They sang, they spoke, they demanded, they were funny, serious—the group of some 100 people assembled by Code Pink at the Oakland Federal Building on Tuesday were doing whatever they could to tell the powers-that-be to stop funding the war in Iraq. -more-
Despite a number of residents urging the City Council to oppose it, councilmembers unanimously approved a $396,000 county-federal grant aimed at delivering customized transit information to people living near Telegraph Avenue, San Pablo Avenue and the Ashby Avenue BART Station. (Councilmember Max Anderson was absent.) -more-
The Berkeley Board of Education began the search for a new superintendent for the Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) Wednesday. -more-
Former Berkeley Housing Director Steve Barton, pressured to resign after what some say was a cursory investigation by the city attorney into problems at the Berkeley Housing Authority, was back before the City Council on Tuesday to accept a proclamation honoring him as a “stalwart and creative leader in achieving the city of Berkeley’s affordable housing mission.” -more-
Superior Court Judge Richard Keller Wednesday denied UC Berkeley’s request for a court order ending the tree-sit at Memorial Stadium. -more-
The owner of the proposed Muse Art House and Mint Cafe on Telegraph Avenue said that the project might be dead after a ruling by the Berkeley Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) Thursday. -more-
The laptop thief who stole eight laptops from eight customers at Cafe Strada on Bancroft Avenue on Sunday evening is still at large. -more-
The Berkeley Neighborhood Antenna-Free Union plans to protest this Saturday the lawsuit by Verizon Wireless against the City of Berkeley, an attempt to overturn the city’s protective ordinance regarding cell phone antennas. -more-
By Judith Scherr -more-
Superior Court Judge Richard Keller Wednesday denied UC Berkeley’s request for a court order ending the tree-sit at Memorial Stadium. -more-
Merci is a word that’s thrown around quite a bit at Ecole Bilingue, East Bay’s oldest bilingual school, and it’s not just because its 500-odd students have a lot to thank their teachers for. -more-
Stephen Barton, the former housing director who resigned under pressure from the city manager, will be honored tonight (Tuesday) by the City Council. -more-
If the City Council approves a $396,000 grant on tonight’s (Tuesday) council agenda, someone could come knocking at your door, if you live near Telegraph Avenue or San Pablo Avenue, offering detailed information on public transportation services in your neighborhood and even giving you free BART or bus passes to encourage you to try out the services. -more-
The Berkeley Community Energy Services Corporation is under investigation and its executive director, Nancy Hoeffer, has been terminated. -more-
Negotiations between the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 192 on a two-year contract that expired last June have been extended on a month-to-month basis. -more-
Terry Blount was introduced as the new secretary of the Berkeley Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) when the board met Thursday. -more-
At around 3:45 p.m. Monday, a Berkeley High student was arrested for attempting to use a knife on a security guard at the school. -more-
Hazardous metals and chemicals at UC Berkeley’s Richmond Field Station pose potential threats to the health of children who play in its marshland and workers who dig in its soil, state scientists have concluded. -more-
City crews have sealed off part of the main meeting and dining room at the North Berkeley Senior Center while they remove mold from a small portion of the facility, City Manager Phil Kamlarz said Monday. -more-
One of America’s richest foundations has promised $113 million to UC Berkeley to endow faculty chairs and recruit top graduate students. -more-
The Blue Ribbon Commission established by Oakland City Council last year to report on Oakland housing issues is recommending that council adopt an inclusionary housing ordinance targeted to households with incomes at or below 100 percent of area median income. -more-
Opening my Gmail on Thursday morning, I saw this click-through at the top of the page: -more-
The King in The King and I says “It’s a puzzlement!” when confronted with something he doesn’t understand. That line occurred to me last week when the publisher and I took in the Berkeley Repertory Theater’s 40th anniversary opening night performance of Shaw’s Heartbreak House, characterized by our reviewer as “sumptuous,” courtesy of comps provided by the theater’s PR department. -more-
The foundation of our freedom is the right to petition the government. Every Fourth of July, we celebrate the Declaration of Independence, a petition, and this right is protected by Article One, Section One of the United States Constitution. Are Internet polls a legitimate form of petition, and can they be used to measure public opinion? -more-
