The results for California’s 2008 Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program show a higher percentage of students in the Berkeley Unified School District scored proficient or above in reading, writing and mathematics compared with the state results. -more-

There’s good news and bad news for Berkeley’s chaat lovers. -more-

Matthew Wilson, the missing Rice University student who was found by UC police on the UC Berkeley campus last week and charged with possession of stolen property, flew back home to Oklahoma Wednesday with his mother and two sisters after the Alameda County district attorney’s office dismissed all charges against him. -more-

There’s going to be a party in the streets of Denver—an activist party, according to Recreate68 co-founders, Mark Cohen and Glenn Spagnuolo. The Planet spoke with both of them this week in separate telephone interviews. -more-

EDITOR’S NOTE: Today the Berkeley Daily Planet launches a full week of online coverage of the Democratic Convention in Denver. It will include coverage by our regular Public Eye columnist, Democratic Party activist Bob Burnett; by special correspondent Chris Krohn, who previously covered the 2004 conventions for us; and by our BeyondChron colleagues Randy Shaw and Paul Hogarth; plus videos and photo essays. -more-

Three plaintiff groups who filed suit on Friday to try to stop the University of California, Berke-ley, from building a new sports training center next to its football stadium withdrew their bid to have a judge reverse her most recent ruling in the case. -more-

UC Berkeley filed a request on Tuesday for a court ruling that could allow them to chop down the Memorial Stadium grove just two days after a superior court ruling becomes final. -more-

The east entrance and parking lot of Berkeley’s Ashby BART station will close for 18 months on Monday to make room for construction of the $45 million Ed Roberts campus. -more-

Alameda County Superior Court Judge Morris Jacobson denied bail on Monday to Berkeley City College student Andrew Hoeft-Edenfield, who has been charged with the stabbing death of UC Berkeley senior Chris Wootton. -more-

A Contra Costa County judge dealt a blow to plans for a North Richmond casino Wednesday, saying she intends to strike down an agreement for the City of Richmond to provide police, fire and other services. -more-

Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, which has three facilities in Berkeley and Oakland, has agreed to a new contract with its registered nurses, their union announced Wednesday. -more-

While state and county health officials said a chemically contaminated site in southeast Richmond poses no dangers to their current users, concerns remain about past users and those to come. -more-

The fog lifting in the morning reveals a beckoning canyon opening in the high hills behind UC Berkeley’s Memorial Stadium. A short walk from the center of the campus brings you to the mouth of the canyon. Probably no other place in the East Bay offers the same close-in accessibility to wildlands. -more-

The headline and information box for the Aug. 21 review of the Belasco Theatre Company’s The Wiz mistakenly referred to a rival production of the play. The Belasco produciton, directed by founder Edward Belasco and produced by Dr. Samuel Lewis, goes into its final performances 7:30 tonight and tomorrow night at the Malonga Casquelourd Arts Center (formerly Alice Arts), 1428 Alice St., downtown Oakland. (925) 980-0778. www.belasco.org. -more-

“Why a mule?” my mother asked incredulously after I’d told her I was leasing one. -more-

I suck as a mother. OK, suck is a bit strong. But I have been known to nourish my son with frozen dinners and canned soup, watch QVC fashion shows while pretending to listen to him regale me with the wonders of vacuum cleaners, and raise my voice beyond the Super Nanny-approved Calm Authority Voice decibel level. -more-

History is getting better and better in Berkeley. I don’t mean the daily accumulation of new history—current events—but the preservation and education of the public about local history. -more-

By Adam Broner -more-

The Bay Area is known to be home to esoteric scientific research, but we also have an institution which is accessible to all kinds of people, young and old and all levels of sophistication, offering an abundance of science experiences one can’t help but get excited about. At Chabot Space and Science Center a visitor can look through professional telescopes, sit in a space capsule, experience weightlessness, see spectacular shows and lots more. -more-

