aquifer with pristine waters. 

If you send your comments as questions, that will ensure they are answered. (And saves time!) 

For some terrific articles on this subject: 

• See Richard Brenneman’s Daily Planet headline article covering the lively public Scoping Session for this project (Aug. 10), and his other articles on LRDP, biofuels research, BP, UC dumping toxics in Richmond. View on line. 

• Relevant Contra Costa Times articles on line: Lab workers suffer fallout (July 1) quoting former Lawrence Berkeley and Lawrence Livermore Lab employees who have become very sick and are trying to get federal compensation for illness. For the photos and stories, go to ContraCostaTimes.com. Also see CC Times “Reconsidering Nuclear Power” (July 5) quotes UCB Labs Director Dr. Steven Chu saying that “nuclear power must be considered.” 

Written comments may be sent by regular mail or e-mail to: Jeff Philliber, Environmental Planning Coordinator,  

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, One Cyclotron Road, MS 90J-0120, Berkeley, CA 94720. 

Merrilie Mitchell  

• 

2507 McGEE AVENUE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As a tenant of Dr. Rash B. Ghosh, I am distressed to hear of the City of Berkeley’s misguided requirements to make expensive structural changes and to coerce the owner of the building at 2507 McGee Ave. The city planners should be embarrassed by this debacle. 

A full year and a half late, construction completed in March 1998, and under the dubious guidance of Mark Rhoades, the approval for the construction was arbitrarily reversed in a meeting where Dr. Ghosh was unable to attend. The City of Berkeley continues with its plans to give the building to the developer, Ali Kashani, Mr. Rhoades’ future employer. Does this debate not reek of the profiteering pursued by our current president’s legislation? I ask the members of the Berkeley City Council, are you no better than the president whom you have voted to impeach? This action is a shameful performance of coercion of an outstanding citizen, shame on you. 

Dr. Ghosh took over this building in 1991 and has worked consistently to improve it according to the city’s direction. This was built in 1992 with a separate building permit approved by the inspector, Mr. Robert Kandel. His plans were approved by city zoning and building for construction which was duly executed. In a March 4 e-mail, Bill Coburn, the architect for the project since 2000, writes, “During the time I have worked on this project all effort has been put onto the third floor excluding the eastern portion of the third floor.” Now Assistant City Attorney Zach Cowan wants to remove the eastern portion of the roof which has existed for fifteen years! 

I have now been a tenant of Dr. Ghosh for many months and assure you that this building is in an excellent state of repair. That said, and with the architect’s instance that the construction was done in accord with court orders, how can this debate still continue? 

Dr. Rash B. Ghosh is an unselfish scientist and constructive citizen, a kind neighbor, and a compassionate landlord. He is the founder of the International Institute of the Bengal Basin, a non-profit organization that is strongly supported and advised by three Nobel Laureates, Linus Pawling, Glenn T. Seaborg, and Charles Townes. For his many years of good works to our world and community, including housing low income and senior citizens of Berkeley, is this how we thank him? Do we reward a man who is an advocate for the comfort and well-being of Berkeley tenants by taking away his home? This cannot be your solution. Please reconsider this outrageous issue and come to a more responsible solution. 

Steven Wilson 

• 

MARK RHOADES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It is about time Berkeley residents knew more about Planning and Development Director Mark Rhoades, who resigned his $133,000-per-year job on Aug. 10. Some city staff told the Planet that Rhoades might work for developer Ali Kashani, who affirms that possibility. 

We are tenants at 2507 McGee Ave. in Berkeley, a property Mr. Rhoades wanted to put in receivership. Who is the proposed receiver for our home? Ali Kashani. 

But we aren’t the only people who know Rhoades’ methods. The Planet quotes Sharon Hudson: “Under the cover of public service, Rhoades skillfully manipulated rules to benefit favored developers, and destroyed trust between Berkeley residents and their government.” Councilmember Dona Spring asked whether a Planning staff member [How about the director?] “should be such a strong advocate for one aspect of development ...” Planner Steve Wollmer: “Rhoades did much to damage the City, and now will be on the other side.” 

We who live at 2507 McGee Ave. know. Mr. Rhoades has affected our lives badly. Dr. Rash B. Ghosh, the founder of a non-profit at this address, and the owner of the property, bought it in 1991 when it was blighted, and with city encouragement, began at once to remedy its greatly deferred maintenance. He got proper permits, did the work exactly as specified, and city inspectors approved and signed for the completed work—such as reinforcing an earthquake-weakened foundation, and re-roofed the building. Several years later, the city decided, “We should not have issued those permits,” and made demands that Dr. Ghosh undo needed repairs he had made. 

Rhoades took the issue to Municipal Court, where Commissioner John Rantzmann, on hearing city staff admit their errors, created a settlement offer. But Rhoades rejected it, and the case was dismissed. But then Rhoades took the matter to City Council, and held hearings when the building owner was out of the country. He persuaded City Council to declare the property “a public nuisance.” Rhoades also urged the council to insist on expensive changes back to the property’s former structure (including to its weak, original, city-rejected foundation). City staff said they knew Dr. Ghosh couldn’t afford those (unnecessary) changes. But Rhoades insisted the property go into receivership otherwise. 

Now, although Dr. Gosh has received condo conversion approval, Rhoades still pushed for the same pointless changes, or that the building be put into receivership. Rhoades’ developer buddy Ali Kashani is his first choice of receiver, despite that the Institute—a non-profit—holds one mortgage and has compete ability to be the receiver, if one is needed. Meanwhile, we stand to lose our homes and work at the non-profit International Institute of the Bengal Basin, which does much to help the ecology of the United States and Asia. 

What a legacy Mr. Rhoades leaves! We hope it will be reversed, and soon, before we lose everything, for no one’s gain but a developer’s. 

Megan C. Timberlake 

• 

BUS TRIP PLANNING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Being a dedicated Berkeley bus rider, I’d like to offer some transit-oriented help to Zelda Bronstein (The Public Eye, Aug. 10). First, bus line 43 in her neighborhood is now called line 18. AC Transit inundated the buses with fliers explaining this and the other June changes well before the changes were made. I’ll admit that even somebody like me thought that too much was changed at one time. Regular riders of the changed lines probably adapted quickly, but it was certainly confusing for people who don’t ride the buses frequently. I make it my business to keep current about riding the Berkeley buses. I don’t look down on people without a high level of this urban skill. Other people have complained to me about the menu-driven run-around one gets on the phone or on the website. Personally, I never have used the phone to get bus information. I do use the Web, but I go for the MTC’s “Trip Planner.” 

The Trip Planner accepts a starting and ending street address (always give “st,” “ave,” “blvd,” etc.) and generates a list of buses and times to do the trip. A little thoughtfulness and common sense are required, because like all software, the planner sometimes comes up with absurd solutions. I can usually use the Planner find out which bus serves my destination, then call up the bus schedule if I am unhappy with the details the planner gives me. I don’t think transit patrons should depend on any of AC Transit’s information systems for regular bus riding. It’s much more comfortable to know the system – which buses go where for what you need. This skill can be quickly acquired with a little practice and patience. I’ve got to the point where I know how to get anywhere in Berkeley on a bus, where to catch those buses and about how often they run. I don’t carry bus schedules at all—nor do I know the detailed schedules of most buses. As a public service, and because I think it’s a fun challenge, I’m willing to help anyone figure out bus transportation anywhere in Berkeley, Albany, North Oakland, or El Cerrito. I’ll even try dealing with any other part of the Bay Area. Just send an e-mail to stgeller@comcast.net. No charge. No menu. 

Steve Geller 

• 

GUNS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Obviously, I believe that my opinion that guns are properly used in self-defense correlates with the facts. I would only be dishonest if I gave an opinion that I knew to be untrue. Which makes no sense. I never wrote that Clear was dishonest, only wrong. Clear’s assertion that people without guns are more likely to walk away is meaningless. How would he know? If more would-be robbers were deterred by guns that would be great rather than just reading about more victims in your Police Blotter. By the way, I’ve known a number of people who lived in Switzerland and they tell me that gun ownership there is widespread contrary to James Sayre. If there’s one book that can shed light here it’s More Guns, Less Crime by John R. Lott.  

It is a better venue for exploring the issue in depth than brief letters. 

Michael P. Hardesty 

Oakland 

P.S.: Would someone tell Mr. Clear that Trader Joe’s, Wholesale Outlet and Berkeley Bowl ARE supermarkets? 

• 

A FEW FACTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The discussion about guns continues, and some writers have mentioned the importance of stating facts as opposed to opinion. Here are some facts and their sources: (1) Fifteen national polls, including those organized by Gallup/L.A. Times, imply that there are 760,000 to 3.6 million defensive uses of any type of gun per year (p. 11, from More Guns Less Crime by John R. Lott, Jr: a valuable in-depth statistical study of the correlation between crime and gun control laws). (2) Some 98 percent of the time armed citizens merely have to brandish their gun to stop an attack. Contrary to popular belief, criminals take the gun away from the victim in less than 1% of such confrontations (p. 240, Guns and Violence, The English Experience, by Joyce Lee Malcolm). (3) In England, guns have been all but banned. Between 1989 and 1995, violent crime in England soared 500 percent. Since 1995, English rates of violent crime have been higher than American rates (p. 225, ibid.). Robberies in England and Wales were 1.4 times higher than in America and far more likely to take place while the residents were at home (p.165, ibid.). (4) The rate of violent crimes was found to be 81 percent lower in U.S. states with laws allowing citizens to carry concealed weapons (p. 428, ibid.). (5) 36 U.S. states presently have “shall issue” concealed carry laws which allow anyone who can legally own a gun to obtain a concealed carry permit. (This is an especially important point for those taking a position against concealed carry to consider. The argument often is, that if we allow people to carry concealed, loaded firearms, there’ll be a bloodbath. In the 36 states where this HAS been allowed, there has been NO bloodbath. In Florida, for instance, only “one fifth of one percent of concealed carry permit holders had their permits revoked” (p.76 Shooting Straight by Wayne LaPierre). It should be noted that, as is the case in Nevada, CCW permits can be revoked for reasons not having to do with use of firearms. Getting a DUI will cause a revocation of a CCW. (6) Within a few weeks when my papers arrive, I will have permits to carry concealed weapons in 31 states, and if I chose could get permits to carry in the other 5. Some people in rural counties can obtain permits to carry in California (and these allow carry throughout the state), but urban counties such as Alameda are notorious for denying residents such permits. Does it make sense that in 36 states I can legally carry a loaded gun on my person most everywhere I go, but that I cannot do so in my own state?  

The above facts have to do with self-defense from criminal acts. Our founding fathers also had the concern that the people be armed so that they could defend themselves from an oppressive government, which is what they had just experienced. Aaron Zelman, who heads the organization Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, stated, based on his research in the book Death by Gun Control: “Gun control laws cleared the way for 7 major genocides between 1915 and 1980.”  

Facts are important. In an anti-gun climate as we have in the Bay Area, those advocating gun control can readily find support when they make statements or pass gun control laws that have no foundation in facts. It is important to look at whole patterns, statistical studies, and not simply form an opinion based on a fear or prejudice that one has. That Chauncey Bailey could not have saved his life if he’d been armed does not mean that no one who is armed can defend their lives. (See the book Thank God I Had a Gun by Chris Bird, which gives several examples of people who saved their lives because they were armed.) Blown Away by Caitlin Kelly is a good book that presents both sides of the gun debate.  

Deborah Cloudwalker 

Oakland 

• 

LETTER TO THE  

CITY ATTORNEY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Please print this letter that we mailed to the city attorney. 

Dear Ms. Albuquerque, 

We are puzzled that we received a response from the city clerk (copy enclosed) to our July 15 letter addressed to the mayor and City Councilmembers; Subject: July 17, 2007, Meeting Violated the Brown Act, Council Procedures, a copy of which was received in your office. 

We were surprised that the city clerk offered legal opinions in her letter and would appreciate your informing us if you concur. 

Our letter pointed out that the 20-minute presentation by an EBMUD director at the July 17 council meeting was not listed on the agenda. The Brown Act requires that all matters to come before a legislative body’s meeting must be included in the meeting’s agenda and posted 72 hours before the meeting. Allowing a presentation not listed on the agenda not only violated the Brown Act, but the Council’s own Rules of Procedure and Order which state “any request for a presentation to the Council will be submitted as an agenda item and follow the timelines for submittal of agenda reports” (Section III Agenda C.4. Scheduling a Presentation, Resolution 63,690-N.S.) 

The city clerk states the mayor introduced this 20-minute presentation on a potential water shortage as a ceremonial item, and therefore agenda listing was not required. A presentation by any name is still a presentation! Calling it by another name does not excuse non-compliance with the law.  

Our letter also brought to the attention of the City Council that correspondence received by councilmembers, and referred to by a speaker at the Public Hearing on the B Town Dollar Store, was requested at the meeting by an audience member. The requester was told that the letter was only available “on-line.” This also violated the Brown Act (Gov. Code 54957.5), which states “…writings, when distributed to a legislative body…by any person in connection with a matter subject to…consideration at a public meeting of the body… shall be made available on request without delay.” The city clerk’s response, that there was a copy of the letter in a supplemental packet in the viewing binder in Council Chambers and a copy in the lobby which someone may have removed, neither justifies the answer given to the requester, nor meets the requirements of the law. Ample copies of supplemental agenda packets should be available to the public, and, if they run out and requests are made for more, a clerk directed to make additional copies. 

We reiterate our expectation, spelled out in our July 25 letter, that these violations of the Brown Act be cured and corrected by the council through rescinding the actions taken on July 17, the meeting having been held in violation of open meeting laws, and a meeting be rescheduled to revisit the items on that agenda. 

Jane Welford 

Executive Secretary 

SuperBOLD 

Veteran California Congressman George Miller (Democrat, 7th district) told members of the National Press Club a couple of weeks ago that he will introduce a swatch of changes to Public Law 107-110, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, when it comes up for reauthorization this fall.  

The perversely labeled No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act was ceremoniously signed by Bush on January 8, 2002 in a bipartisan photo op in which two of his political enemies, Miller of the House and Kennedy of the Senate, wore smiles that marked them as the law’s proud co-parents. Sad to say, NCLB does for school children what the equally perversely dubbed Patriot Act does for adults; NCLB is as antithetical to learning as PA is to civil liberties. Flip a coin and decide which of the two most deserves killing. 

With four college degrees on my resume I am qualified to execute NCLB. I spent 35 years in education, all of them in the classroom, two in China, 17 simultaneously as administrator. I worked at six Bay Area public and private schools. My students ranged from eleven year olds to middle aged graduates and all ages in between.  

Alas, although qualified and willing I am not in a position to do the killing. I shall state what I’ve learned that proves why NCLB merits the death penalty.  

All the world’s a school and all the teachers in it merely players whose careers unfold through several stages. 

First we are excited and joyous at the prospect of getting paid to perform daily before a captured audience. Then comes the satisfaction and thrill of telling about and explaining things that students might not otherwise encounter. Fourth comes struggle, jousting with parents and coping with mandated non-scholastic intrusions. Excitement, enjoyment and satisfaction strengthens you and you arrive at the fortitude stage that lifts you to the level of confidence which lead, finally to the last stage of all, oblivion regarding anything that intrudes upon the relationship between you and your students.  

I am forever grateful that the curtain came down on my performances before the arrival of NCLB.  

This law sets up a process deemed appropriate to make each school accountable for what it exists to do. Based on specially designed averaging of its students’ test scores a school is assigned a rating and this rating, according to NCLB, indicates the academic proficiency of that school. This is like rating a hospital according to an amalgamated assessment of its patients’ health. [Well, not quite, because no one is mandated to spend five days a week in the hospital, as children are mandated to attend school, but you get the point.] 

NCLB further creates five proficiency categories: Advanced, Proficient, Basic, Below Basic and Far Below Basic. The Department of Education then assigns each school to a category. Despite the obvious fact that “good” schools often turn out poor students and “poor” schools produce good students (ask any student), NCLB makes student proficiency the measure of school proficiency. The effect is logical sleight of hand, a misappropriation of predicates; equating the locus of an activity, the school, with the activity it exists to accomplish, proficiency in learning. 

This much has always been true. Schools exist to provide for the young a portion of mental development that parents, for various reasons, are incapable of giving. Districts manage schools wherein teachers strive to impart knowledge and facilitate learning.  

This much has always been true. Learning takes place in the mind which cannot be scrutinized for, by the nature of things, no one can know the mind of another. Schools, therefore, cannot themselves be held accountable for learning any more than hospitals can be held accountable for wellness.  

How about teachers? 

Congressman Miller wants to add “pay for performance” which balances the threat of proficiency standards with legally sanctioned bribery. Forget the contention that will be aroused by Miller’s revival of “merit pay”—good teachers paid more than their inferior colleagues—there is inherent error in transferring standards where output is palpable, as in manufacturing, to an enterprise in which there is no visible output. Such a transference carries the frustration of trying to put a round peg in a square hole—teachers are not factory workers.  

More importantly, however, people who have little or no classroom experience are often satisfied with the belief that teachers cause learning which is simply not true (ask any student). I facilitated learning much as I imagine doctors facilitate health. I helped students, encouraged them, made it easier perhaps, led them to “water,” as it were, but, if they had no thirst for it, I could not make them learn.  

Teaching and learning are, therefore, not cause-effect related. Just as with schools, “good” teachers help poor students, “poor” teachers help good students, and so forth. All students know these things but politicians, evidently, do not, which is all the more perplexing because they too were once students.  

In formulating NCLB lawmakers and educationists who advised them appear to invoke a tried and true business principle: you can’t manage what you can’t measure. But in order to apply this principle to education one must assume that a score on a standardized test, say in math, actually measures ability to do math. It does not.  

Although a high score may correlate with competence it does not guarantee it and inversely, a low score may not be an indication of incompetence.  

Congressman Miller along with most school managers are inclined to overlook the fact that testing takes place under specific time, place and personal conditions any one of which might render a student’s score inaccurate, transitory and/or irrelevant.  

The accountability mechanism of NCLB, admired by some and scorned by others, is applied annually. If a school persistently falls below acceptable proficiency standards it will eventually be shut down, thereby ejecting the baby with the wash. 

Finally, cynicism leads me to suspect that NCLB was intended to fail, not by Miller perhaps but by some of his Republican colleagues who voted with him. My suspicion arises from the fact that the Republican majority in Congress never sufficiently funded the law; the money allocated covered so small a portion of what the law required that it was, metaphorically, stillborn.  

This much has always been true. Students’ minds are not passive receptacles into which knowledge can be poured but they are at once the seat and the source of learning.  

Why mourn the execution of NCLB? 

“Whatever does not spring from a man’s free choice, remains alien to his true nature.” 

—K. W. F. von Humboldt, Education Minister, Prussia, 1809-10.  

Marvin Chachere is a San Pablo resident.

Of all the news that came out of the recent Yearly Kos convention, the story that lingers in my mind tells how Hillary Clinton was put on the spot by San Francisco blogger Paul Hogarth. Hogarth, a lawyer who is the managing editor of the online newspaper BeyondChron (and a former member of the Berkeley Rent Board), pitched his humdinger in a break-out session with the senator. Writing online (of course), he recounted the exchange: 

“Senator Clinton,” I said. “My name is Paul Hogarth, and I am from BeyondChron in San Francisco. First, I’d like to thank you for having gone on the record saying that you would repeal ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,’ which passed during your husband’s administration. I want to ask you about four other pieces of legislation that happened in the Clinton years, and whether you would be willing to advocate their repeal—the Defense of Marriage Act, the Telecommunications Act, NAFTA, and the Welfare Bill.” 

Clinton’s response, Hogarth reported, “was absolutely awful.” Exposing herself “as an anti-progressive triangulator,” she ambiguously defended three of the four reactionary laws and blamed the fourth, the Telecommunications Act—which expedited the consolidation of the media a la Rupert Murdoch—on Al Gore.  

Even more interesting than the senator’s reply, however, is the fact that her dialogue with Hogarth happened at all, which is to say, the fact that a seasoned politician found herself having to answer a tough question in a public forum. Indeed, the candidate had apparently tried to ensure that the 30-minute Q & A would be a banal affair. Questioners were selected by her Internet Director, Peter Daou. As Hogarth tells it, until he was chosen, the senator’s knowledgeable staffer had called on four familiar and reliably unchallenging interrogators. But with only five minutes to go, Daou took a chance and picked Hogarth. That choice led to what the Washington Post called “the only moment of tension” in the program. That such uneasy moments are rare in the Clinton campaign is suggested by the attention that the mainstream press paid to this one: the Associated Press’s veteran correspondent Ron Fournier devoted a whole article to the senator’s uncharacteristic equivocations.  

But the episode revealed something far more more troubling than Hillary Clinton’s reluctance to grapple with her husband’s legislative legacy—namely, the sorry state of American political discourse. A pointed query caught a seasoned campaigner off guard precisely because it was so unexpected, just as the questioner knew it would be. “Politicians,” Hogarth later observed in BeyondChron, “are trained ‘stay on message.’” Public figures deflect disconcerting questions and comments with a variety of rhetorical defenses. They answer the question that they wish had been asked rather than the off-message one at hand. They dither and dally: Early in the break-out session, Clinton took nine minutes to respond to a softball query; by running the clock, she cut down the total number of questions she would have to field. Such diversionary tactics can be foiled by a good format and a competent moderator. Sad to say, nowadays a good format and a competent moderator are hard to find. The upshot is that Americans rarely witness a meaningful political debate, much less participate in one. 

