Berkeley is mourning the loss of Councilmember Dona Spring, protector of the environment, fighter for housing rights and champion for human and animal life. She died Sunday evening at Alta Bates/Summit Hospital in Berkeley, after being diagnosed with pneumonia. She was 55. -more-

Berkeley Sea Scouts leader Eugene Evans was convicted of two counts of child molestation Monday and is expected to spend six years in prison under a plea deal with the Alameda County district attorney’s office. -more-

With the official opening of the candidate filing period Monday, four new candidates have declared their interest in running for Berkeley offices. -more-

Controversy over the jailing of an oak grove tree-sitter who came down after a death in the family has sparked outraged among supporters of the 17-month-old Berkeley protest. -more-

Despite what appeared to be a judge’s injunction not to strike, thousands of University of California hospital and service workers—including hundreds of UC Berkeley custodians, gardeners, cafeteria workers, bus drivers and more—put in an eight-hour shift today (Monday) walking the picket line, according to union officials. -more-

The ongoing struggle over the future of two contaminated sites on the southeast Richmond shoreline has heated up again after the discovery of yet another contaminant. -more-

The Berkeley Zoning Adjustments Board approved a use permit modification for the Ed Roberts Campus Thursday to allow offices of several nonprofits to be located in a residential zone near the Ashby BART, but they limited the ruling to include only those organizations. -more-

The owners of the Sutcliff Picnic Rock in North Berkeley told the Planet Friday its new fence will simply replace the old one. -more-

In Lindsay Vurek’s film, “Courage in Life and Politics: the Dona Spring Story,” the 15-year Berkeley councilmember’s fierce advocacy for the environment, animals, the downtrodden and the disabled shines bright. -more-

Oakland City Council’s Community and Economic Development Committee chopped the Oakland Army Base suitors in half last week, approving a staff recommendation to pare down from eight to four the list of proposed developers for Oakland’s massive 108-acre Gateway Development project. -more-

Although a University of California press statement issued Friday says a San Francisco Superior Court judge has enjoined University of California service workers around the state from participating in a five-day strike scheduled for July 14-18, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Union says the university misinterpreted the judge’s order, so the service workers will be out in force on strike beginning Monday. -more-

Berkeley planning commissioners continued their march through the Downtown Area Plan Wednesday night with a side excursion through a controversial economic study. -more-

The roundabout road to an Oakland ballot measure to increase the city’s police strength—projected to be placed before Oakland voters in some form or other in November—took another series of twists and turns this week. -more-

A judge today (Friday) sentenced Christopher Hollis to 24 years in state prison, the toughest sentence possible, for fatally shooting his friend Meleia Willis-Starbuck after responding to her plea for help in a Berkeley street confrontation nearly three years ago. -more-

“Where will you spend eternity?” The preacher is saving souls. His voice-amplified at no more than 65 decibels according to SOS Ministries-resonates through speakers, carrying the message of salvation through Jesus Christ along the Telegraph Avenue/Haste Street corridors. -more-

Almost five months after the Berkeley City Council voted unanimously to enter into an agreement with Pacific Steel Casting to cut emissions and odor within a specific timeline, community activists met with Mayor Tom Bates and Councilmember Linda Maio at the City Hall Wednesday for their first update on the process. -more-

Berkeley planning commissioners finally approved a new wireless ordinance for the city Wednesday, after making two minor tweaks to a revision of the 17th version prepared by city staff. -more-

In a city that’s synonymous with protests against cell phone antennas, more than 100 people queued up outside the downtown Berkeley AT&T Wireless store as early as 7 a.m. for the launch of Apple Inc’s next generation iPhone Friday. -more-

The UC Regents are scheduled to make key votes Tuesday on three major Berkeley building projects. -more-

The Berkeley City Council huddled behind closed doors Tuesday evening to hear Acting City Attorney Zach Cowan tell them why a citizen-initiated anti-Bus Rapid Transit measure might not pass legal muster—and to consider whether the city should file suit to keep the measure off the ballot. -more-

Two-term mayor, 15-year councilmember Shirley Dean took out preliminary papers to run for Berkeley mayor Tuesday. -more-

Oakland City Council’s powerful Community and Economic Development Committee approved $14.45 million in new city loans and grants to the Fox Oakland restoration project Tuesday afternoon, bringing the total projected cost of the project to $82.7 million. -more-

The Alameda County Civil Grand Jury took a major swipe at what it called a lax City of Oakland credit card policy, but otherwise made no blockbuster charges or recommendations in its final report for the 2007-08 session issued this week. -more-

Although some members of Berkeley’s Landmarks Preservation Commission expressed concern last week about fencing the historic Sutcliff Picnic Rock in North Berkeley, there appears little they can do to prevent it. -more-