The Planning Commission last week demonstrated commendable wisdom by removing auto dealerships from consideration in the thriving artisan, light industrial and building supply community in the MU-LI District south of Ashby Avenue, thus heading off the area’s destabilization. The same sort of clear thinking should also guide the commission’s approval in concept of auto sales as a permitted use in the Manufacturing District at the foot of Gilman Street. The Planning Commission will now consider the conditions under which that will happen. It can be done in a way that will benefit everyone in Berkeley, or it can be done in a way that could put all industry in that area at risk. -more-
At next Saturday’s Peoples Park Peace Rally (September 15) you and everyone else are invited to play an active role. There will be speeches and music starting at 1 PM, and at about 3:40 we will all be given a choice of participating in 11 different discussion and action circles. And you will be able to form your own discussion group if you can announce it from the stage with three people. The discussion circles planned so far are as follows: -more-
Several of us from Save the Oaks at the Stadium took our marching trees to the Solano Stroll last weekend, and we got an overwhelmingly positive response to our “Go Green, Save the Oaks!” message. We quickly ran out of our flyers, and were repeatedly stopped by people along the way who wanted to hear the latest about the oaks campaign. We got encouraging words from across the political and demographic spectrum: young and old, male and female, local and out-of-town. Many Cal alumni joined in showing their support for our cause, and teens (who seem to be wearing a lot of tie-dye shirts these days) were by far our most enthusiastic supporters. It was very uplifting. -more-
Were it not for that distinctive T-shirt, it’s doubtful I would ever have known about the White Rose Society. But meeting a friend recently, I was attracted by his T-shirt. At the top there was a line of Arabic script, beneath that the phrase, “We Will Not Remain Silent.” I was informed that this motto dated back to 1943, when a small group of students at the University of Munich, sickened by the atrocities of the Nazi’s, especially the persecution of the Jews, formed a resistance movement, which they named “The White Rose Society.” The origin of that name has never been determined, though one historian wrote that the color white represents purity. Perhaps it was that romantic-sounding name that sparked my interest. In any event, I found myself utterly engrossed in the story of these idealistic and heroic young intellectuals. -more-
This summer UC has been using a campaign of misinformation and erroneous statements to convince the City of Berkeley to withdraw from the lawsuit to stop UC development on the Hayward Fault. The most important deception in this campaign is UC’s efforts to make it appear that the university is only asking for the approval to build the workout/office facility (the SAHPC). This is a red herring. The lawsuit is not only about the SAHPC but also includes the proposed new stadium and other buildings to be situated at the fault. If the suit is stopped for the purpose of allowing the SAHPC to go forward, the rest of the projects including the new, expanded stadium also would be automatically approved. The SAHPC and the new stadium are legally inseparable. This sleight of hand is why UC is so eager to restrict the focus of the debate to the gym. If people knew the truth that UC is planning to transform Memorial Stadium from football-only to one of the Bay Area’s largest entertainment venues, approval of these projects would come under more intense scrutiny. A quick, insider deal with the city would be more difficult and UC would be left with fighting an uphill battle in court. -more-
Imagine Berkeley’s City Council inadvertently pouring fuel on a burning controversy by granting almost $400,000 to an advocate for one side. Worse, imagine the money going to the dispute’s less popular side, in a “sole-source,” no-bid contract (the kind the Pentagon signs with Halliburton). And, worst of all, paying them to pester Berkeley residents with telemarketing calls and uninvited house visits. -more-
Here's a footnote to the Save the Oaks demonstration, sent in on Friday evening by a veteran of the Free Speech Movement, using a pseudonym for reasons which will be obvious. -more-
This is the summer of disquiet and discontent for supporters of Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums and for those who may not have supported him in the last election, but still want him to succeed as mayor. -more-