That said, the Yearly Kos incident demonstrates that one well-crafted question can, if only momentarily, turn an innocuous, highly managed forum into a riveting event. Formulating such a question and then getting the chance to ask it requires a little luck and a lot of forethought. Hogarth offers some tips: “[N]ever walk into the room without having memorized the question you’re planning to ask.” He spent two days preparing his question for Clinton. “Ask an original question they don’t expect.” In this case, that meant not bringing up Iraq. “[U]nless my question [about Iraq] had been brilliant,” Hogarth explains, “she probably would have had a pre-arranged sound bite” for a response. “Avoid sounding mean and shrill.” Hogarth opened by thanking the senator for her willingness to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” “Wear a bright shirt.” Clinton’s Internet Director called on all the other questioners by name; he identified Hogarth as “the man in the red shirt.”  

For the complete list of Hogarth’s suggestions, see “I Stumped Hillary at Yearly Kos…So Can You,” in the BeyondChron archives for September 8, 2007. All his ideas are worthwhile; just remember that they work best when a would-be interlocutor is unknown to those running the show (Hogarth notes that it’s unlikely he’ll ever get called upon at another Clinton event). Even then, the show has to provide a genuine opportunity to ask a question in your own voice—none of this writing your question on a slip of paper and handing it to someone who hands it to the moderator, who may or may not choose to ask it, or who may rephrase it in terms that mangle your intent. Berkeley citizens deserve many more such opportunities, but that’s a subject for another column. For now, start working on your questions, and make sure your wardrobe includes a bright shirt. 

Zelda Bronstein is a former chair of the Planning Commission and ran for mayor in 2006.

TAXPAYER WASTE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Let me get this straight; The Berkeley Housing Authority decided to have a meeting at the plush Doubletree Hotel in Berkeley. 

Public speaking started at 8:45 a.m. and some preachers were there in praising the lord didn’t seem to get it that “to do unto others” is a fair and honest thing to do. Some people who have Section 8 housing vouchers called me and said they were upset because they could not get to the meeting in time because they didn’t have a car or cab fare. The meeting could have instead been held at the Berkeley Housing Authority. 

The average Section 8 tenant receives about $10,000 a year while the director of the Berkeley Housing Authority makes $100,000 a year. 

What’s next? Meetings and/or banquets at Chez Panisse? And why not? It’s only taxpayer money! 

Diane Villanueva 

• 

FRIENDS OF BUS RAPID TRANSIT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Friends of BRT supports the rerouting of the No. 19 bus line from University Avenue to Cedar Street in Berkeley because the rerouting improves transit service, at little extra cost to AC Transit, for residents along the Cedar Street corridor in Berkeley who are either unable to drive, bike, or walk—or prefer not to do so, by providing bus service to downtown Berkeley, the North Berkeley BART station, the Fourth Street shopping district, and other destinations along the Cedar and Sixth Street corridors in West Berkeley, as well as in Emeryville and Oakland.  

The voters of Berkeley recently passed Measure G which calls for Berkeley to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by the year 2050. Public transit has an important role to play in reducing these emissions. According to a report released by the City of Berkeley in June, “Climate Action in the City of Berkeley: A Framework Report for Community Review and Engagement”: “Gasoline and diesel consumption in our automobiles accounted for 47 percent of Berkeley’s total emissions in 2005, almost 293,000 tons of greenhouse gases. In fact, emissions from gasoline engines alone account for more emissions than all the residences in the City. This may well be the most difficult area for our reduction efforts. While overall population in the City has actually decreased in the last few decades, the number of vehicles has increased. 

Vehicle emissions are not just a problem from the perspective of global climate change, they also have serious local health impacts. Air pollution from cars contributes to respiratory problems, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. In the United States, as many as 100,000 deaths a year are blamed on vehicle emissions. Serious reductions in emissions from our automobiles will require an increase in vehicle fuel efficiency, a shift to cleaner fuels and a change in lifestyle. That is, we should expect technological improvements, but will still need to drive less.” Report is available at www.cityofberkeley.info/sustainable. See page 12 of report. The improved bus service will hopefully encourage some residents on the Cedar Street corridor who have lacked convenient access to transit to leave their cars at home and use public transit, thereby reducing pollution and congestion in Berkeley. 

Len Conly 

Co-Chair, Friends of BRT 

• 

KAVANAGH 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

This is simple.  

In what city does Chris Kavanagh sleep at night? 

Bob Marsh 

• 

KAVANAGH’S RESIDENCE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I have read the stories in the San Francisco Chronicle and the Daily Planet about Rent Board Commissioner Chris Kavanagh living in Oakland. Certainly, if he does not live in Berkeley, he should be forced to give up that job. 

What is also disturbing is that he appears to be represented in the eviction action by an attorney who received considerable funding from the Rent Board. It sounds like the contractor who does a big job at City Hall also doing a room addition for the mayor’s house. Someone should investigate that as, hopefully, Berkeley’s public money is not paying for any portion of a Rent Board member’s legal costs in a matter arising in Oakland. 

William J. Flynn 

• 

TAKING THE CHALLENGE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Doug Buckwald finished his piece in the Tuesday Planet with the following: “I say we’ve had enough misrepresentation and argument by logical fallacy. Why not debate the issues and stick to verifiable facts? I hereby challenge Mr. Geller or Mr. Siegel or anyone else, for that matter to participate in a public debate on this issue. All I ask is that we choose an impartial moderator. Will anyone accept my challenge?” I accept that challenge. But after watching Doug Buckwald in action at numerous public meetings, I don’t want to waste anyone’s time with his interruptions, grandstanding, calls for a show of hands, speaking past his allotted time, poetry and general buffoonery. After his dishonest criticism of Sarah Syed, I don’t think any moderator would be willing to take the job. 

So I’d be delighted to debate Doug Buckwald right here on the pages of the Planet, where there will be a public record, and the editors can use their blue pencils to do the moderating. 

I’ll even start off the debate right now, with an issue of verifiable facts. Mr. Buckwald, his neighborhood friends and numerous fear-mongers among the Telegraph merchants have been claiming that the BRT will somehow harm retail business. I would like to know the factual basis of this claim. Are there any BRT implementations in the US which have harmed retail business along the route? This does not appear to be the case in Eugene, OR, for example. The dedicated lane for the N-Judah line in San Francisco does not appear to be destroying the shops and restaurants along Carl, Irving and Judah. 

I think the only real business harm could come from loss of parking, and AC Transit has promised to replace parking taken by BRT. If a BRT’s dedicated bus lanes harms business, I would like to know where this has actually happened. 

OK Doug, your bluff has been called. Since you want to stick to verifiable facts, tell me in what city has a BRT has hurt business by taking away car lanes. 

Steve Geller 

• 

SAVE THE OAKS AND  

STRAWBERRY CANYON 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Saving our mature trees is the most important thing we can do to stop global warming and save our planet. This is because trees grow by absorbing CO2 from the air and they produce the oxygen we breath in the process. The destruction of one 70-year-old tree returns over 3,000 tons of carbon to the atmosphere, according to the International Society of Arborculture, and the USDA Forest Service. 

Our mature trees are in big trouble all over the world because of development, ignorance, and global warming. These trees lower the air temperature by evaporating water during photosynthesis, and provide amazingly cooling shade. Save our trees! 

Merrilie Mitchell 

• 

A FEW STEPS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It is going to take a major effort to solve Oakland’s ongoing crime and violence problems. Adding CHP officers to the streets will do little; it is akin to throwing a couple of bricks into a flowing stream, the water will simply flow around these additional barriers. Rededicating city parks to “peace” will do little, if anything. 

We have thousands of poor people, mostly minorities, who are uneducated, jobless and severely depressed.  

We need to:  

1. Decriminalize possession, use and sale of all plant-based drugs (opium, marijuana, coca). We need to end our Puritan attitudes about personal use of drugs for pleasure and pain relief. Drug addiction should be treated as a medical problem, for that is what it is. Prices of agricultural commodities such as opium, marijuana and coca, will fall to very low levels, if they are decriminalized. This will end drug-dealing as a source of profit and conflict and violence. 

2. We need to remove all guns: hand guns, shot guns and rifles from the inner city neighborhoods of Oakland and from all other Oakland neighborhoods, too. We need to move to the Swiss model of arms control and have all weapons stored in local armories, where they can be signed out for target practice or for hunting purposes. Guns will not protect us from the threat of internal tyranny and government dictatorships; only the respect and enforcement of our Constitutional rights and rules will protect us from governmental tyranny. 

3. We need to ensure that every adult resident of Oakland has a full time job, at a living wage, say $12.50 and hour, with full benefits, including health care, vision care, hearing care and dental care and four weeks paid vacation per year. Having full-time employment will keep people busy, occupied and relatively happy. The crime and violence rate will quickly fall to near zero when steps I, II and III have been taken. 

Of course, there will be massive resistance by the illegitimate Bush regime to decriminalizing plant-based drugs and removing all guns. Who will pick up the trash along the freeways every weekend, if not our millions of prisoners in jails across America? 

The Bush gang will probably not care if we increase our taxes to fund a jobs program for all Oakland residents. And obviously, raising property taxes to fund this 100% jobs program for all adult Oakland residents will cause many to cry out against it. The real question is, are we willing to pay the price to end crime and violence in Oakland? Or do we prefer continuing with our traditional liberal lip-service and hand-wringing? 

James Sayre 

Oakland 

• 

DISHONESTY IN GUN DEBATE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It is not Michael Hardesty’s opinions that provoked my comment about his honesty, it is that he presented them as facts: “The fact is that guns are used in self-defense millions of times every year in the United States.” Presenting opinion as fact is dishonest, and is all too common in political discourse. It is pernicious, in that it cuts off debate because you supposedly have the facts. Even worse is when people lose the distinction between fact and opinion, and feel entitled to dismiss the arguments and competence of anyone who challenges their assertions. Every one of Hardesty’s gun self-defense letters has at least one sweeping dismissal that is suggestive of this attitude: “... an example of the liberal mind taken to its reductio ad absurdem. ... even a brainless lib can figure this out. ... the essence of modern collectivist liberalism in all its intellectual bankruptcy. ... laughable on its face. ... another left liberal excuse to rationalize crime.” 

I am aware that there are many unreported crimes, and in my last letter explicitly described why I felt that this did not prove that guns make people safer. I did not say people without guns are more able to walk away from bad situations. I said they were more likely to. There used to be a murder a year within a block of my house, and I have waited for help at the side of a man who had been shot a minute before. I have had the need to avoid potentially dangerous situations (although in one case I had to move at a lot faster than a walking pace), so I know that it can be done. It won’t work in all situations, but then neither does having a gun. 

I listed some of the social factors such as poverty and unemployment that are correlated to murder rates in my first letter. An expert could probably list more. 

Mea culpa with regards to my attribution of the fraction of adults with guns. I took Hardesty’s numbers, deducted out children from the total, and rounded the fraction up to account for assisted living adults who are not exposed to most felony crimes. The attribution should have been to the numbers, and not the computed fraction. I agree that people should take lessons in gun safety, and that no victims is a desirable outcome. I applaud Hardesty’s ability to protect himself with a gun without injuring anyone, but I must confess wonderment that he would encourage, and not just trust, “brainless libs” to be able to do the same. 

Robert Clear 

• 

HILLARY CLINTON 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Democratic leaders are worried that Hillary Clinton, as a presidential choice, will drag down other party candidates in the 2008 election. You bet she will, from top to bottom. The Republican evangelical base will be energized and they will vote overwhelmingly against everything Democratic.  

Hillary is a polarizing figure, no fault of her own, and will lose big in middle and conservative America, in white religious communities around the country. Clinton will be a nightmare for Democratic congressional and state legislative candidates and it will translate into a voting resurgence for the GOP. There will be no love lost on Hillary when it comes to the Jesus Is Lord crowd. 

What is wrong with Democratic leaders—Hillary is viewed unfavorably by 49 percent of Americans—are there no other candidates in the party with less negative numbers than this?  

But hey, I could be wrong. I spent a whole year before the 2000 presidential election writing that George Bush was a menace. 

Ron Lowe  

Grass Valley 

• 

THE EVOLUTIONARY  

RULE OF JOURNALISM 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As a consumer of journalism rather than a practitioner I can enunciate unrestrained by professional standards the Evolutionary Rule of Journalism: All news evolves and the longer it survives the more layers of meaning it acquires. 

Watergate began as a third rate burglary morphed into a popular televised series staring Senator Sam Erwin and ended with the first and still the only resignation (abdication?) of a president.  

Katrina began as a hurricane then, on account of weakened levees, became a flood and after that, because of incompetence, it evolved into a federal management debacle and currently it is a shabby weave of ineptitude and greed with corruption.  

When it comes to Iraq the Evolutionary Rule of Journalism yields more levels of meaning than Watergate and Katrina combined for Iraq has endured as a leading news event for four and a half years.  

At first Iraq was reported to be threatening us with WMDs and “mushroom clouds,” so we ousted its dictatorial leader, then its freedom became “untidy” (Rumsfeld), its insurgency entered “the last throes” (Cheney) and its government endured “birth pangs” (Rice). At the moment we’re waiting for General Patraeus to tell us how well or poorly the troop surge is working.  

The sad part about the evolution of news from Iraq is that through all of its excretions Iraq is in worse condition today than it was before we invaded. 

Marvin Chachere 

San Pablo 

• 

THE UNIVERSITY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I certainly agree with Ms. Susan S. Pownwall that the university is “our city’s greatest asset.” But in her letter, hostile to those of us who want to save the oak grove, she does not refer to the teaching, learning and research, but to the football stadium and the controversial athletic facility. Is that what higher learning is about? 

Peter Selz 

• 

BUS PASSES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am deeply disappointed that the Alameda-Contra Costa Transportation District still has the price of a bus pass at $20 a month, for both the seniors and the disabled. Both seniors and the disabled use the bus as their only transportation. With a price of $20 a month, they have to make a choice: buy a bus pass or buy food. 

The majority of seniors and the disabled are loyal passengers. Because they take the bus instead of cars, they are playing their part in fighting global warming. So I urge the district to show some balance by lowering the price of the bus pass for seniors and the disabled. 

Billy Trice, Jr. 

Oakland 

• 

UNIVERSITY AVENUE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

What’s up with sticky sidewalks on University Avenue? Any comments? 

Kathy McCarter 

• 

WHAT IF? 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Suppose they gave a press conference and no one came? 

Phil Allen 

• 

MOVIE THEATER ADVERTISING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I recently attended a film at Landmark’s Shattuck Cinemas, and, as per usual, a substantial portion of the small audience booed an on-screen advertisement for a Mercury hybrid SUV. 

I would like to propose to my fellow moviegoers that, pending the revolution, Landmark’s marketing of advertising space might not be such a bad idea. Given the current pressures (Netflix, cable, home video) upon public commercial cinemas, especially those like Landmark which still show decent films, such advertising might represent the only way to remain open. Particularly for those of us who support the union at Shattuck Cinemas and its effort to obtain decent wages, benefits and job security for Landmark workers, opposition to Landmark’s efforts to seek additional revenue sources (besides raising ticket prices yet again...ouch!) seems counterproductive. I’d happily sit through five more corporate ads in return for a dollar off the ticket price and decent jobs for those tearing the tickets! 

Ironically, the only other on-screen ad that night was for HBO, which is one of the main threats to public cinema. It was rather like the PA system for K-Mart running an ad for Target. Yet nobody booed the HBO ad! Hmmmm. 

Dave Linn 

• 

ELMWOOD THEATER 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The movie house at the Elmwood has opened under new management and promises a new mix of films. A recent screening of a documentary on the life of Simon Weisenthal delivered on that promise. This fine movie made me realize how poor has been our opportunity to see the world’s documentary films over the years. I hope we get a chance now. 

Bennett Markel 

• 

TRUTH IN PETITIONS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Please read a petition’s summary before signing it. A current petition being circulated is entitled “Government Acquisition, Regulation of Private Property” — ie, eminent domain, but the third line of the summary states that it “prohibits rent control and similar measures.” 

This tip is brought to you by TIPP—Truth in Petition Presentation. 

Catherine Barnett 

• 

SUPREME COURT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

You and other papers decry the Supreme Court’s recent pro-Bush 5-4 decisions, but neglect mention of an easy action the Congress could now take to prevent Bush’s compounding the imbalance by placing a sixth Bush adherent on the court—or totally replacing the court if were wiped out at once. 

Except to establish the court and a chief justice thereof, the Constitution leaves other important details to action by Congress. Without amending the Constitution, Congress can by majority votes in both houses pass law, even to apply to incumbent Bush, to forbid any president’s replacing more than two Supreme Court justices—three in the event of court extinction. If a justice resigns or dies before November 2008, a third Bush justice will surely be rejected by our Democratic-majority Senate. Knowing this, Bush would sign the proposed bill. 

We should limit presidential replacements now and then in 2009 impeach at least one justice. Thomas comes to mind as the easiest; at his confirmation hearings he proved he is not suited to be a lawyer, let alone a judge. Asked why he signed a policy paper he later disavowed he said he didn’t first read the paper! 

Judith Segard Hunt 

• 

POINT ISABEL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In 1985 Point Isabel was a wild, weedy, windswept place favored by drug dealers. It was a good place to run your dog and let them have a swim in the canal. A woman ranger was menaced by one of the dogs and the East Bay Regional Park District ordered all dogs on leash. In response to this restriction a meeting of dog owners was called and 75 dog owners came. Officers were elected and the organization known as Point Isabel Dog Owners and Friends (PIDO) was born. 

The officers requested a meeting with the Operations Committee of EBRPD. Head Ranger John Perry and Assistant General Manager Jerry Kent and other district employees met with PIDO frequently. We settled on the dog rules for the park. PIDO promised 1) to buy biodegradable bags and place them in all the containers on a daily basis, and 2) to educated the park users to responsible dog ownership and to obey the park rules, especially the picking up of poop to keep the park clean. 

The park district was to maintain the boards, poop bag containers and benches and promised never to spray herbicides or pesticides at Point Isabel. This was a verbal agreement, and for 22 years the promise was kept. This summer, without discussion with any members of the public who use the park on a daily basis, a contractor hired by EBRPD has sprayed the area with Roundup Pro on several occasions, the first time without the required 24-hour notice, the second and third times when the wind was gusting through the area. 

We are told that there is no record of our agreement, but I was at the negotiating meeting and this promise was made to PIDO. Their claim is that Roundup is “safe.” We have documents from the Environmental Protection Agency stating that it is not safe for birds, fish, dogs, wild life and many humans. The chemical, glyphosate (Roundup), causes the most damage to workers of any other herbicide now in use. Two experts from the University of California are willing to testify to that. Another spraying is scheduled for later on. I have also learned that EBRPD is responsible for the upkeep on sections of the Bay Trail in the East Bay and they regularly use Roundup. The public should be aware. 

Sylvia Schild 

• 

BICYCLE TRAFFIC LAWS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Hallelujah! At last the Berkeley police are enforcing the bicycle traffic laws! However, your citizen commentator Michelle Larager, either thinks she is above the law, or else is truly unaware that California law does indeed mandate that bicyclists come to a full stop at stop signs, as indeed they should. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had bicyclists go whizzing through intersections, right in front of my car, with no warning whatsoever. 

Can you see what it would be like if automobile drivers decided not to stop at stop signs anymore? It would be like the incident I once witnessed at the intersection of Le Conte and LeRoy one morning at 5 a.m. That intersection had a four-way stop sign. There were two cars, each proceeding at a great rate of speed along their respective streets. As they approached the intersection, neither car slowed down. Each driver assumed there would be no cross traffic at such an early hour. The drivers neither saw nor heard each other. The two cars zoomed through the intersection, missing each other by only the barest of margins. 

Martha Colburn 

El Cerrito 

• 

STOP SIGNS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It is my very strong conclusion that most of the stop signs in Berkeley should be changed to yield signs. Except those on major streets, of course. 

Having to stop when there is no one coming from either side, on the chance that there might be a policeman nearby, is an utter waste of time and effort.  

In the case of the small circles, everyone else in the world already has yield signs at all entries. 

We do it now, so why not make it official? 

Charles Smith 

• 

ALLSTON HOUSE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I’ve been in the Allston House apartments almost 20 years and like growing pains, people will complain. But never before has this place been this quiet and feels safe (relatively) in the time I’ve been here. The renovation is uncomfortable for a lot of people just like it was to clean it out. The reward though—wow—it is finally getting done. 

Michael Timberlake 

• 

B-TOWN DOLLAR STORE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The Berkeley City Council recently voted to uphold the Zoning Board decision to close the B-Town Dollar Store (Daily Planet, July 20). The article reports that neither neighboring residents nor business owners attended the Council meeting. Instead, six Berkeley police officers and a code enforcement officer made the case to close the store. The article mentions that the property is managed by a San Francisco police officer. 

With the present state of Berkeley property development the actions of the Berkeley police officers is curious. Twice recently the Fire Department inspector has found extensive code violations that served the interests of the property owners. The decision to close B-Town appears to be another case in which city employees are using their office to assist their associates. 

Greg Wells 

In his latest attack on AC Transit’s planned Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service, Doug Buckwald (Planet Aug. 14) once again misstates the facts, this time claiming that the environmental impact report (EIR) for BRT “shows” that BRT will not lead “many people at all” to shift from driving to taking the bus. 

In fact, the EIR estimates that BRT will result in as many as 9300 new transit trips each weekday. These are trips made by people who formerly were not using transit. I’d say that’s “many people.” 

The EIR further estimates that weekday automobile use would decline by 20,700 vehicle miles traveled (VMT) per weekday as the result of drivers shifting to transit.  

Each driver who switches from driving to transit will reduce his or her emissions of CO2. City staff have estimated that 47% of greenhouse gas emissions generated in Berkeley are generated by transportation (cars, trucks, etc.) and that calculation was made without including CO2 generated on the portion of 1-80 that passes through Berkeley.  