Looking for a great late-summer outing? Try La Loma Park, nestled in the Berkeley Hills on the northside of UC Berkeley. -more-

Students streaming toward campus on Telegraph Avenue pass one of the most remarkable artists in Berkeley, quietly selling prints near the corner of Haste Street. -more-

In 1901, the South Branch of the Berkeley Public Library opened for business in a store front on the 3200 block of Adeline Street. The South Berkeley district was then known as Lorin. -more-

“Let it be, let it be.” Those familiar words echo the sentiments of the scores of people who frequent the Albany landfill—artists, bird watchers, naturalists, people who like to let their dogs run free, to have parties or to sit quietly and enjoy the fine view of the bay. And there are the people who call it home. Some of them actually lived there in camps they built for themselves when they were homeless, and though they are now housed or camping somewhere else they often come back, drawn by the special magic of the place. -more-

Parks are probably not among the first things that spring to mind when you think of Richmond, but the city just north of Berkeley is filled with them, including a 32-mile shoreline with sweeping views of San Francisco and San Pablo bays, an island that provides nesting habitat for the Caspian tern, and a national historic park that commemorates Richmond’s industrial and ship-building past. Linking many of these sites is the San Francisco Bay Trail, a network that will grow to 500 miles of trail around the Bay Area. -more-

Just as the islands of Japan float like jewels in the Pacific, the two sister stores of the Tokyo Fish Market are little gems perched in the middle of northwest Berkeley. -more-

On weekends, Lake Chabot’s picnic sites are full and the park completely crowded with families having parties or reunions; it’s impossible to run or ride 20 feet without calling out to slower recreants. -more-

Mr. Peterson, who lives on Dwight Way, has been offered $15,000 for his patent appliance for a lawn mover. The invention consists of a pan which is attached to the lawn-mower so as not to leave any grass on the lawn after it has been cut. Mr. Peterson perfected his invention and obtained a patent on it some two or three years ago. He has disposed of a two-thirds interest in the invention. -more-

In addition to offering some of California’s finest wines, the Napa Valley also places host to some exquisite scenery, art and architecture. -more-

Somewhere during the Nixon years, a friend of a friend of a friend from San Diego showed up in the Bay Area to explore his musical options, mainly by hanging out in North Beach. We took him to the Freight & Salvage Coffee House on an open-mic night, but for some reason he didn’t manage to sign up. We all stuck around, though; the Freight sold beer in those days, and the acts were relatively painless. Then, when the place had emptied out and the bar was shutting down, our guest, Tom Waits, took over the house piano and picked out “Closing Time.” I would like to be able to report that he also played “The Piano Has Been Drinking,” but I don’t think he did. -more-

The saga of Cody’s Books finally ended this year when its Fourth Street store (last survivor of a series of venues that started north of the UC Campus 50 years ago, moved to Telegraph for several decades and was briefly in San Francisco’s Union Square) moved to a smaller space on Shattuck Avenue, then closed for good. It’s ironic that this followed the closure of Barnes & Noble’s Shattuck outlet by less than a year. Clearly, both the independents and chains are hurting. But the East Bay still has much to offer those of us who prefer to buy from brick-and-mortar retailers: a whole constellation of bookstores, generalist and specialist, used and new, with something for just about everyone. -more-

Naan ’N’ Curry -more-

OTHER BLACK SPOTS -more-

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As an opponent of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), I sincerely hope the initiative measure requiring voter approval for BRT will pass in the November election. This is the chance we have to stop BRT before construction begins. But if BRT does get built, what will the ramifications be? I feel it is better to consider these ramifications now, while we can still stop BRT, rather than waiting until it is too late. -more-

The Woman Suffrage Amendment provided American women with full voting rights in 1920. An amendment is defined as “a change for the better; improvement. A correction. A revision or change.” In the United States, Aug. 26 is designated as Women’s Equality Day to commemorate passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. -more-