Among surviving Victorian homes in Berkeley, the 1877 Bartlett House, 2201 Blake St. at the corner of Fulton is rare, possibly unique. There are similar houses in San Francisco, and others in Oakland and Alameda, but not in Berkeley. -more-
I have always enjoyed looking at houses. I think it started in my childhood, when we used to visit open houses on Sundays after church. As an adult, I have chosen a profession in which I can get access to many, many homes. -more-
We’ll have our usual autumn hot spell, and things will get all dusty and drab, and we’ll all want to grow something green where we can. We’ll plant winter veggies and herbs and something to flower in December maybe, camellias and manzanitas and azaleas. -more-
My wife and I have been arguing about our house for 20 years. I know this isn’t unusual but it’s noteworthy and I’m going to take the long way ‘round in proving the point. -more-
Maybe a bit early like so many things this year, the vine maples at the Botanic Garden in Tilden Park are putting on their quiet fireworks show. -more-
“Motion picture stars bowing to admiring throngs and stopping before microphones to extend greetings. Dazzling klieg lights, brighter than a torrid desert sun. Powerful searchlights piercing the darkness above with sudden flashes. Music and flowers.” -more-
It’s only appropriate, after a play about Freud’s last days in England (“Freudian slips,” shots of morphine and meeting Salvador Dali), that what’s remembered breaks down to obsessive, recurrent actions and images, signaled by the insistent tapping of an unexpected visitor on a glass door leading from a study into a garden. -more-
The names and their general significance may still be familiar, but the details of the lives and trials of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti have faded over time. The names have become shorthand for injustice, for political persecution, for America’s tendency to at times fall disastrously short of its ideals. Yet while these two men remain potent symbols, symbols do not live and breathe. -more-
Among surviving Victorian homes in Berkeley, the 1877 Bartlett House, 2201 Blake St. at the corner of Fulton is rare, possibly unique. There are similar houses in San Francisco, and others in Oakland and Alameda, but not in Berkeley. -more-
I have always enjoyed looking at houses. I think it started in my childhood, when we used to visit open houses on Sundays after church. As an adult, I have chosen a profession in which I can get access to many, many homes. -more-
We’ll have our usual autumn hot spell, and things will get all dusty and drab, and we’ll all want to grow something green where we can. We’ll plant winter veggies and herbs and something to flower in December maybe, camellias and manzanitas and azaleas. -more-
My wife and I have been arguing about our house for 20 years. I know this isn’t unusual but it’s noteworthy and I’m going to take the long way ‘round in proving the point. -more-
In the Sept. 11 issue, the nonprofit corporation for which the city’s Energy Commission sits as the board of directors was misidentified: its name is the Community Energy Services Corporation. The headline should have read: “CESC Under a Cloud, Director Terminated.” -more-
As part of an ongoing effort to print stories by East Bay residents, The Daily Planet invites readers to write about their experiences and perspectives on living in, working in or enjoying various neighborhoods in our area. We are looking for essays about the Oakland neighborhoods of Temescal and around Lake Merritt, Fourth Street in Berkeley, and the city of Alameda. Please e-mail your essays, no more than 800 words, to firstperson@berkeleydailyplanet.com. We will publish the best essays in upcoming issues in October. The sooner we receive your submission the better chance we have of publishing it. -more-
Well, I was walking up -more-
Help give the Berkeley City Club a lift. That’s the purpose, literal and symbolic, of a special party this coming Sunday, Sept. 16, at the venerable Durant Avenue landmark -more-
Maybe a bit early like so many things this year, the vine maples at the Botanic Garden in Tilden Park are putting on their quiet fireworks show. -more-
As part of an ongoing effort to print stories by East Bay residents, The Daily Planet invites readers to write about their experiences and perspectives on living in, working in or enjoying various neighborhoods in our area. We are looking for essays about the Oakland neighborhoods of Temescal and around Lake Merritt, Fourth Street in Berkeley, and the city of Alameda. Please e-mail your essays, no more than 800 words, to firstperson@berkeleydailyplanet.com. We will publish the best essays in upcoming issues in October. The sooner we receive your submission the better chance we have of publishing it. -more-
