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Tensions escalated outside UC Berkeley’s Memorial Stadium Sunday, following a confrontation between Berkeley City Council-member Dona Spring and campus Assistant Police Chief Mitch Celaya. -more-

After 52 years at various Berkeley locations—and one in San Francisco—Cody’s Books has closed the store it opened just three months ago on Shattuck Avenue. Barring a miracle, Cody’s will not reopen, according to Hiroshi Kagawa, the store’s third and last owner. -more-

No sooner had Judge Barbara J. Miller ruled on the California Memorial Stadium projects lawsuit last week than all sides were spinning her June 18 decision faster than a pool hustler’s cue ball. -more-

The Memorial Stadium oak grove standoff at UC is a dangerous and dramatic business, but tree sitting has a more prosaic origin. In the summer of 1930, when “endurance marathons” were the rage, schoolboys and girls across the country became tree sitters for glory and prizes and a chance to get their picture in the paper. -more-

Judge Barbara Miller has given cause for celebration by both the university proponents of the stadium-with-athletic-center project and the litigants and other community members opposed to the present proposal. Each side could rightfully claim on release of the opinion that they were victorious. But neither side can rightfully deny the other side’s success. -more-

While Mayor Tom Bates declared victory last week, the day after a judge’s ruling on Berkeley’s lawsuit over UC Berkeley’s proposed construction of a sports facility adjacent to Memorial Stadium, City Councilmember Gordon Wozniak called the ruling a loss for the city. -more-

The most notable event at the Tuesday night/Wednesday morning City Council meeting was what did not happen: The council scheduled the issue of the health and safety of the tree sitters as an emergency item, then refused to extend the meeting late enough to discuss and vote on the matter. -more-

After months of local government and citizen condemnation from Monterey to the East Bay of the state’s proposed plan to spray by air to disrupt the reproduction of the light brown apple moth (LBAM), with anti-spray bills moving rapidly through the state legislature and with lawsuits temporarily tying up the spray program in two counties, California Secretary of Agriculture A. J. Kawamura announced last week that he has a new attack plan aimed at the tiny moth native to Australia. -more-

A Berkeley man, described by neighbors as a private security guard and a father, was fatally gunned down in his home on the morning of June 19. Although police initially refused to release the victim’s identity, they later said he was Charles Faison, 39. -more-

Safeway had few supporters among the 300 people who turned up at the Peralta Elementary School last week to listen to the supermarket giant’s new plans to remodel its College Avenue store. -more-

Planning commissioners continued their ongoing review of the Downtown Area Plan this week, taking up chapters focusing on economic development and historic preservation and urban design during their meeting last Wednesday. -more-

After only 11 months in Berkeley, Down Home Music is moving out of its Fourth Street store. -more-

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The Berkeley Board of Education last week refrained from approving the use of prefabricated modular buildings for West Campus and instead directed staff to develop rehabilitation plans for the Bonar Street building, and return with both options on Aug. 20. -more-

Plans to remodel the central kitchen at Jefferson Elementary School have been dropped to cut costs and make the nutrition services program function independently of school bond money, district officials said Monday. -more-

At Casa Latina, owner Jose Ruiz tries to meld cultures by appealing to all the senses. Inside the brightly painted taqueria, cafe and bakery, reggae, Brazilian and hip-hop music provide ambient background to the brightly lit cases of Mexican pastries and the artwork-covered walls. Visitors are embraced by a multicultural tapestry of sights, smells and sounds. -more-

The administration of Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums sought to put a quick end to the controversy surrounding Oakland Administrator Deborah Edgerly this week by announcing that, based upon a longstanding agreement between the mayor and the administrator going back to January, Edgerly will retire effective July 31 of this year. -more-

In addition to fighting two fires and rescuing a woman from the waters off the Berkeley Marina, Berkeley firefighters tackled two out-of-town assignments in the last seven days. -more-

The Berkeley community came together in April to celebrate the life of Luanne Rogers, who died peacefully this month. The outpouring of love and appreciation at that event was a testament to Luanne’s full participation in and powerful effect on nourishing our community’s spirit and challenging us to make a difference. -more-

The Berkeley Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) approved a use permit for Bayer Healthcare earlier this month, giving the pharmaceutical giant the green light to move some of its administrative offices into 921 Parker St., a space zoned specifically for industrial use. -more-

Wat Mongkolratanaram users will request the Berkeley Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) today (Thursday) for a use permit once again to build a new Buddha shrine at the Russell Street Thai Temple and add four parking spaces on an adjacent vacant lot. -more-

In the waning days of the June 3 primary campaign, running out of the capital needed for a last-minute electoral push, and his dream of becoming a member of the California State Assembly slipping away from him, Berkeley City Councilmember Kriss Worthington loaned his campaign $20,000. That was on top of another $22,000 he had loaned his campaign in mid-January. -more-

A Berkeley City Council meeting Tuesday that stretched into Wednesday began on a light note, honoring local poet Adam David Miller. -more-