It’s not hard to understand why BRT will reduce the number of automobile trips and, by doing so, contribute to the city’s Measure G goal of reducing greenhouse gases by 80%. Surveys show that travel time and reliability are factors in why some people choose driving over public transit. Improve reliability and reduce travel time and more people will choose transit. 

Bus ridership has increased in other cities where BRT has been implemented such as Eugene, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.  

Providing buses with their own lanes has also played an important role in efforts to reduce automobile traffic and to improve transit service in Paris and London. And New York City is among many other U.S. cities that are moving forward to implement BRT. Giving buses their own transitway and separating them from the flow of automobile traffic clearly works. 

Mr. Buckwald makes the unsubstantiated claim that the limited bus improvements that he favors instead of BRT will result in 90 percent of the “gains” that BRT would provide. His sketchy “alternative” would add Eco Pass transit subsidies, free shopper shuttles, “better transfer policies” and advance ticket purchase to the interim Rapid Bus.  

Improving transfers between buses is difficult to achieve as long as buses travel in mixed flow traffic lanes rather than in dedicated bus lanes. With BRT, buses will be far more likely to arrive on schedule, which will facilitate transfers to and from other bus lines. 

Eco Pass (employer-provided free or low cost transit passes) is something that I and others have been lobbying for for years. (Where was Mr. Buckwald?) It’s a great program, but it will not improve transit service and reliability. What it does is give people an incentive to use whatever level of transit service exists at a given point in time.  

But if incentives like Eco Pass encourage people to try transit, the percentage who stick with transit will be smaller without BRT than with BRT. If Eco Pass recipients try the bus but find it slow and unreliable, some will give up and go back to driving. More Eco Pass holders will stick with transit if they have both the improved service of BRT and a transit pass.  

Shopper shuttles, if well planned and designed, and if frequent and adequately funded, can be a good supplement to the transit service that AC and BART provide. But they don’t work for commuters and for trips outside Berkeley; like Eco Pass, they are not a substitute for BRT. 

In short, we need both better service and incentives to use that improved service. Eco Pass and shopper shuttles would complement BRT; they are not an alternative. It’s not either/or. And funds available for capital projects like BRT can’t fund a shuttle or Eco Pass. 

Eugene, Ore. had a shopper shuttle linking its downtown, its bus hub and the University of Oregon with the city’s large shopping mall and with its downtown shopping district. And the University of Oregon has had its own version of Eco Pass; students, staff and faculty can ride the bus for free by showing their U. of Oregon IDs.  

But Eugene also recently added a Bus Rapid Transit line that also serves its downtown and the University and picks up many riders who have the University’s version of Eco Pass. BRT has increased ridership beyond expectations, even though it serves some of the same areas served by the shuttle. Plans are under way to expand BRT there. Shuttles and Eco Pass complement BRT. 

As for the idea of Rapid Bus plus advance ticket purchase, it would still fall short of the service improvements that would be achieved by BRT. The EIR clearly shows that BRT will increase ridership much more than rapid bus will. And including proof of payment with Rapid Bus, if that were a real possibility, would not change that reality. 

While the interim 1R Rapid Bus service on the BRT corridor is expected to increase “average weekday boardings” by 21 percent, implementation of BRT could increase boardings by 100 percent or more, according to the EIR. It would be far superior to Rapid Bus with respect to increasing ridership. 

The EIR predicts that the reduction in bus travel time could be more than double the reduction with the 1R Rapid Bus service. With Rapid Bus, the reduction in travel time is the result of having fewer stops, so if you don’t live near a Rapid Bus stop, you have to walk further to get to the bus.  

With BRT, the greater reliability and more substantial reduction in travel time result, to a substantial degree, from buses having dedicated lanes. 

If any growth occurs in Berkeley or Oakland, the benefits of BRT vis-à-vis more limited improvements favored by Mr. Buckwald, will increase. Buses stuck in mixed flow traffic lanes will move more and more slowly over time if the number of people needing to get around the area increases. Having dedicated lanes for buses will become more and more important over time. 

Doug Buckwald has taken full advantage of the many opportunities that members of the public have had to comment on BRT. He has stated his opposition to BRT at numerous public meetings in front of at least three commissions. He had come out in opposition to BRT before the EIR provided valuable data on BRT’s impacts.  

It’s unfortunate that he comes to meetings to trash BRT rather than to participate in the discussions about the impacts of BRT on parking and traffic and the adequacy of proposed mitigations. The city has yet to choose a preferred alternative for BRT routing; he could offer his opinion on this as many others are doing. That would be more productive than his entirely negative approach to improving transit service in Berkeley. 

Rob Wrenn is a member of the Transportation Commission and the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee and lives in one of the neighborhoods that would be served by BRT. 

Mark Twain is supposed to have said “never pick a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel.” I have followed that adage for most of my career, choosing not to respond to articles and editorials in newspapers, and especially not the Daily Planet, which has shown antipathy for my department, my staff and my profession. Despite my concern with the forum, as the director of Planning and Development for the city, I feel compelled to respond to Ms. O’Malley’s editorials of Aug. 7 and 10 and Mr. Wollmer’s commentary of Aug. 10.  

First, there seems to be some confusion as to who pays for the Planning and Development Department’s work. Some people seem to believe that a significant portion of the department’s budget comes from fees for major development, making staff prone to support big projects. I would estimate that 95 percent of our work reviewing and permitting projects is for homeowners and businesses improving their homes; remodeling offices and restaurants; establishing new businesses and modifying old ones. Big projects get a lot of attention, but if there were a moratorium tomorrow on them, the Planning and Development Department would still be very busy. Although I have never calculated it (because it is irrelevant to me), I would estimate that these high-profile projects occupy the time of two to three full-time employees—around 3 percent of the department’s total staff time.  

Second, there is a tendency to blame the messenger about decisions that are made on development projects. The Planning and Development Department’s job is to evaluate projects in light of the General Plan, Zoning Ordinance and other laws, and make a recommendation based on our assessment of the conformance of a project with those policies and laws. We also describe the constraints placed on decision-making by state law. In short, staff is expected to provide the information necessary for the public, the Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB), and the City Council to understand how we applied the law and the choices before the decision makers. There is no lack of opportunity in the public review and hearing process for anyone to point out any alleged errors in city staff’s analysis or recommendations. The ZAB and City Council are ultimately responsible for the city’s projects and city staff members have no vote either place.  

But even if we did, there would still be no excuse for the personal, vitriolic attacks I have seen on my staff. These attacks contribute to a poisonous, disrespectful environment in the city and make it difficult for all residents to engage in substantive, civil discourse about honest policy disagreements.  

Finally, let me address “smart growth.” “Smart growth” is popular shorthand for a number of very old planning ideas that are held by not only professional planners, but by elected officials, local, national and international environmental leaders, and many residents of our community and our state.  

Those ideas are based around the central idea that land is valuable and scarce, and if we are going to preserve the open space and beauty of the Bay Area, reduce our collective carbon footprint, and accommodate the two million people who are projected to live here over the next 30 years, we must accommodate growth in cities where there is already infrastructure, transit and jobs. The suburban dream may be alive and well, but not everyone can afford it, and not everyone wants a two-hour commute to Stockton. We can and must provide alternatives in places such as Berkeley where the jobs and the transit are located. 

Of course, allowing for new development in a built-out community such as Berkeley presents some serious challenges. It’s one thing to say “Down with Sprawl!” and another to imagine a new apartment building near your home. We’re all subject to that “not in my back yard” feeling, and we all occasionally feel a little overcrowded in the Bay Area. Some people seem to think that Berkeley doesn’t need any more growth because Berkeley has done its share. They claim that Berkeley is already more dense than most communities and that more development will fundamentally change Berkeley’s character.  

These are all valid concerns. However, having worked in a few cities in my career, I can say with some authority that virtually every community thinks the exact same thing: anywhere but here. No one wants the impacts of new residential development: more congestion, more overcrowded schools, more strain on infrastructure. That is exactly why we must plan so carefully. The city’s General Plan calls for sensitive infill. And despite the opinions of some people, I believe we’ve done a pretty good job. The new development that has occurred in Berkeley over the past 10 years, primarily on major transit corridors and in downtown, is not destroying its character—in fact, the City of Berkeley today has about as many non-UC housing units as it did in 1970. Moreover, new housing and retail businesses add vitality to the city’s business districts and major boulevards. If the character of the city is changing, which it probably is, it’s because the city is aging. The young faces of 1970s Berkeley are now middle-aged faces with middle-aged concerns and objections. There are also new young faces with new visions of what Berkeley is, and what they hope it will be. Some of those faces are just passing through, and some are the next generation of Berkeley leaders. The character of a city is always changing.  

It takes all of us— the City Council, the staff, residents and business owners—to work together in good faith to plan a good future for Berkeley. I am very proud of the work of my department. We work hard to represent the General Plan, the city’s ordinances and the City Council, and we will continue to do so to the best of our ability.  

Dan Marks is director of the City of Berkeley’s Planning and Development Department.

When President George W. Bush announced the formation of a military command for Africa (AFRICOM) this past February, it came as no surprise to the Heritage Foundation. The powerful right-wing organization designed it. 

The Heritage Foundation, founded in 1973 by ultra-conservatives Paul Weyrich and Joseph Coors and funded by such right-wing mainstays as the Scaife Foundation, has a strong presence in the Bush administration. While not as influential as the older and richer American Enterprise Institute, it has a higher profile when it comes to Africa policy.  

Back in October 2003, James Jay Carafano and Nile Gardner of the Heritage Foundation laid out a blueprint for how to use military power to dominate that vast continent.  

“Creating an African Command,” write the two analysts in a Heritage Foundation study entitled U.S. Military Assistance for Africa: A Better Solution, “would go a long way toward turning the Bush administration’s well aimed strategic priorities for Africa into a reality.” 

While the Bush administration says the purpose of AFRICOM will be humanitarian aid, not “war fighting,” the Heritage analysts are a tad blunter about the application of military power: “Pre-emptive strikes are justified on grounds of self-defense…America must not be afraid to employ its forces decisively when vital national interests are threatened.” 

Carafano and Gardner are also quite clear what those “vital interests” are: “The United States is likely to draw 25 percent of its oil from West Africa by 2015, surpassing the volume imported from the Persian Gulf.”  

The two also proposed increasing military aid to African regimes friendly to the United States and, using the language of pop psychology, confronting “enabler” and “slacker” states that threaten U.S. security. “Enabler” states, according to the authors, are those—like Libya—that directly aid terrorists and “slacker” states are failed nations—like Somalia—where terrorists can base their operations. 

Their recommendations are almost precisely what the administration settled on, albeit the White House wrapped its initiative in soothing words like “cooperation,” “humanitarian aid,” and “stability.”  

In a sense, AFRICOM simply formalized the growing U.S. military presence on the continent.  

The United States currently deploys 1,800 soldiers in Djibouti as part of its Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa. Special Forces and air units operating from Djibouti were instrumental in Ethiopia’s recent invasion of Somalia.  

According to a recent Congressional Research Service report, the United States has bases in Gabon, Kenya, Mali, Morocco, Namibia, Sao Tome/Principe, Senegal, Tunisia, Uganda, and Zambia. The Sao Tome/Principe base lies 124 miles off the coast of Guinea and the oil fields of Angola, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.. 

Through the Trans-Sahal Initiative aimed at supposed terrorist groups operating in the Sahara, the United States has roped Mali, Chad, Niger and Mauritania into an alliance. Chad and Mauritania have significant oil and gas deposits. 

And, lastly, the Pentagon’s Africa Contingency Operation Training and Assistance program supplies weapons and training to Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia. 

Exactly as the Heritage proposal recommends, the United States has recruited client regimes like Ethiopia, Chad and Uganda that are willing to support U.S. policy goals. In the recent U.S.-sponsored invasion of Somalia, Ethiopian troops overthrew the Islamist regime and Ugandan soldiers helped occupy the country. 

Controlling resources for U.S. corporations is a major impetus behind AFRICOM, but it is also part of the Bush administration’s fixation with China. The Chinese “threat” in Africa has been a particular focus for both Heritage and the American Enterprise Institute. The later held a conference last year entitled “Beijing Safari: The Challenge of China’s growing ties to Africa.”  

Peter Brooke, Heritage’s “Africa hand,” has led the way in hyping the dangers China is said to pose in Africa. “Amid festering concerns about China’s burgeoning global power, Beijing has firmly set its sights on expanding its influence in Africa,” writes Brooke in a Heritage analysis titled Into Africa: China’s Grab for Influence and Oil.  

Certainly China is active in Africa. Some 30 percent of China’s oil comes from the continent, and Beijing has invested in the energy industries of Nigeria, Angola and Sudan.. In 2006, Beijing dispensed $8 billion in aid to Angola, Nigeria and Mozambique alone. In comparison the World Bank gave $2.3 billion in aid for all of sub-Saharan Africa.  

Military power is not the only arrow in the United States quiver. And once again the Heritage Foundation has played a key role in promoting the Bush administration’s other strategy for controlling Africa: free trade.  

In a major Heritage Lecture, entitled “How Economic Freedom is Central to Development in Sub-Saharan Africa,” Brett Schaefer argues that developing countries must lower their trade barriers in order to grow. The Bush administration’s Millennium Challenge Account ties aid to such reduced barriers. 

But as University of the Philippines sociologist Walden Bello, director of Focus on the Global South, points out, “free trade” is a Trojan horse that ends up overwhelming the economies of developing countries. “From the very start, the aim of the developed countries was to push for greater market openings from the developing countries while making minimal concessions of their own.” 

Because of subsidies, U.S. wheat sells for 46 percent below production costs, and corn at 20 percent below cost. The World Bank and Oxfam estimates that the developed countries’ trade barriers cost developing countries $100 billion a year, twice what the latter receive in economic assistance. 

The impact of such one-way free trade has been to collapse rural economies. U.S.-subsidized corn has driven some two million southern Mexican farmers off their land, accelerated rural poverty, and helped fuel immigration to the United States. American subsidized soybeans and rice respectively control 99 percent and 80 percent of the Mexican market. 

Such subsidies have a particularly devastating impact in Africa, where 50 percent of a country’s GNP may be in agriculture. 

A 2005 study by the World Bank found that while the effect of developing countries dismantling trade barriers would increase their income by $16 billion over 10 years, that would translate to a grand total of two dollars a year for the world’s one billion poor. And there might well be a net loss. 

Bello says a recent United Nations trade and development study predicts that tariff income losses for developing countries could range between $32 billion and $63 billion annually. “This loss in government revenues—the source of developing country health care, education, water provision, and sanitation budgets—is two to four times the mere $16 billion in benefits projected by the World Bank.”  

Bello cites research by the Carnegie Endowment and the European Commission suggesting that the impact of free trade on Africa will be profound, and small African farmers will be unable to compete, exactly what happened to small corn farmers in Mexico. 

Indeed, Bello points to a study by the United Nations Development Program that suggests the best strategy for developing countries is exactly the opposite of the Heritage Foundation’s formula. According to the analysis, countries like Japan and South Korea were successful because, rather than embracing “free trade,” they protected their industries from outside competition. 

The AFRICOM initiative is creating some unease in both the United States and Africa. “Some initial reaction to the locating of the African Command on the continent has been negative,” says the Congressional Research Service, because some African countries see it as a device to increase troops there.  

Nicole Lee, executive director of the TransAfrica Forum, called AFRICOM “neither wise nor productive,” and suggests that the U.S. should instead focus on “development assistance and respect for sovereignty.” 

Not so long as U.S. policy in Africa is driven by think tanks like the Heritage Foundation.

Three years ago, I wrote a column about a friend of mine, Frank, whose family has been living across from mine in the same flatlands neighborhood for more than 30 years. With my family having moved here before the U.S. entry into World War II, our two families are, by far, the longest continuous residents on this block, by far. 

That doesn’t help with Oakland police, however, many of whom are new to Oakland, and know little about our neighborhood. The 2004 column was about Frank and I sitting out in front of his house one unseasonably warm evening, swapping stories, when a police officer rolled up in his car, shining his spotlight into our eyes for no other reason we could fathom than we were two middle-aged Black Men sitting on an East Oakland sidewalk. Highly suspicious, of course, and certainly cause for investigation. 

It took three years, but now there is an addendum. 

Frank has since passed away and last week, on his birthday, his family decided to remember him with a birthday celebration at the family house. They cooked barbecue and greens and potato salad and all the things you’d expect from an African-American family that settled in Oakland after migrating out from the South, and while old school music sounded out from a portable cd player, the backyard and adjoining sidewalk filled up with several generations of family and neighbors and old friends, from 70-year-olds to what the Southern folk used to call “arm babies,” children so young you have to carry them around in your arm. 

About midway through the party, a police helicopter started circling overhead. 

It’s nothing unusual to have a police helicopter circling overhead in our neighborhood. This is the flats of deep East Oakland, after all, and the police are often up there, looking for somebody on the ground. But instead of moving away the police helicopter stayed in a circle pattern directly above Frank’s mother’s house, dropping lower and lower in the sky, until, finally, you could look up and see the operator looking down at us. 

The talking and the laughing at the party gradually slowed and fell to a stop, as people began to look up at the helicopter, and realize what was going on. 

“What’s up with him?” somebody asked. 

Nobody at the party could answer, because nobody knew. A few people made nervous jokes. A few others said some things that weren’t jokes. 

This must have gone on about fifteen minutes or so, the helicopter slowly circling over my neighbor’s backyard, watching the scene below. Finally, two police cars rolled slowly down the street from a couple a blocks away and approached the house. They stopped at the intersection and sat there for a long moment, the two police officers watching us through the windshields, not getting out of their cars. Then, either satisfied that what or who they were looking for wasn’t there, or instructed from a radio directive, they suddenly made slow u-turns, and left. Shortly afterwards, the helicopter broke off its pattern over the house, and left as well. 

What they were looking for? A drug dealer fleeing a warrant? A car thief or someone who had just robbed a liquor store and was trying to escape through our area? Was it something so dangerous we should have gotten the youngsters and the elders into the house for a while? We’ll never know, since the Oakland police we come in contact with out here in the Deep East rarely give the impression that they believe it is us they are protecting the neighborhood for.  

Meanwhile, most of the rhetoric flowing on all sides of Oakland’s violent crime issue comes to a confluence on the point that police can’t handle the crime situation on their own, and Oakland violence won’t be abated until we figure out a way to develop cooperation between the community and the police. 

And that is why I think the request by the office of Mayor Ron Dellums to bring in California Highway Patrol officers to supplement OPD—and the recent announcement by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to answer that request—has the potential of making Oakland’s violent crime situation worse in the long term, rather than better. 

I think I understand and appreciate the difficult position the mayor, Oakland Police Chief Wayne Tucker, and the Oakland City Council find themselves in with the OPD manpower situation. Putting more police officers on the street is one important step towards getting a handle on Oakland’s violent crime. But getting more police officers on the street has proven to be easier said than done, even when the money is available. 

In 2004 Oakland voters passed the Measure Y violence prevention bond that in part allowed for the hiring of new officers, but a Police Reform White Paper released by Tucker, Dellums, and Assistant Police Chief Howard Jordan last month says that “despite an aggressive recruitment program and an expedited hiring process,” the department is still 70 officers short of authorized capacity. It’s been hard, in fact, to miss the stepped-up OPD recruiting effort in the last couple of years; it comprises, among other things, ads, billboards, and a heightened OPD recruiting presence at job fairs and other public events. But the Police Reform White Paper says that new hirings have been offset by an increase in retirements; in addition, we know that the Oakland Police Officers Association has been blocking the chief’s proposal to reorganize the department’s time shifts, a reorganization the chief says would put more of the existing officers on the force out on street patrol in any given time. 

There has been an intense, ongoing, internal struggle over these issues since the Dellums Administration took office and the Oakland-OPOA police union contracts expired, but it is the political time that has now expired, with the assassination of Oakland Post editor Chauncey Bailey earlier this month. The national uproar over Mr. Bailey’s murder was almost certainly what triggered the timing of Mr. Schwarzenegger’s announcement to answer Mr. Dellums’ request to send in the Highway Patrol. 

In the short-run, in theory, the added police manpower is supposed to free Oakland police officers to flood high-crime areas and conduct more investigations. And in the short run—like the surge in Iraq—that might cause a temporary dip in Oakland’s violent crime. But what about the long-run? 

To understand that, my friends, you must read, carefully, from the August 8 Oakland Tribune article “Governor Sends Anti-Gang Task Force to Oakland” to see what the Highway Patrol officers will be doing in Oakland, and where they will be doing it.  

“CHP officers will be made available to assist in high-traffic areas such as the International Boulevard corridor, according to Roland Holmgren, Oakland Police Department public information officer,” the Tribune article reads. “They will operate in non-patrol functions, according to Karen Stevenson, director of communications for Mayor Ron Dellums. … The CHP officers, who will be paid out of the department’s existing overtime funds, will join Oakland police and Alameda County sheriff’s deputies in cruising gang-plagued areas. Providing additional traffic enforcement, we come across folks who have guns (or) drugs in their cars and we assist by taking those folks off the street, said CHP spokeswoman Fran Calder.” 

The Highway Patrol officers, in other words, will assist in law enforcement by “traffic enforcement” along International Boulevard and other “gang-plagued” and “high traffic” areas—that is, stopping drivers for traffic violations—and arresting those who are found to have guns or drugs in their cars. 

Where have we seen this before? 

In fact, this is what the California Highway Patrol has been conducting along International Boulevard and other areas inside the Oakland flatlands for several years now, twice in the massive Operation Impact projects that involved several law enforcement agencies, and again, from time to time since then, in smaller actions that we have written about in this column. 