Plans to demolish the landmarked Copra Warehouse (Durkee Famous Foods) in West Berkeley to make way for the construction of a four-story, 106,795-square-foot research and laboratory building were criticized by the Berkeley Landmarks Preservation Commission on Thursday. -more-

The Berkeley Landmarks Preservation Commission approved the Judah L. Magnes Museum’s request for a structural alteration permit to rehabilitate the historic Armstrong University building in downtown Berkeley last week. -more-

Despite public and board member concerns, the East Bay Municipal Utility District passed updated drought rates this week that will go into effect Aug. 1. -more-

Environmental activists have filed two lawsuits that seek to block construction of two major facilities at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). -more-

Literature and notes on how to assume a new identity were found in the car, abandoned on a Berkeley street, of missing Rice University student Matthew Wilson, Berkeley police said last week, and a Pleasanton group is hoping to recruit local volunteers to search for him in Berkeley this weekend. -more-

Berkeley Unified School District families in need will qualify for a free summer meal program, according to an announcement by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell on Monday. -more-

Several crimes in the last three weeks have prompted the Berkeley Police Department to issue a community warning Tuesday, which asks residents to keep their doors and windows locked and remain alert. -more-

California firefighters are exhausting themselves as they battle blazes from one end of the state to the other. Throughout the state, politics and housing policies are combining to create the conditions for the firefighting equivalent of a perfect storm. -more-

UC Berkeley has picked four companies to bid on the new Berkeley Art Museum, the structure that is likely to become the most striking and controversial architectural feature of the city center. -more-

A slowed or stopped vehicle on eastbound Interstate Highway 80 near Gilman Street in Berkeley caused a three-vehicle crash early Wednesday morning that sent one person to a hospital with major injuries, according to the California Highway Patrol. -more-

In the littered pavement desert of Adeline Street, above the Ashby BART, Youth Spirit Artwork’s “Healthy South Berkeley” painted benches are oases of vibrant color. -more-

In a sign of a continuing shakeup in Oakland City Hall growing out of the Deborah Edgerly controversy, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums has fired Assistant City Administrator Cheryl Thompson. -more-

Almost four years after the Berkeley Zoning Adjustments Board approved plans for the Ed Roberts Campus at the Ashby BART station, the nonprofit will return to the zoning board Thursday to request a use permit modification to allow offices in a residentially zoned neighborhood. -more-

Tuesday’s council meeting began with the council honoring the Berkeley Opera company. -more-

A revamped proposal to place a $15 million bond on the November ballot for a replacement warm pool got thumbs up from warm-pool users at Tuesday’s Berkeley City Council meeting. -more-

Surprisingly, out there in the Tri-Valley suburbs, just past Livermore’s tract homes, more than 40 wineries are busy making darn good wines. They’re less touted only because they aren’t in Sonoma-Napa, and many still offer free tasting. And should you be in the market for a new house, it’s still possible to buy a home surrounded by a vineyard that is maintained by a winery (no more mowing the grass). -more-

Dona Spring was the bravest person I’ve ever met. No, she wasn’t just brave, she was fierce, as fierce as a lioness defending her cubs. She loved justice as much as she despised injustice, and for Dona “Justice for All” included all species, not just all humans. -more-

A recent correspondent took umbrage at my use, in an “Editor’s Back Fence” column on the Planet website, of a line from My Fair Lady to describe UC Berkeley’s main flack (or less colloquially, principal spokesperson) Dan Mogulof: “Oozing charm from every pore, he oiled his way across the floor.” Well, I listened to Mogulof at length on Monday night on KALW’s City Visions call-in program on UC’s stadium gym proposal, and I stand by my story, as we say in the trade. He’s an oily kinda guy. -more-

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TIME FOR A DECISION -more-

I am writing to individual city council members in hopes that I can resolve this issue. I plan to go to Berkeley Police Review Commission and file a formal complaint about this unjust harassment and political persecution at the hands of the Berkeley Police Department, more specifically Officer O’ Donnell. -more-

I was among a group of people who tried to bring fresh food to the UC Berkeley tree-sitters. I am a licensed vocational nurse and have spent my life taking care of people. I believe that it is immoral for the UC administration to use starvation as a claimed legitimate method to end a peaceful civil disobedience dispute with the tree-sitters. For the length of this tree-sit-in, Sunday at 2 p.m. has been the time when those in the community who support the goals of these people come together to provide balanced and healthy food. I don’t show up every week as some of the faithful have, but I consider myself to be a regular participant. -more-