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We are truly blessed to have in our community a reporter of the magnitude of Richard Brenneman who brings to the table his finely honed investigative and writing skills along with his many years of experience as a reporter. -more-

Our children were watching the evening news and saw the tree-sitters with the university police on the ground and the hired arborists up in the trees at the Memorial Stadium oak grove last Thursday. -more-

I supported Hillary Clinton in part from the same instinct that makes some people follow the Royal Family. The Clintons are for many people too likeable not to support. I feel this way despite the fact that Bill Clinton went overboard with his temper, and despite the fact that Hillary started out the campaign a little “canned.” Furthermore, I saw firsthand what Bill Clinton did for us as president, and his accomplishments were wonderful, especially in comparison to the Republicans, some of whom don’t seem quite human. -more-

On the issue of cell phone antennas, Berkeley has been trying to walk a fine line between local protection of its citizens and obeying a federal statute which says that people’s health cannot be used as a reason for refusing permits to the communications industry with respect to its cell phone antenna towers. Recent arguments advanced by the State of Oklahoma might help resolve the issue for us. -more-

More cell phone towers in Berkeley? Maybe not. At least not as quickly as the telecoms want. On June 17, by a vote of 5-2, with one abstention and one recusal), the City Council voted to have City Attorney Zack Cowan draft a city-wide moratorium on installation of new cell antennas. -more-

I have been following the recent debate about cellular system antenna sites in Berkeley. Part of the debate seems to center around the perceived difference between the way the flat and hillside sections of Berkeley are treated, with the implication that the supposedly wealthier hills get more favorable treatment than the presumably poorer flatlands. -more-

A little over a year ago, the Berkeley Daily Planet published an opinion piece where I warned about the dangers of putting too much faith in building condominiums as a means of heading off the home mortgage crisis. At that time, the established media proclaimed that there was nothing to worry about, because the Bay Region was, in the words of one commentator, an “Iron Bubble.” Twelve months later, we are seeing articles in the business press discussing downturns in the condo market. Consider this example from a May 15 article in the New York Times Business section: -more-

To any reader of newspapers and the Internet, it should be apparent that tensions between the United States and Iran have recently increased. Ever since President Bush declared that Iran was part of the “axis of evil,” Iran has been in the crosshairs of the Bush regime. (I would urge readers to review the recent articles of impeachment against Bush introduced by Dennis Kucinich to see a brief history of U.S. actions against Iran. They are contained in article 21.) Regime change in Iran is official U.S. policy. Recent developments make it likely that the United States will militarily attack Iran before the next administration takes office. -more-

I’ll be damned if I can figure out why Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums doesn’t appear to like question-and-answer sessions with the media. He is usually the brightest guy in the room and almost always well-prepared, with a better command of the details and the implications of various policies and decisions than the people asking the questions. He’s a good listener—rarely misunderstanding the point of the question—and knows how to deflect away from uncomfortable places with humor, usually humor that is aimed at himself. More than once, I have seen the mayor charm what could have turned into a hostile crowd of citizens by standing and patiently answering questions, one by one. He does it regularly at citizen meetings, and he’s one of the best at the business that I’ve seen. He does it at press conferences as well, but it doesn’t seem to be something the mayor feels comfortable with. But at Tuesday afternoon’s press conference announcing Deborah Edgerly’s retirement, he ducked out of questions when he shouldn’t have, and when a couple of answered questions could have satisfied most of the reporters’ concerns. -more-

Now that Barack Obama has finally secured the Democratic nomination for president, it’s time for a candid assessment of his chances. To defeat John McCain in November, Obama must respond to three challenges. -more-

Where do you start with the University of California? Decades of happy accommodation to the military-industrial complex (see Gray Brechin’s Imperial San Francisco.) Construction mania: geographer Richard Walker calls UC and Stanford the two worst developers in northern California. Torture apologists on the faculty. -more-

Mirabai Ensemble, the remarkable vocal group, performing an original blend of a wide variety of musical styles, will sing this Saturday at 8 p.m. in the tasting room of Takara Sake (Addison at Fourth Street). Tasting will begin at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 advance, $25 at the door. -more-

When banker Volney Delos Moody (1829-1901) married the widowed schoolteacher Mary Robinson in the mid-1880s, he gave up the house of his first marriage and moved to 838 Alice Street in West Oakland. The neighborhood, now on the southern edge of Chinatown, was considerably tonier in those days. The Canoe Club had its boat house at the foot of Alice Street, and one of Moody’s neighbors was Solomon Lewis, owner of a famed Oakland jewelry store and reputedly San Francisco’s first hotelier, who resided at 854 Alice St. -more-

Two local houses, both currently for sale, provide an enticing glimpse into the Bay Area’s Arts and Crafts past. -more-

Having browsed the local flea market for years, I have consistently observed that many of the dealers-in-miscellanea seem resolutely unable to confine themselves to the stalls they have been issued. -more-