In these operations, the California Highway Patrol conduct intense traffic patrols, stopping cars for minor, non-moving violations (expired tags, etc.) that normally get overlooked while police are tied up with more serious matters. And, yes, a lot of legitimate stops and ticketing will take place, and some middle-age, middle-class white citizens will get tickets for violations that they otherwise will get away with. But because the purpose of the Highway Patrol Oakland operations is not merely to give out tickets, but to uncover cars with drugs or guns inside, the patrols are concentrating on cars driven by the people the Highway Patrol officers think will most likely have such things: young African Americans and Latinos. Doesn’t take much imagination to figure that one out. 

Most of the young African Americans and Latinos driving Oakland streets are not breaking the law, and are not carrying drugs or guns, and so aside from some fix-it tickets and a car tow now and then, along with some general embarrassment and minor harassment, most of them are going to be stopped by the CHP and let go. Some may think that this is a case of no-harm, no-foul. But aside from making it harder for law-abiding young African Americans and Latinos to easily make their way across a city that is already far too difficult for them to traverse, these are the same young people who the city is counting on to cooperate with the police in anti-violence efforts, and even to join the police department themselves. Is indiscriminately—or discriminantly, actually—stopping these young people of color going to make them more amenable to cooperating with the police, or less? 

Although I understand the political necessity of doing something about Oakland’s violent crime situation in the short run, the doing of this particular something, I fear, is going to make the problem more difficult to solve. Out here in the Deep East flats, we’re already having a problem with Oakland police officers’ inability to differentiate between the people they are protecting and the people they are protecting us from. The California Highway Patrol officers doing traffic patrol on Oakland streets have been, and, I’m afraid, are going to be, worse.

The bridge in my mouth was bad. The engineer of the bridge was a dentist in a hurry who had already busted a cap in my mouth... so to speak. (one of his crowns had failed ). So I didn’t want to go back to him. Besides, the bad bridge had cost $1,500 back in 1999, and I couldn’t face another dentist who would now charge gangsta prices of $3,000 and up.  

So, I went to the University of the Pacific Dental school. It was as I remember it from more than a decade ago; patiently waiting patients, and lots of infant dentists, serious and helpful and fearfully meticulous.  

So the first thing my student dentist said when he looked at the xray of my bridge with its rotting anchor teeth was that it was built way too high off the gums, letting food get under there... and had I flossed under there every day? Uhh, well, no, I hadn’t. I flossed once in awhile, using that loop of fishing line to thread the floss beneath the bridge, but it was a lot of trouble.  

I had gotten in the habit of using toothpicks, sticking a flat toothpick under the bridge to push out all the detritus. He told me how toothpicks don’t clean the tooth surface at either side or underneath the bridge very well, though they are very useful for massaging the gums between teeth if they aren’t used like crowbars to destabilize crowns.  

But then he asked me if I had heard of xylitol sugar? He was chewing gum at the time; he held the gum blob in his front teeth and showed it to me... “this is xylitol gum”. He said. 

It looked like regular gum to me, sticking out of the front of his perfect grin.  

I told him that sugar had gotten me in trouble in the first place. I used to go trick or treating, come home with a grocery bag full of candy, then sit down and eat all the red candy lipsticks first, then the Tootsie Rolls, the M&M’s next, and on down the line, totally absorbed in sugar. 

He said that xylitol sugar has been shown to drastically slow down or stop tooth decay, that flossing and using xylitol may keep the new bridge from rotting away like the old one.  

I was skeptical; was this dental student being a flack for some bogus remedy? If xylitol really keeps down decay, why hadn’t I heard about it, and why aren’t the toothpaste companies rushing to market it? 

I have to admit, decay isn’t something I want to do. So I went home and searched the net, and found a ton of stuff.  

Xylitol is a natural fruit sugar found in strawberries, raspberries and plums. Studies have shown that beyond a doubt, regular use will prevent cavities. The Texas A&M website: www.csmedcenter.com has a comprehensive report on the findings of many reputable studies, and has a long list of them, some by the World Health Organization.  

A study of 4,000 people, showed that xylitol can prevent cavities and that the best way to deliver it is in gum. You have to take from 4.3 to 10 grams per day, and if you get that much every day it will block the growth of Streptococcus mutans bacteria in your mouth, the bacteria responsible for tooth decay.  

Another study showed that ear infections in children can also be blocked by using the gum. This is useful for parents whose children would love to chew a lot of gum during the day. A child’s mother may pass on cavity causing bacteria to her child, and if she uses xylitol regularly, she may protect her child from that bacteria. What a discovery! If my dear Mom had that information, and all my Halloween candy had been made of xylitol, and we had the internet back then... Evolution, it’s happening so fast!  

Right now, I keep a little jar of the sugar in the bathroom and brush my teeth with it. That’s the cheapest way to get the 4-10 grams a day if I brush twice. I did buy some of the gum, and now I chew it several times a day too. At times I dip the already been chewed gum into the sugar jar and chew it again. 

Once in a while I go get the jar from the bathroom, sit down to watch TV, dip my finger in the jar and just eat the sugar. It’s delicious, and good for me too, right? How many calories is half a jelly jar?  

It’ll take years to know if I’ll get any more cavities, and I’m hoping for less rot in other areas as well.  

As it’s almost planting time (for leisurely values of “almost”) I’ll talk about how to pick your posies. Some of us are on-the-ball enough to do all our planting from seeds and/or divisions and cuttings of our own, but most of us are the sort of people who keep nurseries in business by letting them do the early stuff.  

I have no guilt about not being an early bird because I’ve noticed what happens to the early worm. 

So you walk into a nursery or, more perilously, into a hardware or big-box discount store, and you’re looking at appealing baby plants. Which ones are you going to take home? Which ones are most likely to prosper in your house or garden?  

It’s like choosing your puppy out of a big litter. Ideally, you look for the most friendly and interested one, neither the most aggressive nor the shy runt. OK, some of us take in runts just because. I seem to accumulate them here at the South Berkeley Plant Hospice and Hortatorium. But take my advice, not my example, unless you have a capacious composter. 

Here’s a batch of four-inchers looking cheerful and flowery. It’s good to see one in bloom so you know what you’re getting; it’s generally best to take one that has more buds than blooms. Lots of plants, annuals included, are repeat bloomers, but you don’t want one who’s not ready to retire already. 

Read the tags, either on the plants themselves or on the shelf. (Find out for sure that the shelf tag matches the plant. Things can get deranged even before you take them home.) Learn if it’s an annual or a perennial. Usually an annual will give you faster bloom, fill-in, and effects in general; perennials are slower-yielding investments.  

Tags should also tell you whether the plants like shade or sun, water or drought. “Tolerant” means it’ll get by; look again for its preference and be sure you know what you’ll tolerate yourself in its “performance.” “Full sun” doesn’t mean it gets direct sunlight for an hour or three a day; it means it casts a shadow for most of the daylight hours.  

Also, most of us west of the Berkeley hills get less sun than our eastern neighbors anyway. Many plants that are labeled for “light shade” will be fine in as much sun as you get—at least after the hottest days of September.  

Pick up the plant container. Roots emerging from the bottom holes suggest that the plant’s been there almost too long. You’ll lose those when you take the plant out anyway, and that’ll be a setback. Look for the one that balances healthy foliage with firm white roots inside the pot.  

The soil should be firmly against the pot walls; if there’s a gap, the plant’s been dried out completely and then revived. Might not be as healthy in the long run as it looks now. Brown edges or tips on leaves would suggest the same thing.  

Take the healthiest plants home and give them good lives. There’s no point in paying live-plant prices for compost. 

Ron Sullivan is a former professional gardener and arborist. Her “Garden Variety” column appears every Friday in the Daily Planet’s East Bay Home & Real Estate section. Her column on East Bay trees appears every other Tuesday in the Daily Planet.

Every once in a while I meet someone who reinvigorates my excitement about what I do. This encounter reminds me that remodeling is not so much a business as it is a passion for a lot of people like me. 

The fellow I met (we’ll call him Miles) was in last throes of a multi-faceted home improvement project in Oakland just last week. If you’re looking at houses, you might be lucky enough to meet him. He proudly thrust his album of photos into my arms at one point and waited, like a kid in the tenth grade, to hear what I had to say. What I had to say was that his work was truly outstanding. 

Now, Miles is not a construction professional. He’s a regular person who just happens to be incredibly excited about houses (well, they are exciting, aren’t they?). Miles had actually done a little construction work here and there as a helper in the last few years and, like his father before him, took an everyday interest in fixing things. But there was more. Miles had the vision to take each job a little further than most people would. He sought out advice, read books, looked at other people’s work and did each job with care, genuine curiosity and zest.  

He told me that when he met with his municipal inspector, he got the fellow’s number and called him scores of times with small questions about the best way to do something—he estimated at least 40 times! Now most people are afraid to meet their city inspector once. Miles was so far outside that box that he wouldn’t have been able to read the label.  

He saw the city inspector as a collaborator and—guess what?—the guy was probably so flattered that he couldn’t touch the ground for a day. Remember that city inspectors take a lot of abuse when, for the most part, they’re just interested in preventing bad things from happening. 

Miles didn’t rush. He worked slowly, cleanly and deliberately. That’s important. He hadn’t actually done a huge amount of work but it sort of seemed like it because each job was so beautifully done. He also did something else that was very smart. He knew, somehow, that his aesthetic sense (his ability to pick colors and such) was not as refined as other people he knew and so he got help. He sought out someone (or several someones) who picked really GREAT colors and some amazing tile (the bath employed at least three kinds of glass tile, which I personally love). 

It was clear that he hadn’t just gone down the Home Despot and picked out what was cheap, what was easy to install or what they happened to put on the end-cap that day. He took the time to plan out each phase. He worked out tiny details at doorways and counter-to-wall junctions so that they all looked just so. This sort of thing does not necessary require any special education. What’s most needed is patience, thoughtfulness and a bit of creativity. Contractors often fail at these details in pursuit of a quickly finished job and final check. It’s also why the best contractors are easily twice the cost of the cheap ones. You could say the devil is in the details but I’d like to thing that there are angels there instead. The details (and this is what ultimately wowed me by Miles’ remodel) are not exactly everything, but they get darned close. Actually, I think that ordinary tile, sheetrock and lumber can make for fabulous rehabs if the tiny details are well managed, but if one adds in some nice shopping choices, it can send the whole thing right over the top. Again, this never happens by rushing or by following the standard playbook. It happens by staring at something for half an hour until it’s clear just what needs to be done. It happens by being willing to take it apart and do it one more time so that it’s just right. 

One thing that was really fun for me on Miles’ job was the fact that he was just as dedicated to the mechanical as to the aesthetic (this is where I live). I get very excited (medication may be advised in such cases) about a fully re-routed gas piping system that employs the minimum number of fittings, is well clamped in place, and tightened so as to never leak and arranged to make it easy to connect all the appliances. Welcome to my world. The water piping was similarly done. This was a fairly new skill for our hero but the truth is that this is not actually all that trying a task for any reasonably intelligent individual. Learning to “sweat” pipe takes about an hour or two for the basics and a few days for the more complex parts. 

Miles could have shopped out many of these jobs or, as far too many do these days, tried to get a day-labor crew off the street to perform tasks that are simply beyond their ken. You know, construction really isn’t rocket science. There are enormous opportunities to refine, improve and generally raise the bar but most of what remodeling and construction entails is not beyond the average school-teacher. If you can learn to do algebra, you can remodel a bathroom. If you can sew a quilt, you can re-wire your house. Most of what’s required is patience and curiosity. 

Miles has been working on this house for about 18 months and is getting ready to sell. He’s put his heart and soul into this project and I earnestly hope that he’ll be fairly compensated. I don’t think he over-improved for the neighborhood, but it’s a genuine concern. I’ve seen it done and there are sometimes tears and regrets.  

If you’re thinking about Being Miles, be sure to look at closing costs, comparable values, interest rates and the whole financial picture. Be a SMART artist so that when it’s all over, you’ll be a happy little Picasso, ready to go out and commit verve once again. 

Got a question about home repairs and inspections? Send them to Matt Cantor at mgcantor@pacbell.net. 

Matt Cantor owns Cantor Inspections and lives in Berkeley. His column runs weekly. 

Copyright 2007 Matt Cantor

A Week Without Your Bathroom?  

The more conservative of the disaster preparedness experts tell us to be prepared to be without running water, electricity, gas, roads, fire protection, and, yes, sewer service for a week (think Katrina). 

People around Northern California who are prepared (alas, very few of us!) have thought through most of the above, with the exception of the lack of workable toilets.  

Not a fun topic, but extremely important, wouldn’t you say? We will discuss how to address this issue in future QuakeTips, but a word to those who want to be prepared: you might want to think about this. 

Here’s to making your home secure and your family safe. 

Larry Guillot is owner of QuakePrepare, an earthquake consulting, securing, and kit supply service. Call him at 558-3299, or visit www.quakeprepare.com.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 21 

CHILDREN 

Puppet Art Theater for ages 3 and up at 6:30 p.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave, Kensington. 524-3043. 

FILM 

A Theater Near You “High and Low” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Herb Kohl describes “Painting Chinese: A Lifelong Teacher Gains the Wisdom of Youth” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Tom Rigney & Flambeau at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Singers’ Open Mic with Ellen Hoffman at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

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

Jackie Ryan, featuring Red Holloway, at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $6-$12. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Jazzschool Tuesdays at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22 

FILM 

Eco-Amok: An Inconvenient Film Fest “Meet the Applegates” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Writing Teachers Write” Teacher/student readings from the Bay Area Writing Project, with Jane Juska, Meredith Baxter and Claire Noonan 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 

The Snake Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Karl Perazzo, Bobby Allende & John Dandy Rodriguez, percussion salsa, at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Salsa dance lessons at 8 p.m. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

Brass Mafia at 5 p.m., Natasha Miller at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Mikie Lee and Amber at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

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

Robert Glasper at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$16. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23 

FILM 

Abbas Kiarostami “ABC Africa” at 7 p.m. and “Five” at 8:45 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Oakland Out Loud Poetry Reading with John Curl, Trena Machado, Jeanne Lupton and Rosa Martin Villareal at 6 p.m. at the Oakland Public Library, 125 14th St., Oakland. 238-3134. 

Dana Ward, Alli Warren and David Larsen, poets, read at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

Eric Gower describes experimentation in the kitchen in “The Breakaway Cook” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Victoria Tatum reads from her novel “The Virgin’s Children” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Winard Harper Sextet at noon at the downtown Berkeley BART station. info@downtownberkeley.org 

Goat Hall Productions Cabaret Operas “The Playboy of the Western World” and “Dionysus” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 7 p.m. at Oakland Metro Operahouse, 201 Broadway at Jack London Square, Oakland. Tickets are $15-$25. 415-289-6877. 

“Our American Cousin” an opera about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln with the University Chamber Chorus at 8 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Free. 642-4864. 

Freight 19th Annual Fiddle Summit, with Alasdair Fraser, Annbjørg Lien, Catriona MacDonald and Laura Risk at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $24.50-$25.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Eric Jekabson & Darren Johnston at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

The Temescallionaires, old-time tunes, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Dark Smile, Friendship First, Daniel Popsickle Orchestra, The Noodles at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082 www.starryploughpub.com 

Antioquia at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

James Carter at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $12-$24. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Terrence Brewer Trio at 5 p.m., Space Heater at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277 

Zadell at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Hot Club at 6 p.m. at La Note, 2377 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $40, includes dinner. 843-1525. 

Maldroid at 9:30 p.m. at the Stork Club Oakland, 2330 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Cost is $5. 444-6174. 

FRIDAY, AUGUST 24 

THEATER 

Aurora Theatre “Hysteria” Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 and 7 p.m. at 2081 Addison St., through Sept. 30. Tickets are $40-$42. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

California Shakespeare Theater “The Triumph of Love” at the Bruns Ampitheater, 100 Gateway Blvd., Orinda, through Sept. 2. Tickets are $15-$60. 548-9666. www.calshakes.org 

“Citizen Josh” with monologoist Josh Kornbluth, Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Repertory Theater, 2025 Addison St., through Spet. 2. Tickets are $25-$30. 647-2949. 

Masquers Playhouse “The Shadow Box” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at 105 Park Place, Point Richmond, through Sept. 29. This show is not recommended for children.Tickets are $15. 232-4031. www.masquers.org  

TheaterInSearch “Epic of Gilgamesh” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave., through Sept. 2. Tickets are $12-$20. 262-0584. 

Viaticum “The Carnal Table” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 3 p.m. at Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck Ave. through Sept. 2. Tickets are $10-$15. 848-3338. 

FILM 

From the Tsars to the Stars: A Journey through Russian Fantastik Cinema “First on the Moon” at 7 p.m. and “To the Stars by Hard Ways” at 8:45 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

John Curl reads from his new novelistic memoir, “Memories of Drop City: The First Hippie Commune of the 1960s and the Summer of Love” at 7:30 p.m. at The Book Zoo, 6395 Telegraph Ave., at Alcatraz, Oakland. 654-2665. 

Greil Marcus describes “The Shape of Things to Come: Prophecy and the American Voice” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. www.codysbooks.com  

An Evening with Drew Dellinger, poetry, at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church, Reidenbach Hall, 2501 Harrison St., Oakland. Tickets are $20. 451-4926. www.earthlight.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Goat Hall Productions Cabaret Operas “The Playboy of the Western World” and “Dionysus” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 7 p.m. at Oakland Metro Operahouse, 201 Broadway at Jack London Square, Oakland. Tickets are $15-$25. 415-289-6877. 

Unsmokables, vocal and instrumental improvisation at 9 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $7-$10. 849-2568.  

E.W. Wainwright’s African Roots of Jazz perform “The Social Evolution of Jazz” at 8 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6100. 

Eric Swinderman, In Pursuit of Sound at 7 p.m. at Bobby G’s Pizzeria, 2072 University Ave. 665-8866.  

Pete Escovedo & Ray Obiedo Latin Jazz Project at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $15. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Wellman-Savage Unit featuring Walter Savage-bass, Angela Wellman-trombone, at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. at the Oakland Public Conservatory of Music, 1616 Franklin St. Cost is $15. 836-4649. 

Brave Combo, rock, polka, jazz, Tex-Mex, at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $12-$15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

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

The Waybacks at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Robin Galante, Mario DeSio and Kwame Copeland at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Jazzschool Summer Program Youth and Faculty Concerts at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

GG Elvfis & The TCP Band, The Abuse at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

Sentinel at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Sila & the Afro Funk Experience at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $10. 548-1159.  

Beep! Trio at 5 p.m., Bill Ortiz Band at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Steve E Nix, Rock and Roll Adventure Kids at 9:30 p.m. at the Stork Club Oakland, 2330 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Cost is $5. 444-6174. 

James Carter at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $12-$24. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, AUGUST 25 

CHILDREN  

Puppet Theater Fesitval “Why Mosquitos Buzz in Our Ears” Sat. and Sun. at noon and Pinocchio: The Hip-Hopera at 12:30 and 3:30 p.m. at Children’s Fairyland, 699 Bellevue Ave. 452-2259. 

THEATER 

Shotgun Players “The Three Musketeers” Sat. and Sun. at 4 p.m. at John Hinkle Park, Southampton Ave., off The Arlington, through Sept. 9. Free. 841-6500. 

EXHIBITIONS 

Mark Axelrod “Sticks and Stones Not Only Break Bones” oil paintings, and Linda Braz “Explorations” mixed media installations and sketches. Party and benefit auction at 7 p.m. at The Gallery Of Urban Art, 1746 13th St. Oakland. 706-1697. 

FILM 

Abbas Kiarostami: Image Maker “Where is the Friend’s Home?” at 6:30 p.m. and “Homework” at 8:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Danny Caron at 7 p.m. at Bobby G’s Pizzeria, 2072 University Ave. 665-8866.  

Jeff Zittrain, Americana rock, at noon at Cafe Zeste, 1250 Addison St. at Bonar, in the Strawberry Creek Park complex. 704-9378. 

Carne Cruda and Rico Pabon at 9 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $6-$8. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Kenny Washington & His Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $14. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Baba Ken & Kotoja at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. African dance lesson at 9 p.m. Cost is $15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

DJ Real and Paulette at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Loosewig Quartet at 1 p.m., Sonanado Project at 5 p.m. and Agualibre at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

WCS Songwriter Showcase Grand Finals at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Royal Hawaiian Serenaders at 9 p.m. at Temple Bar Tiki Bar & Grill, 984 University Ave. 548-9888. 

Jazz Fourtet at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $5. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

The Strange Angels at 8 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. Cost is $7. 558-0881. 

Winters & Davis, Montana at 9:30 p.m. at the Stork Club Oakland, 2330 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Cost is $5. 444-6174. 

The Botticellis, Winter’s Fall, Pickwick at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Nausea, Moral Decay, In Disgust at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, AUGUST 26 

EXHIBITIONS 

Berkeley Art Center 24th Annual National Juried Exhibition Opening reception at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut Street in Live Oak Park, between Eunice and Rose. 644-9873. 

“Everyday Magic” paintings by Jan Wurm and Suma Shawn, and drawings and welded steel sculpture by Joseph Slusky, opens with a reception at 5 p.m. at the Community Art Gallery, Alta Bates. Ashby Ave. 204-1667.  

Berkeley’s “Other” Revolution: Celebrating 35 Years of Independent Living, Disability Access, and Disability Rights. Photographs by Ken Stein on display in the windows of Rasputin Music, 2401 Telegraph Ave., between Channing Way and Haste. 525-2325. 