Having been present during the BUSD school board process and vote on Monday, Aug. 10, I witnessed what a challenge it is for a community to grasp that disparities in achievement cannot be remedied solely within the school district itself, but rather will require a city-wide approach. -more-

Tuesday - As she took center stage at the Denver Democratic convention, there was a huge amount of pressure on Hillary Clinton. She followed not only the keynote address of former Virginia Governor Mark Warner, but also the unexpectedly dynamic oration of Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer. And many Dems felt Senator Clinton's presentation would determine whether or not Democrats united behind presidential nominee Barack Obama. Clinton proved equal to the task, responding with the best speech of her career. -more-

Monday: Much of the opening night of the Denver Democratic convention was devoted to a reintroduction of Barack Obama. If you’re a loyal Dem or one of the millions who’ve read his autobiography, Dreams From My Father, you probably don’t need to be told who he is and what he stands for. But there are still a substantial number of Americans who don’t know the Illinois Senator; who are worried about him because they’ve heard he’s a Muslim or wonder what they have in common with a brown-skinned intellectual from Hawaii. This night was for them. -more-

As Democrats trooped into Denver, they breathed a collective sigh of relief. After a roller-coaster week, the collective wisdom was that Barack Obama's campaign had gotten back on track. And that the selection of Delaware Senator Joe Biden had greatly strengthened the ticket. -more-

Over the last six weeks, John McCain's campaign has gotten its act together. The latest Pew Research Poll indicates the 2008 presidential contest has tightened and Barack Obama's lead is now within the statistical margin of error. -more-

One of the major causes of the recent war in Georgia has nothing to do with the historic tensions that make the Caucasus such a flashpoint between east and west. Certainly the long-standing ethnic enmity between Ossetians and Georgians played a role, as did the almost visceral dislike between Moscow and Tbilisi. But the origins of the short, brutal war go back six years to a June afternoon at West Point. -more-

If the administration of Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums feels that its public safety accomplishments are not being fully appreciated by the public, or that it is being drawn into a silly, meaningless, back-and-forth media dialogue over crime and violence that does nothing to either calm the public’s concerns about the issue or advance the public understanding or lead us to a solution, the Dellums administration has only itself to blame. This is a self-inflicted wound. -more-

Three months before the 2008 presidential election, we know the parameters of the contest. McCain’s fear campaign will be relentlessly negative. Both sides will spend obscene amounts of money. Roughly half the states will be in play. And, the frames will be simple: age, continuity and scope of vision. -more-

When I graduated from Cal in 1981, I was summarily struck jobless by the haughty world of architecture and forced to seek refuge among the squalid functionaries of the city who toil by day repairing toilets and caulking leaky siding. These weary souls took me in as one of their own and showed me their simple ways. I learned how to reuse a paper face mask, how to stuff fix-all into the holes left by old deadbolts and the lost art of screw extraction. Fingers smeared with paint and grime, these ascetics showed me the arcane ways of the handyman, still mysterious to all but the indoctrinated. Some are now gone, like the lurid and brilliant Martin Metal and others remain who shall, for reasons of liability, remain shielded by circumspection. -more-

Belasco Theatre Company’s The Wiz, with many of the cast members from the 2000 production, directed by founder Edward Belasco (coming out of retirement) and produced by Dr. Samuel Lewis, goes into its final performances 7:30 tonight and tomorrow night at the Malonga Casquelourd Arts Center (formerly Alice Arts), 1428 Alice St., downtown Oakland. Tickets: (925) 980-0778. www.belasco.org (Last week’s review of this exemplary community theater show for families confused it in headline and contact info with a shorter-run Berkeley production—ah, late summer staff vacations!) -more-

Between Center Street and University Avenue, Shattuck Avenue forks into two branches, enclosing an island intersected by Addison Street. The rectangular northern portion of this island is called Shattuck Square; the wedge-shaped southern portion is known as Berkeley Square. -more-