The current anti-BRT initiative highlights the split in Berkeley politics between environmentalists who support better public transportation and more walkable neighborhoods and anti-environmentalists who oppose these things. -more-

Of time or space -more-

It does not take a degree in engineering to notice that California Memorial Stadium is in very bad shape—it just takes common sense. Even a casual observer cannot help but notice the cracks throughout the structure; the cavities where concrete has fallen away revealing rusted reinforcement bars; the support columns that are leaning and separating; the warped and splintered bench seats; and the weathered metal plate that covers the expanding gap in section KK caused by fault movement. The Hayward Fault that runs from goal post to goal post is slowly splitting the stadium apart and the effects are clearly visible. The geological reality is that two giant pieces of the earth’s crust, the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate, are slowly sliding in opposite directions, building up a tremendous amount of strain. When the Hayward Fault next suffers a major rupture, and there is no doubt that this event is imminent, the stadium itself will be severely damaged. -more-

In 1955 the late Jacques Barzun put his teaching and research on hold to be dean and then provost at Columbia University. He wanted, among other things, to learn first hand just what a top university administrator had to do. Not surprisingly he did not like the job and after a decade or so he eagerly returned to his former position on the faculty. -more-

Big-time college athletics” training facility destroying the oak grove—far from the mission of the university: teaching, research and public service—yet so close to the Hayward Fault? -more-

I sent this letter about to the American Pain Foundation, a national pain patients’ advocacy group (www.painfoundation.org). -more-

It’s the price of oil, stupid! The most recent Gallup Poll shows three issues dominating the 2008 presidential election: “energy, including gas prices,” “the economy,” and “the situation in Iraq.” Oil connects these concerns and also the prospect of global climate change. To win in November, Barack Obama has to focus on America’s oil problem. -more-

No one should waste sympathy on Ms. Edgerly for her abrupt firing from her job as Oakland city administrator by Mayor Ron Dellums. City administrators serve on an “at will” basis, meaning that they can be removed at any time by the mayor without cause. That’s the nature of the position, and anyone taking the job knows the risks. Also, if you can believe the local media accounts of Ms. Edgerly’s severance package—and if you’re a regular reader of this column, you know that I faithfully believe local media accounts of Oakland government—then the ousted city administrator has made for herself a soft place to land after being thrown out of her office. -more-

Birding by ear is not one of my strengths. Every spring I have to learn to distinguish the songs of the American robin, black-headed grosbeak, and western tanager all over again. I have always envied people who can hear one hear one passing chirp and announce, confidently: “Pine grosbeak!” -more-

When pioneer banker Volney D. Moody died in March 1901, he left an estate worth over $600,000—the equivalent of many millions today. Moody’s will earmarked two-fifths of the estate to his second wife, Mary Moody, with the remaining three-fifths going to a son and two daughters from his first marriage. Displeased with their share, the three offspring contested the will. Some of the objections they cited were the unusually large portion left to the widow, the preponderance of choice properties she received, leaving them the dregs, and her two daughters being made beneficiaries of her share. -more-

In many ways my job is quite a joy. I get paid to do what many do on a free Sunday as their idea of fun. Looking at houses is both complex and deeply satisfying. Houses, especially those built in the early part of the 20th century (if not earlier) have so many pleasing features that it often feels more like art appreciation during my work day than data gathering. Then there’s the complex part. -more-

THURSDAY, JULY 10 -more-

SummerFest, the American Bach Soloists’ annual midsummer evening festival, features three nights of music in each of three locations—Belvedere, San Francisco and Davis—begining this weekend. -more-

“It’s a punishment from the Lord!” -more-

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Back in my teaching days I required that my students keep a journal, covering at least one page a day with whatever was on their minds. Later, in Writing a Novel, written after I’d left the classroom, I insisted that aspiring writers keep a journal, and, whenever beginning writers asked me for advice, face-to-face, I said it again. And again. -more-

When pioneer banker Volney D. Moody died in March 1901, he left an estate worth over $600,000—the equivalent of many millions today. Moody’s will earmarked two-fifths of the estate to his second wife, Mary Moody, with the remaining three-fifths going to a son and two daughters from his first marriage. Displeased with their share, the three offspring contested the will. Some of the objections they cited were the unusually large portion left to the widow, the preponderance of choice properties she received, leaving them the dregs, and her two daughters being made beneficiaries of her share. -more-

In many ways my job is quite a joy. I get paid to do what many do on a free Sunday as their idea of fun. Looking at houses is both complex and deeply satisfying. Houses, especially those built in the early part of the 20th century (if not earlier) have so many pleasing features that it often feels more like art appreciation during my work day than data gathering. Then there’s the complex part. -more-

THURSDAY, JULY 10 -more-