“Art in the Park” Exhibition hosted by the City of Alameda, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Jackson Park, 2430 Encinal Ave., Alameda. arpd@ci.alameda.ca.us  

FILM 

From the Tsars to the Stars: A Journey through Russian Fantastik Cinema “Solaris” at 6 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Down Home Music Opening in Berkeley with Barbara Dane, Tri Tip Trio Zydeco Band, Laurie Lewis & Tom Rozum, Eric & Suzy Thompson, Los Cenzontles, Nina Gerber and others from 12:30 to 5 p.m. at 1809 B Fourth St. 204-9595. 

Oak Grove Music Festival Celebrating 268 days of tree occupation, from 1 to 7 p.m. at the Memorial Oak Grove, Piedmont at Bancroft. 938-2109. www.SaveOaks.com 

Breslin and Alex, folk-rock, at 8 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $10-$12. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Mark Levine Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Edo Castro at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. 

Will Blades/Eddie Marshall Duo at 1 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Dani Torres, flamenco, at 5 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

Americana Unplugged: The Good Luck Thrift Store Outfit at 5 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Unreal Band, David Elias, Sabrosa and others from 1 to 7 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $8. 841-2082.  

MONDAY, AUGUST 27 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Express Open mic theme night on “dreams” at 7 p.m., at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. 644-3977. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Maria Mikheyenko, Russian songs, at 7 p.m. at Le Bateau Ivre, 2629 Telegraph Ave. 849-1100. www.lebateauivre.net 

Musica ha Disconnesso at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

Tiempo Libre at 8 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10. 238-9200. 

Remember when classical musicians were called “long hairs”? Maybe not. Ever since Jim Morrison replaced Tony Bennett in the popular music world the epithet has lost its meaning. Needless to say the Bay Area is long in classical music venues and musicians, long haired or not. Here’s the short list. 

Oakland East Bay Symphony 

The Oakland East Bay Symphony is housed in the Paramount Theater, redolent of gold paint, Art Deco trim and times past. The symphony, directed by Michael Morgan, presents six programs of music during the season. This year opens Nov. 9 with popular works by Beethoven and Leonard Bernstein.  

The program also features the gorgeous soprano Hope Briggs performing arias by Wagner, Puccini and Verdi. Later concerts include work by contemporary Chinese composers Tan Dun and Jon Jang, as well as 20th-century Iranian composers Aminollah Hossein and Loris Tjeknavorian’s unusual blending of western and Middle Eastern musical traditions.  

OEBS continues its fifth season of Magnum Opus, one of the largest commissioning projects of new symphonic works in the U.S. Sponsored by Kathryn Gould through Meet the Composer, Inc., it makes grants to the Santa Rosa, Marin and Oakland East Bay symphonies to jointly commission, premiere and perform nine new works by American composers over five years. For tickets and information, call 444-0801 or visit www.oebs.org. Subscription series available. Single tickets, $70-$25. 

Berkeley Symphony Orchestra 

Under the leadership of Kent Nagano, the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra has received numerous ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music, including five out of the past six seasons, while offering cycles of modern, Classical and Romantic music by Bruckner, Brahms, Beethoven, Schubert, and Schumann among others. 

Nagano has since moved on to become music director of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, but he remains connected to the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, directing the Berkeley Akademie Ensemble in December as well as the symphony’s season opener at the end of January.  

The remaining three concerts are led by international conductors Hugo Wolff, Guillermo Figueroa and Laura Jackson, each with an individual program of 19th-and 20th-century music featuring at least one contemporary composer. 

For tickets and information, call 841-2800 or visit www.berkeleysymphony.org. Single tickets, $40, $60; students, $20, 

Berkeley Chamber Performances 

This organization presents a variety of outstanding local—and some farther afield—chamber groups such as the Maybeck Trio, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, Empyrean Ensemble and the Debussy Trio in an intimate setting at a jaw-droppingly low price. Held at the lovely Julia Morgan-designed Berkeley City Club, the concerts are followed by a reception. Preconcert meals are also available by calling the Berkeley City Club at 848-7800. For information and tickets, call 525-5211 or visit www.chamberperform.org. $20. 

Cal Performances 

Presenting a staggering variety of theatrical and dance events, Cal Performances also presents recitals, chamber music and, best of all, contemporary composer portraits. Last year’s performance, in their “20th Century Music and Beyond” series, of work by Conlon Nancarrow played by the dazzling Alarm Will Sound was fun, fantastic and as challenging as it gets in the world of contemporary music. This year they’re celebrating UC professor and distinguished composer Jorge Liderman’s 50th birthday. For information and tickets, call 642-9988 or visit www.calperfs.berkeley.edu. 

San Francisco Performances 

For more excellent recital and chamber music events, hop on that BART and make it over to Herbst Theater (Civic Center stop). All the events I went to last year—recitals from baritones Gerald Finley and Christopher Maltman to instrumental soloist Steven Isserlis and composer Thomas Ades playing piano—were only two-thirds full. And that is a shame. For information and tickets, call (415) 392-2545 or visit www.performances.org. 

Garden of Memory 

Speaking of fun, the new music multiple walk-through summer solstice event presented by New Music Bay Area and Chapel of the Chimes that rocks out at the Oakland columbarium is another do-not-miss event. In the labyrinthine Julia Morgan-designed columbarium and mausoleum stuffed with gardens, fountains, and stained-glass skylights, you can hear music from Krystina Bobrowski and Karen Stackpole to Amy X. Neuburg to Terry Riley and Sarah Cahill. Sadly, it’s only once a year. For information, call New Music Bay Area at (415) 563-6355. General, $12; students and seniors, $8. 

Philharmonia Baroque 

For early music buffs, the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra is dedicated to historically informed performances of Baroque, Classical and early-Romantic music played on original instruments. Regularly heard on tour in the United States and internationally, the San Francisco-based PBO regularly plays around the Bay Area in Berkeley, San Francisco and Palo Alto. In addition to their Music Director Nicholas McGegan, the orchestra welcomes eminent guest conductors, as well as vocalists and soloists to perform in a new program each month. For information, call (415) 252-1288 or visit www.philharmonia.org. $30-$72. 

UC Music Department 

With three series that provide a wide range of classical music from western European to Asian to ethnic music, the university music department’s Noon Concerts are hard to beat in the category of free. This year’s concert series includes German lieder, songs by African American composers, Baroque harpsichord, Gospel and Gamelan. Regular performances of the University Symphony Orchestra, conducted by David Milnes, are scheduled at Hearst Hall; the symphony’s September evening concert includes Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances ($12, $8, $4). For information and tickets, call 642-4864 or go to music.berkeley.edu/noon.html. Free or close to it. 

For jazz fans new to the Bay Area, Berkeley is a unique jazz scene. In Manhattan, in any given week, two or three major jazz musicians will be appearing in various clubs all over the island. When I was last there in December 2005, we managed to catch avant-garde pianist Cecil Taylor uptown at the Iridium and hardbop trombonist Curtis Fuller at a downtown hotel in the same week. In the Bay Area, internationally famous jazz musicians are rarer, but the local jazz scene is vigorous.  

The lynchpin for much of Berkeley’s jazz activity is the JazzSchool, headed by pianist Susan Muscarella, which offers classes and workshops, shopping, and live performances in a restaurant/nightclub setting. The school is the producer of the upcoming Downtown Berkeley Jazz Festival featuring 45 events in 15 venues over five days. These performances are free and all of them will give you an idea of the range of jazz going on locally as well as a sense of the kinds of clubs that feature jazz in Berkeley. 

Among the best are Anna’s Jazz Island which is aggressive about booking jazz and has featured such well-known players as Steve Turré during the last year; the JazzSchool’s own Jazzcaffé, which also has an active jazz booking policy featuring instructors and students as well as guest musicians like Wallace Roney on occasion; and the sponsor of this year’s festival, Jupiter, which presented an excellent set from John Schott’s Dream Kitchen at last year’s festival. 

In May, Berkeley has a free festival on Fourth Street that usually features a star or two and the best of Berkeley High School’s award-winning jazz orchestras and combos. The proceeds go to benefit the Berkeley public school jazz program which, over the years, has produced David Murray, Benny Green, Peter Apfelbaum and Joshua Redman.  

If you really want to keep up with the Bay Area jazz scene, you will need to stop by, phone or e-mail Rick Ballard’s Groove Yard Jazz Shop. Rick sends out a more or less monthly e-newsletter that covers jazz appearances at all local venues, jam sessions, new recordings, jazz on the radio and more. If you go into the store, at 5555 Claremont in Oakland, you can also find a wide range of jazz LPs and CDs, both new and used. You can find jazz recordings at most record stores, but the Groove Yard is devoted to jazz only and Rick is both knowledgeable and passionate about this music. 

The top jazz club in the Bay Area is Yoshi’s, 510 Embarcadero West in Oakland’s Jack London Square. To give some idea of the quality of music to be heard there, during the last two years, Yoshi’s has presented vibist Gary Burton featuring guitarist Julian Lage (who was back at Yoshi’s on Aug. 7 with Anton Schwartz); pianist and Oakland native Carla Bley with longtime musical compatriot, bassist Steve Swallow; a Clifford Brown 75th birthday memorial celebration featuring tenor saxophonist Benny Golson, pianist Mulgrew Miller and four virtuosic trumpeters; another Oakland native, violinist Regina Carter; a second visit from Golson; a thrilling quintet led by pianist Cedar Walton and featuring trombonist Steve Turre and tenor saxophonist Vincent Herring; jazz composer and pianist Randy Weston with tenor sax great Billy Harper; and NPR radio personality and classic pianist Marian McPartland. This weel Yoshi’s is featuring reed giant James Carter.  

The only other time and place that the Bay Area gets to hear jazz of that caliber is during the San Francisco Jazz Festival which has both an autumn and a spring edition. The festival takes place in various clubs and halls throughout the Bay Area, occasionally jumping across our little pond to play Oakland’s Paramount Theatre. Over the last two years the Festival has featured the World Saxophone Quartet playing the music of Jimi Hendrix at the Great American Music Hall; Don Byron returning to his klezmer roots at the Palace of Fine Arts; Broadway great Barbara Cook singing Berlin, Arlen, Rodgers, Bernstein and Sondheim at Davies Hall; Ornette Coleman giving a magnificently lyrical performance at the Masonic Auditorium; septuagenarian tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins finding renewed inspiration, again at the Masonic; Tootie and Jimmy Heath, the two surviving Heath Brothers, playing brilliantly at Herbst Theatre; Andrew Hill, since deceased, along with trumpeter Charles Tolliver giving a touching final concert at Herbst; pianist, harpist, organist Alice Coltrane, sadly, also since deceased, with marvelous support from bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Roy Haynes, giving what was to be her farewell concert at the Masonic; and trombonist Roswell Rudd along with Mongolian musicians and throat singers in a remarkable concert at the Legion of Honor. Watch for saxophonists Ornette Coleman, Pharaoh Sanders and Paquito D’Rivera at this fall’s festival starting in September. 

As you can see, Berkeley may not be Manhattan, but we are by no means starved for great jazz here in the Bay Area. 

For more information on the Groove Yard Jazz Shop call 655-8400 or email groove2@earthlink.net. For more information on Yoshi’s call 238-9200 or go to www.yoshi’s.com. For more information on the SFJazz Festival call 866-920-5299 or go to www.sfjazz.org. For more information on the Downtown Berkeley Jazz Festival call the JazzSchool at 845-5373 or go to www.dbjf.org.

Jupiter, the popular Shattuck Avenue beerhouse, presents the ambitious third annual Downtown Berkeley Jazz Festival beginning this Wednesday and running through Sunday, Aug. 25. 

The event, made possible by the Downtown Berkeley Association and produced by the JazzSchool, features 45 musical events at 15 venues all over downtown Berkeley. In addition to every genre of jazz, there will also be poetry readings and a photographic exhibition.  

Besides Jupiter, the other participating venues are Anna’s Jazz Island, the JazzSchool, Shattuck Down Low, La Note, Bobby G’s Pizzeria, Caltopia, BART Plaza and the Farmer’s Market, plus photography at Berkeley Public Library, poetry readings at Berkeley City College and Half Price Books, and a poetry slam at GAIA Arts. The variety of music represented includes bebop, cabaret vocals, reggae, hip hop, blues, free form, African, Latin, funk and soul.  

The artists performing include some of the best local performers as well as luminaries like Pete Escovedo who will be featured with Ray Obiedo and The Urban Latin Jazz Project at Anna’s, classic drummer Eddie Marshall along with Wil Blades at Jupiter, clarinetist Ben Goldberg with Myra Melford, Devin Hoff and Scott Amendola at the JazzSchool, the jazz images of Yoshi’s house photographer Stuart Brinin at the Berkeley Public Library and California poet laureate Al Young and Beat Generation legend Michael McClure at Half Price Books. 

Many of these events are free and provide an opportunity to check out the great cuisine of Berkeley’s restaurants, read the poems inscribed in the sidewalk on Addison Street and find out what kind of jazz is being played locally and what kind you like. 

Also in town this week is the magnificent reed player James Carter. When I first heard then 26-year-old Carter at the old Yoshi’s on Claremont in 1995, it was how I imagined it would have been to have heard Charlie Parker in 1945 or Ornette Coleman in 1960. Although I was too young to have experienced the halcyon days of bop or free jazz, I did see Roland Kirk in 1965, Archie Shepp in 1966 and John Coltrane in 1967. Carter had that same kind of energy, as if you were present at the birth of something new and exciting, something that could make you begin all over again. My notes from that first Bay Area appearance by Carter include the words: beautiful, remarkable, phenomenal freedom, weird, experimental, totally accessible, unending stream of ideas, incredible, passionate. This was such heady stuff as dreams are made on. 

Since then, Carter has visited the Bay Area often and has released many excellent albums, though none of them have been able to capture what I heard that night at Yoshi’s. For that matter, Carter’s live performances have never quite reached the heights he did at his Yoshi’s première. His technical abilities are unparalleled whether he’s playing any of the saxophones (soprano, f mezzo, alto, tenor, baritone, bass), clarinet, bass clarinet or flute. No performance is without rewarding moments, but no performance has ever seemed as fully-realized, as immediate, as that initial experience. Still, he is the only player of his generation who I would never miss seeing.  

The last two appearances of Carter’s at Yoshi’s that I caught were in April and July 2004. The earlier set included a volcanic tenor solo on “Don’s Idea,” when he seemed to be channeling tenor saxophone great Don Byas, and an overly-intentional performance of “Strange Fruit.” The performance, although sincere, was so literary, dramatic, historical and emotional that it became something less than musical. The July show had him as the added guest with the Django Reinhardt Project and included both amazing soprano work as well as some smoky, swaggering tenor. 

Jazz musicians have always surprised fans by looking at overlooked, forgotten or taken for granted elements of their own tradition for new directions. As we arrive at the fifth generation of this unique music, we see all of these elements of renewal, surprise and the simultaneous tension of conservative synthesis and revolutionary exploration in the playing of Carter. Whether he plays in the galvanic manner of a genie who has just popped out of a lamp or in a more conventionally romantic-melodic style, Carter is the most promising player of his generation and what he plays is cutting edge jazz. 

For a complete listing of all the events of the Third Annual Downtown Berkeley Jazz Festival, check the Planet’s Arts Calendar or call the Festival at 845-5373 or see www.dbjf.org. James Carter appears at Yoshi’s, 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland from Thursdaythrough Sunday with shows at 8 and 10 p.m., except on Sundays when they are at 7 and 9 p.m. For more information call 238-9200 or see www.yoshis.com. 

Access to culture shouldn’t cost an arm and a leg, or even an ear. Many Bay Area museums follow the enlightened practice of waiving admission for one day every month—sometimes more often. And a handful are always free.  

First, take a look soon at Berkeley’s on-the-street Addison Street Window Gallery, always free and on view any time, day or night, from the sidewalk at 2018 Addison Street, between Shattuck and Milvia. Until August 25, there’s a special exhibit, “Art for Humanity,” organized by Evelyn Glaubman of Berkeley City College with city college alumni, featuring paintings inspired by the U.N.’s Millenium Development Goals.  

Some others: 

Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive: First Thursday of the month, including 5:30 p.m. PFA screening; always free to UC Berkeley students, faculty, and staff. 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808, www.bampfa.berkeley.edu. 

Berkeley Historical Society History Center: (permanent and rotating exhibits on local history) Free every day. Thursday through Saturday, 1-4 p.m. Veterans Memorial Building, 1931 Center St. 848-0181, www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/histsoc. 

Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology: Free every day; docent tours $5 adults, $2 children. Wednesday-Saturday 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Sunday 12 pm-4 p.m. 102 Kroeber Hall (corner of Bancroft and College). (510) 642-3682, hearstmuseum.berkeley.edu. 

Oakland Museum of California: Second Sunday of the month. Fee required for special exhibits. 100 Oak St., Oakland. 238-2200, www.museumca.org. 

Mills College Art Museum: Free every day, hours vary, closed Monday. 5000 MacArthur Boulevard, Oakland. 430-2164, 

www.mills.edu/campus_life/art_museum. 

Richmond Museum of History: Free every day, Wednesday through Sunday, 1-4 p.m. 400 Nevin Ave., Richmond. 235-7387, www.richmondmuseumofhistory.org. 

Golden State Model Railroad Museum: Free Saturday and Sunday noon-5 p.m., Wednesday 11 a.m.-3 p.m. (open April-December; trains run Sunday only). 900-A Dornan Drive, Point Richmond. 234-4484, www.gsmrm.org. 

Alameda Museum: Free every day (donations encouraged). Wednesday-Sunday, hours vary. 2324 Alameda Ave. near Park Street, Alameda. 521-1233, www.alamedamuseum.org. 

Hayward Area Historical Society Downtown Museum: Free every day. 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday. 22701 Main St., Hayward. 581-0223, www.haywardareahistory.org/downtownmuseum.asp. 

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art: First Tuesday of the month, 11 a.m.-5:45 p.m. after Labor Day. 151 Third St. between Mission and Howard, San Francisco. (415)357-4000, www.sfmoma.org. 

California Academy of Sciences: First Wednesday of the month, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 875 Howard St. between Fourth and Fifth, San Francisco. 321-8000, www.calacademy.org. 

Asian Art Museum of San Francisco: First Tuesday of the month, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 200 Larkin Street between Fulton and McAllister, San Francisco. (415)581-3500, www.asianart.org. 

De Young Museum: First Tuesday of the month. Fee required for special exhibits. 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. (415) 750-3600, www.thinker.org/deyoung. 

Legion of Honor: First Tuesday of the month.Fee required for special exhibits. Lincoln Park, 34th Avenue and Clement Street, San Francisco. (415) 863-3330, www.thinker.org/legion. 

Exploratorium: First Wednesday of the month (reservations required for groups of 10 or more), 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 3601 Lyon Street, San Francisco. (415) 561-0399, www.exploratorium.edu. 

Yes, we still miss Cody’s on Telegraph. The whole bookstore scene remains precarious. Black Oak has retrenched, and the future of its Berkeley store appears uncertain. Even the big chains aren’t immune, as witness the fate of the Shattuck Avenue Barnes & Noble.  

But some bookbuyers are still keeping the independents alive. Berkeley is home to a whole constellation of bookstores, generalist and specialist, used and new, with something for just about everyone—and then there’s Oakland and San Francisco. 

Moe’s Books (2476 Telegraph) alone still justifies a visit to the block where Cody’s used to be. This Berkeley institution, the creation of the late Moe Moskowitz, whose cigar-chomping likeness is prominently displayed, remains the used-book Mecca. Moe’s prices are reasonable, and the stock is always changing (they often buy personal libraries, and reviewers’ copies of new hardbacks show up regularly). There are new titles downstairs at a discount, rarities and collectables on the fourth floor, and remainders throughout. 

Also worth cruising for used books is Black Oak (1491 Shattuck), although prices are a bit on the high side; watch for readings and other author events. Half Price Books (2036 Shattuck), part of an Austin-based chain, is a crapshoot, but I’ve found some real bargains there. Pegasus (1855 Solano), Pegasus Downtown (2349 Shattuck), and Pendragon (5560 College, in Oakland) make up a local mini-chain; mostly used, with a good stock of remainders and notable first-of-the-year calendar sales.  

The Friends of the Berkeley Public Library store (one location in the main library at 2090 Kittredge; another at 2433 Channing, hidden in the ground floor of a parking garage off Telegraph) is another place where almost anything may turn up, and astonishingly cheap. 

But if you’re willing to spring for new-book prices, there are lots of options. The Fourth Street Cody’s (1730 Fourth Street) is still around. University Press Books (2430 Bancroft) is just what it says it is, with a few titles from non-academic presses. It might be just the place to find that specialized tome on Byzantine hermeneutics. Mrs. Dalloway’s (2904 College) has strong gardening, poetry, and natural history sections, a choice selection of general titles, and its own author events—as does Diesel (5433 College, Oakland). Builder’s Booksource (1817 Fourth Street) specializes in architecture and design, with an impressive gardening section. 

Other Berkeley and Oakland stores reflect the East Bay’s cultural diversity: Marcus Books (3900 Martin Luther King) for African-American history, culture, and literature; Change Makers (6536 Telegraph, Oakland) for feminist books; Eastwind (2066 University) for Asian and Asian-American subjects; Afikomen (3042 Claremont) for Jewish-interest books. Although not a bookstore per se, the Spanish Table (1814 San Pablo) sells cookbooks and other works on Iberian and Latin American culture. 

You can buy legal advice in handy book form at the Nolo Press store (950 Parker). For jazz aficionados, the The Basement @ JazzSchool (2087 Addison) purveys books and records. Down Home Music (10341 San Pablo, El Cerrito, and now on Fourth Street, too) has an extensive book section. Mr. Mopps (1405 Martin Luther King) has books for children. And don’t forget genre fiction: for science fiction, fantasy, horror, and mystery, as well as plush Cthulus and Monty Python action figures, there’s Dark Carnival (3086 Claremont) and Other Change of Hobbit (2020 Shattuck). 

Reflecting a certain ambivalence, Walden Pond (3316 Grand) calls itself “a Berkeley bookstore in Oakland.” It has one of the East Bay’s best selections of new political/cultural titles, many from independent publishers, in addition to used books. Other Oakland used-book outlets include Spectator (4163 Piedmont), Black Swan (4236 Piedmont), and Bibliomania (1816 Telegraph). The Friends of the Oakland Public Library run their own store, the Bookmark (721 Washington). For new books, try the Book Tree and A Great Good Place of Books in Montclair (both on LaSalle Avenue) and Laurel Bookstore in, where else, the Laurel District (4100 MacArthur).  

Across the bay, San Francisco’s answer to Moe’s is Green Apple (506 Clement), a labyrinthine warren of mostly used books; the new stuff is downstairs. Kerouac and Ginsberg fans will want to make a pilgrimage to Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s City Lights Books (261 Columbus). Modern Times (888 Valencia) works the political side of the street. For a Chaplin trifecta, Limelight (1803 Market) specializes in the theater arts. Alexander Books (50 2nd Street) has strong African-American literature and poetry sections. Kinokuniya (1581 Webster, in the Nihonmachi Center) offers Japanese titles in both Japanese and English. In the Mission, Dog Eared Books (900 Valencia) and Needles and Pens (3253 16th) showcase zines and independent publications, and Borderlands (866 Valencia) covers science fiction and related genres. And old reliable Stacey’s is still downtown (581 Market).  

This just scratches the surface, of course. There are noteworthy independent bookstores on the Peninsula (Kepler’s, back from the grave!), east of the Caldecott Tunnel (Bonanza Street Books in Walnut Creek), and north of the Golden Gate. The obituaries for the non-chain brick-and-mortar bookseller may be premature. But for God’s sake, get out there and buy some books!

The shoreline cities of La Contra Costa, the old East Bay, share a surprising concentration of theatrical activity, both major companies and small troupes, in a Bay Area theater scene which comprises a stunning number: over 400 companies, according to San Francisco’s Theater Bay Area (whose eponymous monthly magazine is the best overall window on that sprawling stage landscape). 

Both of the year-round, fully professional companies here (which hire Equity actors, union members) are situated cheek-by-jowl on Addison, right off Shattuck, near the Downtown Berkeley BART: Berkeley Repertory Theatre (with both the Thrust Stage and the Roda Theatre) and the Aurora.  

The Rep features both classics, modern and period (though even postwar pieces like Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller now seem like period works), and contemporary plays of mixed merit, even work that’s in development, as well as touring shows of different styles (American Rep’s fine Oliver Twist and Mike Daisey’s quaternity of solo pieces Great Men of Genius played side-by-side earlier this summer).  

The Aurora, founded by Barbara Oliver, who sometimes returns to direct, generally has a much more focused repertoire of classics (compelling versions of Ibsen, Pinter and Aeschylus have been seen over the past couple of years), along with more variable recent fare—though this may be changing somewhat with the ascension of Tom Ross, previously managing director, to the artistic chair a couple years back. The Aurora prides itself on actor-driven productions in its intimate setting, often employing directors like Joy Carlin, herself a noted actress, to stage sometimes offbeat work by Arthur Miller or David Mamet. 

The other resident year-round company in town is a local favorite that plays a different card altogether. Shotgun Players acquired the Ashby Stage—across from Ashby BART—just a couple of years ago, and also perform a free show during the summer at John Hinkel park in the North Berkeley hills. (This year’s hit, The Three Musketeers, is ongoing.)  

Shotgun is characterized by a youthful exuberance, a community-oriented “can-do” approach that impells them to mount material from across the dramaturgical map, with mixed results. They’ve collaborated with all and sundry, hosting shows by other troupes, and have provided the boost for a number of regional reputations and hit plays. 

There are other residential troupes in town who produce on a smaller scale, though in the case of Central Works in particular, resident at the Julia Morgan-designed Berkeley City Club on Durant (which features other companies’ productions as well), the artistic merits ofen match, even exceed, those of the larger companies. Founded by playwright (as well as director and sometime-performer) Gary Graves and actor-director Jan Zvaifler, Central Works has a unique method of collaborative development of shows, besides a high quality of acting and stagecraft in the City Club salon’s intimacy. Admission is always very reasonable, based on a sliding scale of prices. 

Other smaller—and reasonably priced—resident companies include Berkeley Actors Ensemble, the oldest company in town, celebrating their 50th year, resident at Live Oak Theatre in Live Oak Park on Shattuck, past the North Berkeley shopping district. A community theater, Actors Ensemble’s repertory is wide-ranging and the company draws on a range of talents to produce it, with a noticeable upswing in quality during the past year or so. 

Impact Theater, in the basement at LaVal’s Pizza on Euclid, just north of campus, produces varying fare of full length shows, solo acts and “Briefs,” shorter vaudeville-type pieces with contemporary burlesque dancing. Inexpensive and billing itself as the only venue in town where patrons can watch a play while eating pizza and drinking beer, Impact draws heavily on the student crowd, though there’s been more generational range recently in their audiences—and sometimes surprises in their repertoire, exceeding their expressed goal of sheer entertainment. 

Other small companies, those without a theater to call a regular home, produce at other venues, and often develop a reputation for innovating. Among these, the most original is Ten Red Hen, officially based in Oakland, but producing their two major shows at the Willard Metalshop Theater in the rear of the school complex on Telegraph. The 99-Cent Miss Saigon and the original scriptural musical revue, Clown Bible, were intelligent, refreshing and fun—and very reasonably priced (Ten Red Hen makes a point of refusing nobody at the door).  

Ragged Wing Ensemble is due to produce Andre Gregory’s (of Dinner with André fame) Alice in Wonderland soon in Oakland. A skillful physical theater troupe, truly an ensemble with several star performers to its credit, Ragged Wing is worth keeping an eye on.  

Wilde Irish, noted for its Bloomsday celebrations of James Joyce’s Ulysses, stages Irish plays, mostly at the City Club, with style and manner worthy of the old Abbey and Gate Theatres of Dublin fame--and at reasonable rates. 

For several years Oakland’s only resident company, intrepid TheatreFIRST, after a season that saw two splendid productions of rarely-staged masterworks (Lessing’s Nathan the Wise and John Arden’s Serjeant Musgrave’s Dance), lost its lease in Old Oakland, but continues in its mission to mount socially aware material in professionally artistic style (and at very reasonable sliding scale), going into its 14th season. 

Oakland’s Darvag has staged showsfor adultsand children in English and Farsi, introducing important Iranian work, both popular and high culture. 

In Alameda, Virago continues to innovate, with a repertoire that runs from Threepenny Opera in cabaret style to locally-penned plays of merit, well-directedand performed—and reasonably priced. Also in Alameda is venerable Altarena, nominally a community theater, but with a broad repertoire—and a range of talents--to draw from, going from family musicals to fare like Sue Trigg’s remarkable production of Death of a Salesman awhile back. 

Contra Costa Civic Theatre in El Cerrito is a well-run house, featuring well-staged productions of musicals and plays, comic and dramatic. Like other community theaters in name, their results are surprisingly non-amateurish. 

Masquers Playhouse in Point Richmond is another proud community theater, and another which stages shows in its own considerable style, from Jean Anouilh’s moral comedies to Sondheim musicals to thrillers. Their productions have a charm particular to this old troupe. 

Other companies besides Shotgun, based here and elsewhere, tour the East Bay or play the parks in good weather. Oakland’s Woman’s Will, the all-female Shakespeare company, plays The Bard in parks around the region, but also does reasonably priced shows, often site-specific, like Happy End in a bar, or The Importance of Being Earnest in a Victorian mansion. San Francisco’s Word For Word, Crowded Fire, Traveling Jewish Theatre and the Mime Troupe (always free, with music, in the parks) have frequent East Bay runs. Innovative physical theatrics bunch, mugwumpin, and Middle Eastern cultural exponents Golden Thread mount their important works often on this side of the Bay Bridge. 

And the local colleges feature drama departments with frequent productions, especially UC Berkeley’s Performing Arts, with particularly interesting programs in recent years. 

Finally, another institution, right this moment in its annual outdoor glory: Woodminster Amphitheater, in Oakland’s Joaquin Miller Park, featuring Broadway musicals high up in the hills, under the open skies by the edge of the forest.

The Bay Area seems to be teeming with singers. That may be a reflection of the presence of the San Francisco Opera, one of the largest houses in North America, and its cultivation of both singers and opera lovers, or it may be just a quirky feature of a population that loves stories, accepts artifice and applauds the wildly dramatic. Whatever the reason, in the Bay Area, Opera Rules. 

Given the number of truly wonderful singers at all levels of talent and expertise, it’s no mystery that there are lots of opera companies—small, medium and large—that provide heart-zapping, eardrum-blistering opera experiences.  

Berkeley Opera 

Founded in 1979 by a singing engineering professor, baritone Richard Goodman, the Berkeley Opera strives to present “opera as lively, compelling musical theater … while remaining accessible, affordable and engaging.” The productions are in English or with English supertitles, and include classics of the opera stage often updated for a contemporary audience. Amusing adaptations by David Scott Marley transformed Rossini’s Italian Girl in Algiers into The Riot Grrrl on Mars and translated Strauss’ Die Fledermaus into Bat Out of Hell. In 2004, Berkeley Opera commissioned an engaging new opera, Chrysalis, from composer Clark Suprynowicz with a libretto by playwright John O’Keefe.  

Artistic/Music Director Jonathan Khuner is a Berkeley boy who graduated from UC and also works on the musical staffs of the San Francisco Opera and the Metropolitan Opera. A meticulous musician who is willing to take risks in staging and interpretation, he always keeps a firm hand on the musical quality of the company.  

Berkeley Opera performs four operas a year at the Julia Morgan Theater, 2640 College Avenue. For information and tickets, call (925) 798-1300 or visit www.berkeleyopera.org. Tickets are $40, $16 on the sides, $20/10, seniors, student rush. 

Oakland Opera Theater 

Oakland Opera Theater specializes in 20th- and 21st-century operas performed in its black box space located one block from Jack London Square at 201 Broadway.  

More experimental in outlook and edgier in taste, Director Tom Dean often reconfigures an earlier opera to fit a more contemporary milieu. Frequently he commissions new work. Among the operas produced in the last few years have been Cocteau’s Les Enfants Terribles; Phillip Glass’ Akhnaten; X, the Life and Times of Malcolm X, music by Anthony Davis, libretto by poet/playwright Thulani Davis; and Gertrude Stein and Virgil Thomson’s charmingly incomprehensible Four Saints in Three Acts. 

This October Oakland Opera presents Benjamin Britten’s 1954 opera based on Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw, reset on a plantation in the Deep South. The production features aerial performance artists The Starlings Trapeze Duo. 

For information and tickets, go to www.oaklandopera.org or call 763-1146. Tickets are $25 in advance, $32 at the door. 

Trinity Lyric Opera 

A two-year-old company founded by Alan Thayer, Trinity Lyric Opera seeks to present works “neglected in our area by other companies.” Their debut performance of Vaughan Williams’ opera The Pilgrim’s Progress was a West Coast premiere. This summer they presented Aaron Copland’s The Tender Land in an exceptional production at the new Center for the Arts, a 516-seat facility with outstanding sightlines and acoustics on Redwood Drive in Castro Valley. Although performing only once a year, the company is one to watch. www.trinitylyricopera.org. 

Philharmonia Baroque 

At least once a year San Francisco’s Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra puts on a concert version of a baroque opera, and Berkeley’s First Congo (more formally known as the First Congregational Church) is among the venues. You have a chance to hear Handel and Mozart, those most formidable opera composers, played on baroque instruments. That alone would be reason enough to attend, but PBO, under the leadership of Nicholas McGegan, is one of the premier early music ensembles playing anywhere in the world today.  

This fall’s fare is Mozart’s Il re pastore (The Shepherd King) with silver-toned sopranos Heidi Grant Murphy and Lisa Saffer, mezzo-soprano Margaret Lattimore, and tenors Iain Paton and Michael Slattery. Performances are slated for the weekend of September 22. For information and tickets, call 415-392-4400 or visit www.philharmonia.org. Tickets are $32-$70. 

Hey! Seven miles is not that far to go to hear good opera, so check out the following: 

San Francisco Opera 

She’s the Great Mother, but she doesn’t come cheap and, except for a brief (and shocking to some) fling under Pamela Rosenberg, she seems to be married for life to opera’s top twenty. But even if you can’t bear to see Madama Butterfly yet again, stay attentive because startling things do happen.  

This year it’s Appomattox, a new opera by Philip Glass, with libretto by Academy Award winner Christopher Hampton. Commissioned by San Francisco Opera, Appomattox is about the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee to his Union counterpart, Ulysses S. Grant, in the Courthouse of Appomattox, Virginia. Dennis Russell Davies conducts. 

Six performances of this new opera begin Friday, Oct. 5. 

Others productions that look tantalizing are The Magic Flute with designs by Maurice Sendak and the adorable and hunky Christopher Maltman as Papapapageno; plus, a new production of Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress.  

For tickets and information, call 415-864-3330 or visit www.sfopera.com. $45-$175. Rush tickets: Full-time students only, $25; Seniors or military, $30. Standing room, $10. 

San Franciscy Lyric Opera 

San Francisco Lyric Opera’s excellent singers performs out of one of the city’s most appealing and eccentric venues: the Florence Gould Theater at the Legion of Honor. Designed in the style of Louis XVI, the 320 red-velvet seat theater boasts a painted ceiling of cavorting cherubs and is perfect for the company’s “tradition of presenting classical opera in an intimate and comfortable setting.” Lyric Opera presents four operas per year, and begins this season with Tales of Hoffman by Jacques Offenbach (sung in French with English supertitles). Four performances are held on two weekends of Sept. 21 and 29. Johann Strauss’ Die Fledermaus (sung in German with English supertitles) is scheduled for the weekends of Dec. 7 and 15. For tickets and information, call (415) 392-4400 or visit www.sflyricopera.org. General, $32; students, $18. 

Goat Hall Productions 

Now in its tenth season, this cabaret-theater community of musicians, actors, designers, and technicians is dedicated to the collaborative creative process. They present musical theater and opera in English, and focus on 20th- and 21st-century repertoire. They are always entertaining, lively and provocative. Usually located on San Francisco’s Potrero Hill, this fall they are performing at Oakland Metro while their building is being renovated. For tickets and information, call (415) 289-6877 or visit www.goathall.org. Cabaret table: $25 per seat; single tickets, $20. 

Cal Performances 

Longing for the voice uncluttered by staging and opulent orchestration? Cal Performances presents top-notch recitals that showcase up-and-coming opera stars as well as established greats, especially those whose musical taste matches Berkeley’s lust for the unusual. Among the singers this year are Mariusz Kwiecien, the young Polish baritone who rocked Opera House goers with his unrelentingly dark portrayal of Don Giovanni in SFO’s July production; countertenor David Daniel, whom you must hear if you haven’t; and soprano Dawn Upshaw with eighth blackbird and guitarist Gustavo Santaolalla in Ayre, a song cycle by Osvaldo Golijov. For information and tickets, call 642-9988, or visit www.calperfs.berkeley.edu. Tickets: $38-$68. 

Harvest of Song 

Less expensive and more rad is the Harvest of Song, sponsored by Live Oak Concerts at the Berkeley Art Center. An annual concert of music composed for voice organized by composers Allen Shearer and Peter Josheff, Harvest of Song brings some of the Bay Area’s best chamber instrumentalist in support of new compositions and arrangements written for voice. For information and tickets, call 654-8651. 

Check the Arts Calendar for daily listings. 

Albatross Pub 

1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Anna’s Jazz Island 

2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ. 

www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Ashkenaz 

1317 San Pablo Ave. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Beckett’s Irish Pub 

2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. 

www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Blakes on Telegraph 

2367 Telegraph Ave. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Epic Arts 

1923 Ashby Ave. 644-2204. www.epicarts.org 

Freight and Salvage 

1111 Addison St. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Jupiter 

2181 Shattuck Ave. 843-8277. www.jupiterbeer.com 

Jazz House 

1510 8th St., Oakland. 415-846-9432. 

Jazzschool 

2087 Addison St. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Nomad Cafe 

6500 Shattuck Ave., Oakland 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

La Peña Cultural Center 

3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Le Bateau Ivre 

2629 Telegraph Ave. 849-1100. www.lebateauivre.net 

Oakland Metro 

201 Broadway, Oakland. 763-1146. www.oaklandmetro.org 

Shattuck Down Low 

2284 Shattuck Ave. 548-1159. www.shattuckdownlow.com 

Starry Plough 

3101 Shattuck Ave. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Uptown Nightclub 

1928 Telegraph, Oakland. 451-8100. www.uptownnightclub.com 

Yoshi’s at Jack London Square 

Oakland. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

TUESDAY, AUGUST 21 

End the Occupation Vigil every Tues. at noon at Oakland Federal Bldg., 1301 Clay St. www.epicalc.org 

“Koyaanisqatsi” or “Life out of Balance” a film on the collision of the urban/technology world and the natrual environment at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donation $5. www.HumanistHall.net 

American Red Cross Blood Services Volunteer Orientation from 6 to 8 p.m at 6230 Claremont Ave., Oakland. Advanced sign-up is required. 594-5165.  

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Share your digital images, slides and prints and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

Community Sing-a-Long every Tues, at 2 p.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave. 524-9122.  

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. We offer ongoing classes in exercise and creative arts, and always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22 

Walking Tour of Old Oakland around the restored 1870s business district. Meet at 10 a.m. in front of G.B. Ratto’s at 827 Washington St. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. 

Recording African American Stories Add your voice to the Library of Congress and the National Museum of African American History, Wed. from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., by appointment, at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland, through Sept. 12. For appointment call 228-3207. 

Green Chamber of Commerce Mixer at 5:30 p.m. at LJ Kruse Company, 920 Pardee St., Cost is $5-$15. RSVP to chivachuca@yahoo.com, www.greenchamberofcommerce.net 

GPS Training for Mapping Creeks with the Contra Costa County Mapping Programs at 7 p.m. at 4191 Appian Way, El Sobrante. To register call 665-3538. www.thewatershedproject.org 

Pax Nomada Bike Ride Meet at 6 p.m. at Nomad Cafe for a 15-25 mile ride up to through the Berkeley hills. All levels of cyclists welcome. 595-5344.  

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at the Berkeley BART Station, corner of Shattuck and Center. Sing for Peace at 6:30 p.m. followed by Peace Walk at 7 p.m. www. 

geocities.com/vigil4peace/vigil 

Stitch ‘n Bitch at 6:30 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23 

“The Energy Revolution is Now” with Prof. Daniel Kammen at the League of Women Voter’s Community Luncheon at 11:30 a.m. at Hs Lordships, Berkeley Marina. Tickets are $75. 843-8828. office@lwvbae.org 

“24 Hours on Craigslist” A documentary by Michael Ferris Gibson at 7:30 p.m. at The Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Donation $5. 843-8724. 

Easy Does It Board of Directors’ Meeting at 6:30 p.m. at 1636 University Ave. 845-5513. 

Art Workshop for ages 5 and up at 3 p.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043. 

Origami at the Library for students in grades 6-12 to learn how to fold a butterfly, heart, wallet, and sailboat, at 6:30 p.m. at the El Cerrito Library, 6510 Stockton Ave., El Cerrito. RSVP to 526-7512.  

Baby and Toddler Storytime at 10:15 and 11:15 a.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave, Kensington. 524-3043. 

Red Cross Blood Drive from noon to 6 p.m. at Theta Chi Fraternity, 2499 Piedmont Ave. To schedule an appointment go to www.BeADonor.com (Code: UCB) 

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. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

FRIDAY, AUGUST 24 

Impeachment Banner Fridays at 6:45 to 8 a.m. on the Berkeley Pedestrian bridge between Seabreeze Market and the Berkeley Aquatic Park, ongoing on Fridays until impeachment is realized. www. Impeachbush-cheney.com 

“Holy Land: Common Ground” A screening of Ed Gaffney and Alicia Dwyer’s documentary about Palestinian-Israeli cooperation in the midst of conflict at 8 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Suggested donation $10. 524-3359.  

Berkeley Women in Black weekly vigil from noon to 1 p.m. at Bancroft and Telegraph. Our focus is human rights in Palestine. 548-6310. 

Circle Dancing, simple folk dancing with instruction at 7:30 p.m. at Finnish Brotherhood Hall, 1970 Chestnut St at University. Donation of $5 requested. 528-4253. www.circledancing.com 

Women in Black Vigil, from noon to 1 p.m. at UC Berkeley, Bancroft at Telegraph. wibberkeley@yahoo.com 548-6310, 845-1143. 

SATURDAY, AUGUST 25 

San Pablo Park Centennial Festival with a dedication of a plaque commemorating Frances Albrier and a new mural, live music, crafts and community booths, food and activities for children, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 2800 Park St., bewteen Russell and Ward. 981-6640. 

Walking Tour of Old Oakland “New Era/New Politics” highlights African-American leaders who have made their mark on Oakland. Meet at 10 a.m. and the African American Museum and Library at 659 14th St. 238-3234. www.oaklandnet.com/walkingtours 

Oakland Heritage Alliance Walking Tour of Sheffield Village Meet at 10 a.m. near the traffic island at the southeast corner of Revere Ave and Marlowe Drive to disover this pre-WWII community. Cost is $10-$15. 763-9218. www.oaklandheritage.org 

Family to Family Volunteer Day at the Alameda County Community Food Bank Learn about the face of hunger in our community for parents and children ages 5 and up, from 9 to 11 a.m. at the Food Bank, 7900 Edgewater Drive, Oakland. Registration required. 635-3665, ext. 308. 

San Antonio Community Resource Fair, with games, arts and crafts, community information from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at San Antonio Park, 1701 E. 19th St., Oakland. www.sannoakland.org 

Jazzy Tomatoes at the Saturday Berkeley Farmers’ Market with music and tomato dishes from noon to 3 p.m. at Center St. at MLK Jr. Way. 548-3333. 

Nevin Park Groundbreaking Ceremony and 15th Annual Iron Triangle Community Picnic with a New Orleans style procession at 11 a.m. and picnic at noon at Nevin Park, Macdonald Ave. and Sixth St., Richomnd. 307-8150. Jacqueline_vaca@ci.richmond.ca.us 

Solo Sierrans Hike in Huckleberry Botanical and Redwood Regional Parks Meet at 10 a.m. at Huckleberry Staging Area south of Sibley, about 1/2 mile on Skyline Blvd. in Oakland for a leisurely six-hour hike with some steep climbs, views and trees. 925-691-6303. 

Hopalong Animal Rescue Come meet your furry new best friend. Cats and kittens avalable for adoption from noon to 3 p.m. at Your Basic Bird, 2940 College Ave. 267-1915, ext. 500. 

Ear Acupuncture for Stress Relief and Detox from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Pharmaca, 1744 Solano Ave. 

Girls Fast Pitch Softball tryouts for Bears Softball Assoc., on Sat. and Sun. For information call 748-0611. www.bears-softball.com 

Fast Pitch Softball for Adults at noon on Saturdays in Oakland. For information call 204-9500. 

Hamster Adoption Fair Learn about these little pets and help one find a good home, from 1 to 4 p.m. at RabbitEars, 303 Arlington Ave., Kensington. 525-6155. 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden Sat. and Sun. at 2 pm. Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Tilden Park. Call to confirm. 841-8732. www.nativeplants.org 

Around the World Tour of Plants at 1:30 p.m., Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. 643-2755.  

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wed. and Sat. at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

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, AUGUST 26 

Oakland Heritage Alliance Walking Tour of Jingletown Meet at 10 a.m. next to Mary Help of Christians Church, east 9th and 26th Ave. Cost is $10-$15. 763-9218. www.oaklandheritage.org 

“Peace with Justice: Prison Reform” with Laura Mangini at 10:30 a.m. at Easter Hill United Methodist Church, 3911 Cutting Blvd. Richmond. 233-0777. 

“Art in the Park” Exhibition hosted by the City of Alameda, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Jackson Park, 2430 Encinal Ave., Alameda. arpd@ci.alameda.ca.us  

Oak Grove Music Festival Celebrating 268 days of tree occupation, from 1 to 7 p.m. at the Memorial Oak Grove, Piedmont at Bancroft. 938-2109. www.SaveOaks.com 

Auditions for “Little Mary Sunshine” at 1 p.m. at Masqueers Playhouse 105 Park Place, Point Richmond. Please prepare a 32-bar up-tempo showtune. 415-465-5550. 

Free Sailboat Rides from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Cal Sailing Club, Berkeley Marina. Wear warm, waterproof clothing and bring a change of clothes in case you get wet. www.cal-sailing.org 

Tour of the Berkeley City Club, Julia Morgan’s “little castle” at 1:15, 2:15, and 3:15 p.m. at 2315 Durant Ave. Free, donations welcome. 883-9710. 

Sew Your Own Open Studio from 5 to 9 p.m. at 84 Bolivar Drive, Aquatic Park. Our workshop has industrial and domestic machines and tools which you can come learn to use or work on your own projects in a social setting. Cost is $3 per hour. 644-2577. www.watersideworkshops.org 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Park Sat. and Sun. at 2 p.m. Call to confirm. 841-8732. www.nativeplants.org 

Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace Peace walk around the lake every Sun. Meet at 3 p.m. at the colonnade at the NE end of the lake. 763-8712. lmno4p.org 

MONDAY, AUGUST 27 

Free Boatbuilding Classes for Youth Mon.-Wed. 2 to 6 p.m. at Berkeley Boathouse, 84 Bolivar Drive, Aquatic Park. Classes cover woodworking, boatbuilding, and boat repair. 644-2577. www.watersideworkshops.org 

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Join us to work on current issues around police misconduct. Volunteers needed. For information call 548-0425. 

Dragonboating Year round classes at the Berkeley Marina, Dock M. Meets Mon, Wed., Thurs. at 6 p.m. Sat. at 10:30 a.m. For details see www.dragonmax.org 

Rally for Justice for Woodfin Workers at 6 p.m. outside Emeryville City Hall, then show your support at the 7 p.m. City of Emeryville Appeal Hearing. www.woodfinwatch.org 

Auditions for Contra Costa Chorale at 7:15 p.m. at Hillside Community Church, 1422 Navellier St., El Cerrito. 527-2026. 

FRIDAY, AUGUST 17 

THEATER 

California Shakespeare Theater “The Triumph of Love” at the Bruns Ampitheater, 100 Gateway Blvd., Orinda, through Sept. 2. Tickets are $15-$60. 548-9666. www.calshakes.org 

“Citizen Josh” with monologoist Josh Kornbluth, Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Repertory Theater, 2025 Addison St., through Spet. 2. Tickets are $25-$30. 647-2949. 

“Jane Austen in Berkeley” a spoken-word performance by Andrea Mock at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

Stage Door Conservatory “Oliver” A Teens On Stage Production, Fri. at 7 p.m., Sat. and Sun. at 5 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $10-$20. 521-6250. 

TheaterInSearch “Epic of Gilgamesh” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave., through Sept. 2. Tickets are $12-$20. 262-0584. 

FILM 

Oakland International Black LGBT Film Festival through Sun. at the Parkway Theater, 1834 Park Blvd. 814-2400. www.clubrimshot.com 

Max Ophuls: Motion and Emotion “The Earrings of Madame de ...” at 7 p.m. and “The Tender Economy” at 9:05 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“Shut Up and Sing” the documentary about the Dixie Chicks, with live music by Hali Hammer, at 6:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Unitarian Universalists Hall, 1924 Cedar St. at Bonita. 665-3306. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Ike Levin, saxophonist, at 8 p.m. at Free-Jazz Fridays at the Jazz House, 1510 8th St., Oakland. Cost is $5-$15. 415-846-9432. 

Alexa Weber Morales at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10-$12. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

The Dave Matthews Blues Band at 8 p.m. at The Warehouse Bar, 402 Webster St., Oakland. 451-3161. 

Danny Mertens Trio at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $10. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Lady Bianca Blues Band at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Sambada, Alfred Howard & the K23 Orchestra at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

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

Nell Robinson & Red Level, with the Mountain Boys, bluegrass and country music, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

Yung Mars and Scott Waters at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Pat Nevins & Ragged Glory, a tribute to Crazy Horse, at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $8. 841-2082.  

Trainwreck Riders, Pine Hill Haunts, Abi Yo Yo’s at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

The Ghost at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Albino at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $10. 548-1159.  

Parallel 23 at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Lee Ritenour & Friends at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $22-$26. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Passionistas, Greg Ashley, Logo Moi, folk, acoustic indie rock, at 9:30 p.m. at the Stork Club Oakland, 2330 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Cost is $5. 444-6174. 

SATURDAY, AUGUST 18 

CHILDREN  

Mexica: An Axtec Tale Sat. and Sun. at 12:30 and 3:30 p.m. and Japanese Folktales at 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. at Children’s Fairyland, 699 Bellevue Ave. 452-2259. 

THEATER 

“MYethiOPIA” with David Schein in a benefit for the Ethiopian based One Love HIV/AIDS Awareness Theater, at 8 p.m. at Wildcat Studio, 2525 8th St. Donation $25. For reservations call 415-861-4330. awassachildrensproject.org 

Shotgun Players “The Three Musketeers” Sat. and Sun. at 4 p.m. at John Hinkle Park, Southampton Ave., off The Arlington, through Sept. 9. Free. 841-6500. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Homeland Obscurity” Works by Catherine Richardson and Will Tait. Artist reception at 6 p.m. at the Float Art Gallery, 1091 Calcot Place, Unit #116, Oakland. 535-1702. 

FILM 

Oakland International Black LGBT Film Festival through Sun. at the Parkway Theater, 1834 Park Blvd. 814-2400. www.clubrimshot.com 

A Theater Near You “Fires on the Plain” at 5:45 p.m. and Abbas Kiarostami “Close -Up” at 8 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Watershed Poetry Festival featuring poets Robert Hass, Michael McClure and Sandra Alcosser and cultural historian Rebecca Solnit from noon to 4 p.m. at MLK/Civic Center Park. 526-9105. www.poetryflash.org 

Reading to Celebrate Fold Magazine, a journal of poetry, at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Sally Light, mezzo-soprano, and Chris Salocks, pianist, in a recital of works by Berlioz, Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, and others at 3 p.m. at St. Albans Church, corner of Curtis and Washington, Albany. Suggested donation $20. 527-2057. 

Rhythm & Muse with singer/ 

songwriter Philip Rodriguez at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St., between Eunice & Rose Sts. 644-6893.  

“Mantra Rock Concert” with Kirtan, and Prayer Circles from 1 to 5 p.m. in People’s Park. Free. 310-754-5884. punyatma@gmail.com  

Concert for Peace & the Bees with Diane Patterson, Marca Cassity, ChoQuosh Auh’Ho’Oh and others at 8 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Cost is $10. 464-4615. 

Hali Hammer with Randy Berge at noon at Cafe Zeste, 1250 Addison St. at Bonar, in the Strawberry Creek Park complex. 704-9378. 

Concha Vargas with David Serva, flamenco guitarist, at 8:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $30-$35. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Carla Zilbersmith & Allen Taylor at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $14. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Inspector Double Negative & The Equal Positives at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Noah Grant and Christopher Hanson at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Steven Emerson Band at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

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

Marcos Silva and Intersection, featuring Chico Pinheiro at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $20-$25. 845-5373.  

Ron Thompson at 8 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. Cost is $7. 558-0881. 

Clockwork at 9 p.m. at Downtown Restaurant, 2102 Shattuck Ave. 649-3810 

Resistant Culture, Under PRessure, Eskapo at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

USA for LSD, Cupids, Childhood Friends, electronics, indie rock, at 9:30 p.m. at the Stork Club Oakland, 2330 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Cost is $5. 444-6174. 

Royal Hawaiian Serenaders at 9 p.m. at Temple Bar Tiki Bar & Grill, 984 University Ave. 548-9888. 

SUNDAY, AUGUST 19 

CHILDREN 

Asheba at Ashkenaz at 3 p.m. Cost is $4-$6. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

FILM 

Oakland International Black LGBT Film Festival at the Parkway Theater, 1834 Park Blvd. 814-2400. www.clubrimshot.com 

From the Tsars to the Stars: A Journey through Russian Fantastik Cinema “Ruslan and Ludmila” at 6 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Wendy Schlesinger, author of “Young Girl’s Diary” written in 1969 about political and cultural events in Berkeley, reads at 2 p.m. at People’s Park. Benefits the Gardens on Wheels Association.  

Kate Schatz, Douglas Wolk, and Shawn Taylor, authors of books written about important and/or seminal music albums at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Count Basie Tribute Orchestra, a 20-piece Big Band from the Oakland Public Conservatory of Music, from 1 to 4 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak at 10th St. Cost is $20-$50. 238-2200.  

Ancient Future at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $7.50 children, $9.50 for adults. 548-1761.  

Son de Madera from Mexico at 8 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $12-$15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Grupo Falso Baiano at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $8. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Tiny Strips of Heart Tissue at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Americana Unplugged: The Whiskey Brothers at 5 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Rachid Halihal, Middle Eastern, North African at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $12. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Arc Hive, Moe, avant garde jazz at 9:30 p.m. at the Stork Club Oakland, 2330 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Cost is $5. 444-6174. 

MONDAY, AUGUST 20 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Barry Gifford and Al Young read at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

Poetry Express with Conney Williams from Los Angeles at 7 p.m., at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. 644-3977. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Zaedno, Bulgarian folk songs, at 7 p.m. at Le Bateau Ivre, 2629 Telegraph Ave. 849-1100. www.lebateauivre.net 

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

Jesus Diaz y QBA at 8 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10 238-9200.  

TUESDAY, AUGUST 21 

CHILDREN 

Puppet Art Theater for ages 3 and up at 6:30 p.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave, Kensington. 524-3043. 

FILM 

A Theater Near You “High and Low” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Herb Kohl describes “Painting Chinese: A Lifelong Teacher Gains the Wisdom of Youth” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Tom Rigney & Flambeau at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Singers’ Open Mic with Ellen Hoffman at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

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

Jackie Ryan, featuring Red Holloway, at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $6-$12. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Jazzschool Tuesdays at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22 

FILM 

Eco-Amok: An Inconvenient Film Fest “Meet the Applegates” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Writing Teachers Write” Teacher/student readings from the Bay Area Writing Project, with Jane Juska, Meredith Baxter and Claire Noonan 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 

The Snake Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Karl Perazzo, Bobby Allende & John Dandy Rodriguez, percussion salsa, at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Salsa dance lessons at 8 p.m. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

Brass Mafia at 5 p.m., Natasha Miller at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Mikie Lee and Amber at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Erika Luckett at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Robert Glasper at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$16. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23 

FILM 

Abbas Kiarostami “ABC Africa” at 7 p.m. and “Five” at 8:45 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Oakland Out Loud Poetry Reading with John Curl, Trena Machado, Jeanne Lupton and Rosa Martin Villareal at 6 p.m. at the Oakland Public Library, 125 14th St., Oakland. 238-3134. 

Dana Ward, Alli Warren and David Larsen, poets, read at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

Eric Gower describes experimentation in the kitchen in “The Breakaway Cook” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Victoria Tatum reads from her novel “The Virgin’s Children” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Winard Harper Sextet at noon at the downtown Berkeley BART station. info@downtownberkeley.org 

Goat Hall Productions Cabaret Operas “The Playboy of the Western World” and “Dionysus” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 7 p.m. at Oakland Metro Operahouse, 201 Broadway at Jack London Square, Oakland. Tickets are $15-$25. 415-289-6877. 

“Our American Cousin” an opera about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln with the University Chamber Chorus at 8 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Free. 642-4864. 

Freight 19th Annual Fiddle Summit, with Alasdair Fraser, Annbjørg Lien, Catriona MacDonald and Laura Risk at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $24.50-$25.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Eric Jekabson & Darren Johnston at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

The Temescallionaires, old-time tunes, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Dark Smile, Friendship First, Daniel Popsickle Orchestra, The Noodles at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082 www.starryploughpub.com 

Antioquia at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

James Carter at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $12-$24. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Terrence Brewer Trio at 5 p.m., Space Heater at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277 

Zadell at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Hot Club at 6 p.m. at La Note, 2377 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $40, includes dinner. 843-1525. 

Maldroid at 9:30 p.m. at the Stork Club Oakland, 2330 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Cost is $5. 444-6174. 

Goat Hall Productions, normally housed in a theater on Potrero Hill (also known as Goat Hill), is presenting two premieres at Oakland Metro Theater in Jack London Square during August 23-26.  

Quirky, robust, and engaging, this cabaret-opera company features original work written by up-and-coming composers in new stagings that run the gamut from traditional to experimental. Their performers are energetic young singing professionals working collaboratively with the directors and composers. According to artistic director Harriet March Page, the work has to be “happening.”  

A fine and powerful vocalist, Page slipped into the edgier world of new opera when, after a hiatus from singing, she returned to her voice teacher and the two disagreed over her vocal categorization. She thought herself a character mezzo-soprano, he said she was a dramatic soprano. He wanted her to sing Brunnhilde; she wanted to sing Marcellina. That impulse to follow her own heart rather than others’ expectations is what brought her finally to produce her own opera series.  

Goat Hall’s aptly titled “Fresh Voices” is an annual summer event of two weekends of short narrative operas usually 15 to 30 minutes in length. The Oakland Metro premieres, however, are two hour-long fully staged operas back to back—composer Steven Clark’s Dionysus and composer Mark Alburger’s adaptation of J. M. Synge’s The Playboy of the Western World. 

Clark’s Dionysus is loosely based on the dramatic events that comprise Euripides’ The Bacchae. Fascinated by mythology since childhood, Clark read The Bacchae in his early twenties and earmarked it as a story he wanted to come back to: “It showed the dark side of gods and was symbolic of the two-sided coin of life and death.” 

He was especially taken by Dionysus, who has been linked with the Hindu Krishna and the Egyptian Osiris, as well as with Christianity’s Jesus. Dionysus, a fertility god, is a resurrection god, one who dies and returns to life. The 50-minute long opera is a reimagining of the ancient Dionysian Mysteries, rites long lost in the past that are thought to reenact the cycle of birth and rebirth exemplified by the life story of the god.  

Dionysus opens with Pentheus, the King of Thebes, and his mother Agave worrying over the appearance of a priest who has enflamed the local female population with his Dionysian practices. Agave decides to infiltrate Dionysus’ followers, the maenads, and is soon lost to their ecstatic rites. The priest, who is the god Dionysus, convinces Pentheus to join the women, dressed in female robes. During their rituals Pentheus is killed and dismembered by the maenads. An earthquake destroys Thebes, and Agave returns to her destroyed city bearing the head of her son, whom she had not recognized during the ritual’s frenzy.  

Following the ancient Greek practice of having tragedy interrupted by the appearance of satyrs, who flooded the audience, playing tricks and telling bawdy jokes, Clark inserts a comic interlude just before the opera’s darkest moment. The comedy, an animation by Garth Kauffman projected onto an onstage screen, is woven into the plot. 

One of Clark’s concerns is that the audience will think Dionysus is a comedy. His previous short operas have been humorous and satiric: “Eye Eye Sailor,” a charming fantasy devised for sock puppet theater and “Amok Time,” which juxtaposed a video projection of an episode of Star Trek with live singers singing an original libretto in sync with the TV characters. In Dionysus, the maenads enact women giving birth, Clark comments that reenactments of “sexuality and reproduction tend to make people get giggly.”  

Clark’s intent, however, is “to create a piece of theater exposing, explaining, celebrating and practicing ritualistic theater drama.” 

The music of Dionysus combines recorded electronic music with live guitar and percussion. Although the music is inspired by progressive rock, its structure and harmonic material are seeded from transcriptions of Greek music, of which there are 120 existing fragments. “I’ve used the crazy changing rhythms, the quarter tones and the non-diatonic scale,” explains Clark, who has also scored the opera for the contemporary descendants of the ancient Greek kythera, the ancestor of the guitar, and the two-reed two-pipe flute: harps, guitars, flutes, oboes. The approach to the vocal line, he adds, is more like Wagner than Verdi, with a continuous flow of music making little distinction between recitative and aria, and sitting on a central key for long periods: “It’s not” he adds, “a numbers opera.” 

Mark Alburger believes he’s written 20 operas, 10 of which have been produced, but he’s lost track. His adaptation of The Playboy of the Western World was originally conceived as an accompaniment to performances of Riders to the Sea, Ralph Vaughan Williams’ 1927 setting of Synge’s one-act tragedy of life in the fishing villages in the Aran Islands.  

Set in a village in remote western Ireland, The Playboy of the Western World tells the story of Christy Mahon, a young man who tells the habitués of a pub that he’s killed his father with a shovel. The locals are impressed by his tale, which gets more elaborate with each retelling, and the young women, especially the tavern owner’s delectable daughter Pegeen Mike, are entranced by the daring of his lawlessness.  

Alburger finds the tragicomic aspects of Synge’s play his kind of theater— “heckafunny with great resonant themes.”  

The libretto, written by Alburger, is set to heckawild music. Alburger began his compositional career by using collage as his principal technique. Now he composes by taking another composer’s piece and “whittling away at it,” rather in the style of Bach and others who have used pre-existing themes as compositional inspiration. In this case, Alburger has used Puccini’s Turandot as the basis of his setting—relating its exoticism to Synge’s portrayal of western Ireland as a remote and wilder world.  

Turandot opens with big strident chords that shift into a melodic recitative. Alburger likewise uses opening chords but instead shifts into an Irish jig. He uses the Irish pentatonic and hexatonic scales throughout the piece, deriving his understanding of Irish music from the Chieftains’ score for the movie Barry Lyndon. To that he adds the rhythmic structures from the second tableau of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and “a heavy dose of minimalism.” Overall, Alburger claims, “I do default tonal and throw in enough dissonance because it’s fun.” 

Goat Hall Productions presents two new mixed-media, one-act cabaret operas: Steven Clark’s Dionysus and Mark Alburger’s The Playboy of the Western World, at 8 p.m. Thursday Aug. 23 through Saturday Aug. 25, and at 7 p.m. Sunday Aug. 26. Oakland Metro Operahouse, 201 Broad-way, near Jack London Square. $25 per person for a cabaret table; $20, single seat; $15, students and seniors. For reservations and information, call (415) 289-6877. 

Photograph: Jaime Robles 

Karl Coryat as Pentheus, the King of Thebes, and Meghan Dribble as Queen Mother Agave are watched by a maenad, Lisa McHenry, in Steven Clark’s opera Dionysus, a Goat Hall Production at Oakland Metro Theater.

California Poet Laureate Al Young and well-known novelist and screenwriter Barry Gifford, both Berkeley residents, will read together in a felicitous doubleheader at Moe’s Books on Telegraph Ave. this coming Monday, August 20, at 7:30 p.m. as part of the Mondays at Moe’s series coordinated by Owen Hill. 

“I first met Al in 1970 when we read together at the Sonoma State Poetry Festival,” recalled Barry Gifford, “that was the weekend Ronald Reagan closed all the college campuses, so we had to move the reading to a barn on a farm nearby. I’ve stopped doing a lot of readings, but Owen called me and said Al had asked if I’d read with him at Moe’s, so I’ll make an exception. And since it’s a poetry reading, that’s what we’ll read!” 

Al Young remarked, “Barry and I have read together before, and it’s always been a hit, taking turns reading ... it’s always uproarious. He writes about eccentric people in weird situations, so people expect me to follow suit! I don’t—but my voice seems to compliment his.” 

Better known for his prose and screenplays, Gifford has published a fair-sized poetry bibliography, including some unusual editions which Moe’s will have on sale. A current publication is Las Quatras Reinas/The Four Queens, a bilingual edition from Mexico City (also published in Madrid), with photos by David Perry with whom Gifford worked on Border Town. 

“The translations are by Lara Emilio-Pacheco, daughter of the well-known Mexican writer Jose Emilio-Pacheco,” said Gifford. “It’s my first full-length bilingual poetry book, though I’ve been translated before, especially into French, by Nouvelle Revue Francaise.” I’ll read some other poems; it’s not often I’ve the chance to read poetry. And I never know what mood I’ll be in! But it’s a good occasion, and I’m glad the series with Owen has been ongoing.” 

Al Young will read from his new collection, Something About—“poems and prose poems centered around blues and jazz themes in particular. There are a lot of new and some older pieces in the book, which Source Books asked me to put together. Those themes run so heavily through everything I write, it was like shooting fish in a barrel.” The collection includes an audio book with both solo readings and readings backed by a band, including saxophonist Ralph Jones (”who played with Cannonball [Adderley]”), Detroit pianist Kenn Cox, Edwin Livingston on bass and Charles Eisenstadt on drums, performing at CalArts to an audience of high school students. He’ll also read from Coastal Nights and Inland Afternoons and The Sound of Dreams Remembered, which won the American Book Award in 2002.  

“I sometimes get asked when I’m going to come out with a real book—meaning another forgettable novel,” Young said. “It lets me know just what the questioner thinks about poetry. It’s in poetry that the most important things get said. I’ve yet to hear somebody read from a novel at a wedding or a memorial service. Our society today is so narrative and graphic-oriented. And serious poetry is now mostly academic. Most poetry is personal narrative written in skinny lines. And then there’s vernacular poetry, hip-hop and performance poetry, which is unpredictable, always doing something strange—like blues, the irreducible radical in American society. You never know where it’s going to go.” 

Some of Gifford’s out-of-print poetry books will be available at the reading. “Barry opened up his archive,” said Owen Hill. Gifford explained, “When a poetry press sells, say, 500 copies, they don’t know what to do with the rest, so they give them to me in a box. Al’s published lots of books, and his house is filled with them. When he schleps off to Pakistan or someplace, it’s with a bag over his back like Santa Claus! I write poetry when it comes to me, then throw it in an envelope ora box. I don’t know what’s going on in poetry now. It’s receded back into the hands of the academics. Al and I are certainly independents.” 

Al Young will also read Sat. Aug. 25 at the Berkeley Jazz Festival.

Abbas Kiarostami is known primarily as an innovative filmmaker and the Pacific Film Archive is currently presenting a retrospective of his films. The inventive confluence of documentation and fiction has produced a new direction in cinema, prompting Werner Herzog to assert,”We are living in the era of Kiarostami but don’t know it yet.” In addition to working as a film director, the Iranian artist is also a writer, a poet, an editor, screen writer and photographer.  

To coincide with the film series, BAM displays “Abbas Kiarostami Image Maker,” a show of still photos, which comes to Berkeley from MoMA’s P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center. These stark black-and-white photographs are of roads and trees and were often the result of his walking thousands of miles in search of suitable backgrounds for his films. The film director is known for his panoramic long shots, used often as a Brechtian device to create distance from the audience. In the still photos Kiorastami shows isolated or silhouetted black trees and their gray shadows against vast snow fields or there are empty roads that snake through the land and seem to go nowhere. Some photogaphs focus on tree trunks and study the roughness of their textures in closeups. And there are pictures of large crows walking among the trees. A short silent film in the exhibition shows the movement of branches in the wind. No narrative needed. He wrote: “One single picture is the mother of cinema. That’s where cinema starts, with one single picture.” 

David Goldblatt is an acclaimed South African photographer and writer. He is the author of many books, including one with the novelist Nadine Gardiner. On one floor at BAM we see black-and-white photos of desolate empty, endless landscapes, as well as land-scarred asbestos mines, which refer to the environmental damage caused by the miners and the government that protected them. After the end of apartheid Goldblatt began using color in his documentary work. But they still show the misery that prevails. There is a primitive shack isolated in the countryside, there are black hawkers in the townships, there are billboards advertising “accommodations” or hand-written notes of people looking for any kind of work. He provides explanatory labels for his photos, such as the picture of the “Monument to Abraham Essau,” a gravestone by the road for a black man who was executed by the Boers for asserting limited civil rights. The gravestone was unveiled in 2003, but was soon pushed over or collapsed. 

Life may have improved in South Africa, but misery still prevails.  

In Iran, Kiorostami’s films—he produced over 40 of them—cannot be screened in his country, and when he was invited to New York to see his films in the 2002 film festival the US denied his visa. 

Abbas Kiarostami: from the series Rain, 2006; C-print; 28 1/2 x 41 1/4 in.; collection of the Iranian Art Foundation, New York.

As it’s almost planting time (for leisurely values of “almost”) I’ll talk about how to pick your posies. Some of us are on-the-ball enough to do all our planting from seeds and/or divisions and cuttings of our own, but most of us are the sort of people who keep nurseries in business by letting them do the early stuff.  

I have no guilt about not being an early bird because I’ve noticed what happens to the early worm. 

So you walk into a nursery or, more perilously, into a hardware or big-box discount store, and you’re looking at appealing baby plants. Which ones are you going to take home? Which ones are most likely to prosper in your house or garden?  

It’s like choosing your puppy out of a big litter. Ideally, you look for the most friendly and interested one, neither the most aggressive nor the shy runt. OK, some of us take in runts just because. I seem to accumulate them here at the South Berkeley Plant Hospice and Hortatorium. But take my advice, not my example, unless you have a capacious composter. 

Here’s a batch of four-inchers looking cheerful and flowery. It’s good to see one in bloom so you know what you’re getting; it’s generally best to take one that has more buds than blooms. Lots of plants, annuals included, are repeat bloomers, but you don’t want one who’s not ready to retire already. 

Read the tags, either on the plants themselves or on the shelf. (Find out for sure that the shelf tag matches the plant. Things can get deranged even before you take them home.) Learn if it’s an annual or a perennial. Usually an annual will give you faster bloom, fill-in, and effects in general; perennials are slower-yielding investments.  

Tags should also tell you whether the plants like shade or sun, water or drought. “Tolerant” means it’ll get by; look again for its preference and be sure you know what you’ll tolerate yourself in its “performance.” “Full sun” doesn’t mean it gets direct sunlight for an hour or three a day; it means it casts a shadow for most of the daylight hours.  

Also, most of us west of the Berkeley hills get less sun than our eastern neighbors anyway. Many plants that are labeled for “light shade” will be fine in as much sun as you get—at least after the hottest days of September.  

Pick up the plant container. Roots emerging from the bottom holes suggest that the plant’s been there almost too long. You’ll lose those when you take the plant out anyway, and that’ll be a setback. Look for the one that balances healthy foliage with firm white roots inside the pot.  

The soil should be firmly against the pot walls; if there’s a gap, the plant’s been dried out completely and then revived. Might not be as healthy in the long run as it looks now. Brown edges or tips on leaves would suggest the same thing.  

Take the healthiest plants home and give them good lives. There’s no point in paying live-plant prices for compost. 

Ron Sullivan is a former professional gardener and arborist. Her “Garden Variety” column appears every Friday in the Daily Planet’s East Bay Home & Real Estate section. Her column on East Bay trees appears every other Tuesday in the Daily Planet.

Every once in a while I meet someone who reinvigorates my excitement about what I do. This encounter reminds me that remodeling is not so much a business as it is a passion for a lot of people like me. 

The fellow I met (we’ll call him Miles) was in last throes of a multi-faceted home improvement project in Oakland just last week. If you’re looking at houses, you might be lucky enough to meet him. He proudly thrust his album of photos into my arms at one point and waited, like a kid in the tenth grade, to hear what I had to say. What I had to say was that his work was truly outstanding. 

Now, Miles is not a construction professional. He’s a regular person who just happens to be incredibly excited about houses (well, they are exciting, aren’t they?). Miles had actually done a little construction work here and there as a helper in the last few years and, like his father before him, took an everyday interest in fixing things. But there was more. Miles had the vision to take each job a little further than most people would. He sought out advice, read books, looked at other people’s work and did each job with care, genuine curiosity and zest.  

He told me that when he met with his municipal inspector, he got the fellow’s number and called him scores of times with small questions about the best way to do something—he estimated at least 40 times! Now most people are afraid to meet their city inspector once. Miles was so far outside that box that he wouldn’t have been able to read the label.  

He saw the city inspector as a collaborator and—guess what?—the guy was probably so flattered that he couldn’t touch the ground for a day. Remember that city inspectors take a lot of abuse when, for the most part, they’re just interested in preventing bad things from happening. 

Miles didn’t rush. He worked slowly, cleanly and deliberately. That’s important. He hadn’t actually done a huge amount of work but it sort of seemed like it because each job was so beautifully done. He also did something else that was very smart. He knew, somehow, that his aesthetic sense (his ability to pick colors and such) was not as refined as other people he knew and so he got help. He sought out someone (or several someones) who picked really GREAT colors and some amazing tile (the bath employed at least three kinds of glass tile, which I personally love). 

It was clear that he hadn’t just gone down the Home Despot and picked out what was cheap, what was easy to install or what they happened to put on the end-cap that day. He took the time to plan out each phase. He worked out tiny details at doorways and counter-to-wall junctions so that they all looked just so. This sort of thing does not necessary require any special education. What’s most needed is patience, thoughtfulness and a bit of creativity. Contractors often fail at these details in pursuit of a quickly finished job and final check. It’s also why the best contractors are easily twice the cost of the cheap ones. You could say the devil is in the details but I’d like to thing that there are angels there instead. The details (and this is what ultimately wowed me by Miles’ remodel) are not exactly everything, but they get darned close. Actually, I think that ordinary tile, sheetrock and lumber can make for fabulous rehabs if the tiny details are well managed, but if one adds in some nice shopping choices, it can send the whole thing right over the top. Again, this never happens by rushing or by following the standard playbook. It happens by staring at something for half an hour until it’s clear just what needs to be done. It happens by being willing to take it apart and do it one more time so that it’s just right. 

One thing that was really fun for me on Miles’ job was the fact that he was just as dedicated to the mechanical as to the aesthetic (this is where I live). I get very excited (medication may be advised in such cases) about a fully re-routed gas piping system that employs the minimum number of fittings, is well clamped in place, and tightened so as to never leak and arranged to make it easy to connect all the appliances. Welcome to my world. The water piping was similarly done. This was a fairly new skill for our hero but the truth is that this is not actually all that trying a task for any reasonably intelligent individual. Learning to “sweat” pipe takes about an hour or two for the basics and a few days for the more complex parts. 

Miles could have shopped out many of these jobs or, as far too many do these days, tried to get a day-labor crew off the street to perform tasks that are simply beyond their ken. You know, construction really isn’t rocket science. There are enormous opportunities to refine, improve and generally raise the bar but most of what remodeling and construction entails is not beyond the average school-teacher. If you can learn to do algebra, you can remodel a bathroom. If you can sew a quilt, you can re-wire your house. Most of what’s required is patience and curiosity. 

Miles has been working on this house for about 18 months and is getting ready to sell. He’s put his heart and soul into this project and I earnestly hope that he’ll be fairly compensated. I don’t think he over-improved for the neighborhood, but it’s a genuine concern. I’ve seen it done and there are sometimes tears and regrets.  

If you’re thinking about Being Miles, be sure to look at closing costs, comparable values, interest rates and the whole financial picture. Be a SMART artist so that when it’s all over, you’ll be a happy little Picasso, ready to go out and commit verve once again. 

Got a question about home repairs and inspections? Send them to Matt Cantor at mgcantor@pacbell.net. 

Matt Cantor owns Cantor Inspections and lives in Berkeley. His column runs weekly. 

Copyright 2007 Matt Cantor

A Week Without Your Bathroom?  

The more conservative of the disaster preparedness experts tell us to be prepared to be without running water, electricity, gas, roads, fire protection, and, yes, sewer service for a week (think Katrina). 

People around Northern California who are prepared (alas, very few of us!) have thought through most of the above, with the exception of the lack of workable toilets.  

Not a fun topic, but extremely important, wouldn’t you say? We will discuss how to address this issue in future QuakeTips, but a word to those who want to be prepared: you might want to think about this. 

Here’s to making your home secure and your family safe. 

Larry Guillot is owner of QuakePrepare, an earthquake consulting, securing, and kit supply service. Call him at 558-3299, or visit www.quakeprepare.com.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 17 

Impeachment Banner Fridays at 6:45 to 8 a.m. on the Berkeley Pedestrian bridge between Seabreeze Market and the Berkeley Aquatic Park, ongoing on Fridays until impeachment is realized. www. Impeachbush-cheney.com 

Conscientious Projector Film Series “Shut Up and Sing” the documentary about the Dixie Chicks, with live music by Hali Hammer, at 6:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Unitarian Universalists Hall, 1924 Cedar St. at Bonita. 665-3306. 

“Know Your Rights!” Workshop Learn what to do if confronted by the police or if you are observing the police, at 6 p.m. at the Grassroots House, 2022 Blake St. Free, donations accepted. berkeleycopwatch.org 

“Resist to Exist” Benefit for Indigenous Gathering with a shwoing videos from the struggles in Oaxaca and Atenco at 8 p.m. at the Intertribal Friendship House, 523 International Blvd., Oakland. Donation $6. www.encuentroindigena.org 

Financial Advice for Seniors at North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst. Call for appointment. 981-5190. 

“Basic Training in Gemology” with Baird Heffron at 6 p.m. at Christensen Heller Gallery, 5829 College Ave., Oakland. 655-5952. 

Berkeley Women in Black weekly vigil from noon to 1 p.m. at Bancroft and Telegraph. Our focus is human rights in Palestine. 548-6310. 

Circle Dancing, simple folk dancing with instruction at 7:30 p.m. at Finnish Brotherhood Hall, 1970 Chestnut St at University. Donation of $5 requested. 528-4253.  

SATURDAY, AUGUST 18 

Watershed Poetry Festival with former US Poet Laureate Robert Hass, Michael McClure and Sandra Alcosser, cultural historian Rebecca Solnit and others from noon to 4 p.m. at Civic Center Park. 526-9105. www.poetryflash.org 

Oakland Heritage Alliance Walking Tour of the Waterfront Warehouse District Meet at 10 a.m. at the intersection of 3rd and Franklin. 763-9218. www.oaklandheritage.org 

Walking Tour of Oakland Chinatown Meet at 10 a.m. at the courtyard fountain in the Pacific Renaissance Plaza at 388 Ninth St. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. www.oaklandnet.com/walkingtours 

“Plants for the Water Garden” with propagation specialist Brian Gabbard at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens Nursery, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. 

Boot Camp for Nonprofits, sponsored by the Craigslist Foundation from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. at UC Campus. Cost is $50. To register see www.craigslistfoundation.org/bootcamp 

“Night Souk” Oakland’s Summer Night Bazaar with performances, activities, food and local crafts, from 6 to 11 p.m. at 9th and Washington.  

Lead-Safety for Remodeling, repair and painting of older homes. A HUD & EPA approved class held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Alameda County Lead Poisoning Prevention Program 2000 Embarcadero, #300, Oakland. 567-8280. www.ACLPPP.org 

Hopalong Animal Rescue Come meet your furry new best friend. Dogs and puppies available for adoption from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. at 4101 Piedmont Ave., Oakland and cats and kittens from noon to 3 p.m. at 3974 Peidmont Ave., Oakland. 267-1915, ext. 500. 

Tips for Travel with Children at 2:30 p.m. at the Rockridge Branch of the Oakland Public Library, 5366 College Ave. 597-5017. 

Bears Fast Pitch Travel A Softball for girls age 10-18 tryouts from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Clayton Valley High School Varsity Field, Concord. For information call 748-0611. 

Fast Pitch Softball for Adults at noon on Saturdays in Oakland. For information call 204-9500. 

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wed. and Sat. at 10 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

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.  

SUNDAY, AUGUST 19 

Alameda Architectural Society Annual “Woody Walk” Explore Alameda’s West End with author and historian Woody Minor from 3 to 5 p.m. Meet at the parking lot on the corner of Webster St. and Taylor Ave. Coost is $5. 986-9232. 

Oakland Heritage Alliance Walking Tour of Oakland Airport North Field Meet at 10 a.m. at the business jet center, 9351 Earhart Rd. to visit the hsitoric avaiation sites. 763-9218. www.oaklandheritage.org 

Community Labyrinth Peace Walk at 3 p.m. at Willard Middle School, Telegraph Ave. between Derby & Stuart. Everyone welcome. Wheelchair accessible. 526-7377. 

Bike Tour of Oakland around Lake Merritt on a leisurly paced two-hour tuour that covers about five miles. Meet at 10 a..m. at the 10th St. entrance to the Oakland Museum of California. Reservations required. 238-3514.  

Free Hands-on Bicycle Clinic Learn how to repair a flat from 10 to 11 a.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. Bring your bike and tools. 527-4140. 

Berkeley Cybersalon “The Science of a Meaningful Life” with psychologist Dacher Keltner, founder and research director of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley; sociologist Christine Carter McLaughlin, the center’s executive director who researches ways to raise happy children; and Jason Marsh, co-editor of Greater Good, the center’s magazine, at 5 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Cost is $15. whoisylvia@aol.com 

East Bay Atheists meet with Marc Adams, author of “The Preacher’s Son” a chronicle of growing up in a fundamentalist household, while struggling with being gay, at 1:30 p.m. at Berkeley Main Library, 3rd Floor Meeting Room, 2090 Kittredge St. 222-7580. 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Park Sat. and Sun. at 2 p.m. Call to confirm. 841-8732.  

Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace Peace walk around the lake at 3 p.m. at the colonnade at the NE end of the lake. 763-8712.  

MONDAY, AUGUST 20  

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Join us to work on current issues around police misconduct. 548-0425. 

Dragonboating Year round classes at the Berkeley Marina, Dock M. Meets Mon, Wed., Thurs. at 6 p.m. Sat. at 10:30 a.m. For details see www.dragonmax.org 

TUESDAY, AUGUST 21 

“Koyaanisqatsi” or “Life out of Balance” a film on the collision of the urban/technology world and the natural environment at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donation $5. www.HumanistHall.net 

American Red Cross Blood Services Volunteer Orientation from 6 to 8 p.m at 6230 Claremont Ave., Oakland. Advanced sign-up is required. 594-5165.  

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Share your digital images, slides and prints and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

Community Sing-a-Long every Tues, at 2 p.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave. 524-9122.  

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. We offer ongoing classes in exercise and creative arts, and always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22 

Walking Tour of Old Oakland around the restored 1870s business district. Meet at 10 a.m. in front of G.B. Ratto’s at 827 Washington St. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. 

Recording African American Stories Add your voice to the Library of Congress and the National Museum of African American History, Wed. from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., by appointment, at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland, through Sept. 12. For appointment call 228-3207. 

Green Chamber of Commerce Mixer at 5:30 p.m. at LJ Kruse Company, 920 Pardee St., Cost is $5-$15. RSVP to chivachuca@yahoo.com, www.greenchamberofcommerce.net 

GPS Training for Mapping Creeks with the Contra Costa County Mapping Program at 7 p.m. at 4191 Appian Way, El Sobrante. To register call 665-3538. www.thewatershedproject.org 

Pax Nomada Bike Ride Meet at 6 p.m. at Nomad Cafe for a 15-25 mile ride up to through the Berkeley hills. All levels of cyclists welcome. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at the Berkeley BART Station, corner of Shattuck and Center. Sing for Peace at 6:30 p.m. followed by Peace Walk at 7 p.m. www. 

geocities.com/vigil4peace/vigil 

Stitch ‘n Bitch at 6:30 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23 

“UC and BP: The Energy Biosciences Institute” with Prof. Daniel Kammen at the League of Women Voter’s Community Luncheon at 1:30 a.m. at Hs Lordships, Berkeley Marina. Tickets are $75. 843-8828. office@lwvbae.org 

“24 Hours on Craigslist” A documentary by Michael Ferris Gibson at 7:30 p.m. at The Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Donation $5. 843-8724. 

Art Workshop for ages 5 and up at 3 p.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043. 

Origami at the Library for students in grades 6-12 to learn how to fold a butterfly, heart, wallet, and sailboat, at 6:30 p.m. at the El Cerrito Library, 6510 Stockton Ave., El Cerrito. RSVP to 526-7512.  

Baby and Toddler Storytime at 10:15 and 11:15 a.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave, Kensington. 524-3043. 

Red Cross Blood Drive from noon to 6 p.m. at Theta Chi Fraternity, 2499 Piedmont Ave. To schedule an appointment go to www.BeADonor.com (Code: UCB) 

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. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu