Berkeley Unified School District earned another legal victory Tuesday for its student placement plan. 

The California Court of Appeal upheld an earlier Alameda County Superior Court ruling that the plan is fair and legal. 

In October 2006, the Pacific Legal Foundation, a conservative Sacramento-based public interest litigation firm, sued Berkeley Unified for violating California’s Propostion 209 by racially discriminating among students in placing them at elementary schools and in programs at Berkeley High School. 

After the Alameda County Superior Court ruled in favor of the plan in April 2007, the foundation appealed on behalf of the American Civil Rights Foundation. In March 2008, the foundation asked the California Court of Appeal to review the decision affirming Berkeley’s “use of race as a factor to determine where students are assigned to public schools and to determine whether they gain access to special educational programs.”  

On Tuesday, the Court of Appeal ruled that because the district assigned kids to schools based on neighborhood demographics, and not specifically because of any individual student’s race, the school district is not in violation of Prop. 209’s prohibition on the use of race in public education. 

In a statement sent out by Alan Foutz, lead attorney for the case, Pacific Legal Foundation said that the “district uses race as a factor in classifying the level of ‘diversity’ in neighborhoods, and uses that classification as a key factor to determine where kids go to school.”  

“The court has carved a big hole in Proposition 209 by permitting school districts to use race as one of the factors that determine where kids will go to school,” Foutz said in his statement. “Prop. 209 is comprehensive and categorical in banning the use of race in student assignment. The court has undermined that mandate for colorblind educational policy, by allowing districts to continue using race in its student assignment decisions.” 

Berkeley Unified School District spokesperson Mark Coplan said the district was delighted with the news. 

“We just heard from our lawyers and are really happy,” he said.  

District Superintendent Bill Huyett did not return calls for comment immediately.

Berkeley City Manager Phil Kamlarz announced Tuesday morning that Berkeley Police Department Chief Douglas Hambleton will retire from his position this summer. 

Hambleton, who was appointed chief of police in March 2005, has worked in the city for over three decades, starting out in 1975 as a trainee. 

He was hired as a patrol officer in 1976, according to a statement sent out by the city manager’s office, and has taken on different roles within the police department since then, including the Hostage Negotiations Team and the Budget Unit. 

“I regret to announce that Police Chief Douglas Hambleton will be retiring from the City of Berkeley this summer,” Kamlarz said in a message to city staff Tuesday morning. “For the last 33 years, he has been a great asset to the community, his department, and the city organization as a whole. We will miss him. The chief has been at the city as long as I have, and it’s been a pleasure to work with him.” 

Hambleton, who has a bachelor’s degree in social welfare and a master’s degree in management, also served as assistant to the city manager for a year. 

“Chief Hambleton’s depth of experience and his long commitment to our community has been invaluable over the years,” Kamlarz said. “We thank him for all he’s done for the residents of Berkeley, and we look forward to a healthy community process as part of the selection of the future leadership of the department.” 

Kamlarz said in the statement that the city was determined to find a good replacement for Hambleton. 

“The position of chief of police is extremely important, and we will be working hard to make the next selection of chief, hopefully by mid-summer,” he said. “Similar to the search that was conducted when Chief Hambleton was hired, the community, the Police Review Commission and the affected unions will be involved in the selection process. I believe that this process served us well and am confident that another community-based process will help us find a good fit to lead the department in the coming years.”

Just as his father promised, Zachary Michael Cruz’s memorial was more a party than a funeral. 

Children ate Twizzler-topped cupcakes, painted their faces yellow and blew bubbles during the Sunday afternoon memorial at UC Berkeley Sunday afternoon.  

Frank Cruz, a doctoral student of English at the university, told the several hundred people who had gathered inside a classroom at Wheeler Hall to remember his 5-year-old son, who was killed in a collision while walking to an after-school program Feb. 28, that he wanted the service to be focused around his sons’ friends and classmates—more like “birthday party than a funeral.” 

Blue and yellow balloons, crayons, paste-on tattoos, shiny stickers and glitter greeted visitors at the Wheeler lobby, and some of the other highlights included performances by the University of California Marching Band and Cruz reading aloud from the children’s book That Bad, Bad Cat. 

A video and photograph collage of Zach, who would have turned 6 on March 12, provided a glimpse into his favorite people and pastimes: with his mother Jodie in the hospital right after he was born; with his dad at an Oakland A’s game; with his feet up on the couch at his parents’ apartment; cuddling with his grandpa Dave; against the backdrop of Golden Gate Bridge; outside the Campanile; carving a pumpkin for Halloween; playing drums; holding his baby brother Miles; and finally his favorite Beatles’ song “All You Need is Love.” 

“Almost all of Zach’s passions were passions he shared with others,” said Scott Saul, an associate professor of English at UC Berkeley. “His smiles, his hugs, his ability to live in the moment... Since the loss of Zach his family will never be the same again. The loss of someone as precious as Zach has left all of us with a hole that is almost impossible to fill. We keep him alive by holding on to what gifts he left us—the gift of generosity, wonder, curiosity, passion and creativity ... Zach, you are an amazing boy who lived life to the fullest.” 

A video recorded by Cruz plays testimony to the fact that Zach’s knowledge of music went far beyond his 5 years, something his musician father encouraged from the very beginning. 

“How many shows do you want to play?” Cruz asks in the recording, to which Zach answers, “I want to play at grandma Beverly’s ... I want to play a hundred shows a year and I want Chucky Cheese stamps on everyone’s arms.” 

“My son was not a saint, he was not an angel, but he was sweet and said ‘thank you’ and ‘please’ and had a curiosity about the world,” Cruz told the audience. “While Zach wasn’t perfect and he threw up in my car when he was a little boy, he had a lot of promise and I was his harshest critic. I am thankful for all the time I had with him—what I had with him was incredibly valuable.” 

Cruz thanked parents and teachers at LeConte Elementary School, where Zach was studying, and the community for their support over the past few weeks. 

“I didn’t believe in God or community before Zach died,” he said. “I was OK with the lack of faith. I believed in my English graduate cohorts, my faculty adviser and my family. But someone went and built that memorial where Zach was killed and then went back and cleaned it up, and has been putting fresh flowers there since then. I don’t know most of you in this room, but I can’t thank you enough for what you have done and that is holiness to me—that is holy to me.”

San Francisco Chronicle workers voted Friday to cut their benefits and extend their working hours so that fewer of their colleagues would lose their jobs. 

The agreement followed the Hearst Corporation’s announcement that without worker concessions, the company would sell or close San Francisco’s last metropolitan daily. 

Members of the Media Workers Guild had good reason to fear Hearst’s closure threat, given the company’s announcement that it is shutting down the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, leaving Seattle a one-newspaper town. 

San Francisco guild members voted 333 to 33 in favor of the company offer, according to a statement issued by the union after the vote. 

According to the union, “layoffs and buyouts are expected to claim at least 150 Guild jobs in the weeks ahead.” 

That figure means a further 26 percent reduction in an already severely diminished staff. The Teamsters, the company’s other major union with 420 employees, will vote on a similar pact in the near future. 

Among the concessions from the union were a 2.5-hour increase in the work week to 40 hours, elimination of seniority rights, reductions in vacation and leave time and acceptance of the company’s ability to outsource jobs previously covered by the union. 

In Seattle, Hearst’s Post-Intelligencer will remain a journalism “brand,” though in vastly diminished form on a website which the paper reported will employ a total staff of about 40, equally divided between advertising and news. The final edition rolls off the presses Tuesday, March 17. 

Planning commissioners are scheduled to meet Wednesday night to wrap up their revisions on a critical map that will determine the future skyline of downtown Berkeley. 

The commission has scheduled a special meeting as they rush to finish their revisions in time to hand it off to the City Council next month. 

While the meeting’s agenda hadn’t been posted on the city’s website by 3 p.m. Monday, the commission had previously scheduled the session to wrap up its final touches on the chapters concerning land use, historic preservation and urban design, economic development and housing and community health and services. 

The map before the commission will define where and how many high-rises can be built in the area covered by the plan, and will spell out areas for additional study as locations for more high-rises, which the commission ordered included in the plan’s environmental review. 

The commission is supposed to take up a completed draft of the entire plan April 1. A public hearing on the plan is set for April 6. 

Two days later, the city planning staff hopes to release the final draft of the plan’s environmental impact statement, and a week later, the commission is scheduled to conduct its final vote to hand over its revisions to the City Council. 

The council will take up the nine-member commission’s draft along with the original version prepared by the 21-member Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee. 

After conducting final revisions, the council must approve a final plan by May 26, or risk losing some UC Berkeley funding mandated in the settlement of the lawsuit that led to the entire process for a new plan with expanded boundaries. 

The city’s website for the plan is located at www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ContentDisplay.aspx?id=832. 

Wednesday night’s meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

Friends of a Bay Area activist who was critically injured while demonstrating in a village on Palestine's West Bank have organized their own demonstration in downtown San Francisco today as a show of solidarity. 

Friends of Tristan Anderson, a former tree-sitter at the UC Berkeley's Memorial Stadium oak grove, and supporters of Palestine will gather at 4 p.m. Monday outside the Israeli Consulate at 456 Montgomery St. in San Francisco, said Kate Raphael, a fellow activist and friend of Anderson's. 

"Our intent is to give people a chance to talk about Tristan, to focus on the people who have been killed from that village and honor the resistance that continues," Raphael said. 

Anderson, 38, of Oakland, was injured Friday evening while protesting construction of a separation barrier in the Palestinian village of Naalin on the West Bank, according to friends. An extended-range tear gas canister weapon fired by Israeli military forces hit Anderson, friends said,  

fracturing his skull and causing major trauma to his face. 

He underwent surgery in Tel Hashomer, near Tel Aviv, to have part of his frontal lobe removed and remains hospitalized, although the friends organizing the demonstration said he responded to a stimulus test Sunday morning. 

"He moved two fingers, so we know he's not brain-dead," Raphael said.  

He has lived in Oakland for several years, attended UC Berkeley and previously lived in San Francisco. 

Raphael said he was one of the protesters who lived in trees near UC Berkeley's football stadium to resist the university's plans to tear down the grove so it could build a new sports training facility.  

He has been in the Middle East for about a month. 

Raphael said he traveled to other parts of the Middle East before because he is interested in archaeology, but this is his first time in Israel and the Palestinian territories. 

She said she expects Palestine solidarity organizations, Arab community groups and Jewish groups to attend Monday's demonstration. 

"Certainly everyone who knew him personally is making an effort to be there," she said of Anderson. She said she expects at least "a couple hundred" people to attend.

Pink balloons, pink bow-ties, pink arm bands and even pink toilet seats marked a rally organized by the Berkeley Federation of Teachers Friday. The "Pink Friday" event was part of a statewide protest of teacher layoffs in response to state education budget cuts. 

One hundred and twenty-seven teachers and counselors in the Berkeley Unified School District received preliminary layoff notices this week. 

School districts were required to notify teachers of impending layoffs by March 13, prompting the California Federation of Teachers to label the day "Pink Friday" and don shades of pink in protests across the state. 

Final layoff notices will go out in mid-May. 

District Superintendent William Huyett brought a glimmer of hope to the event, however, when he delivered a piece of good news to the crowd. 

Huyett said the district would rescind 49 layoff notices next week for teachers of biology, social studies and physical education, as well as multi-credentialed teachers. 

This decision came after the Berkeley Board of Education told district officials at a school board meeting Wednesday that the board was against raising class sizes even during the current budget crisis, Huyett said. 

“That means we will have to reduce the number of layoffs,” he said to loud applause and cheering. “We as a school district will do all we can to save jobs. We are in this position today because our legislators could not agree upon a budget in a timely manner last year [and] because decisions about public education were made behind closed doors.” 

According to event organizers, more than 400 parents, teachers, students and elected officials turned up at the rally outside the district’s headquarters at 2134 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way, including Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates and councilmembers Laurie Capitelli, Kriss Worthington and Jesse Arreguin. 

Cathy Campbell, president of the Berkeley Federation of Teachers, said she was outraged that the state was laying off teachers at a time when California ranks 47th nationally in per-pupil spending. 

Campbell called on the community to lobby their legislators to release the federal stimulus dollars immediately to prevent further layoffs and cuts to programs. 

Tracey Iglehart, a Berkeley Unified kindergarten teacher who received a layoff notice Tuesday, quoted President Barack Obama as saying, "America’s future depends on its teachers.” 

“We are once again being asked to do more for less,” she said. “This is not 21st century thinking and this will not improve our education system.” 

Rosemary Hannon, who teaches dance to students at Cragmont during release periods, said she was laid off from her job because she was on a temporary contract. 

Temporary teachers can be laid off without legal notifications. 

“I have no idea whether I will have a job next year,” said Hannon, who started off in Berkeley Unified as a classified employee and then went on to get teaching credentials last year. “Even if a job exists, I won’t know anything until August or October, and I will have to apply all over again for the same position.” 

Cory Potts, a temporary kindergarten teacher at Cragmont, said that the layoffs were extremely demoralizing for younger teachers just starting out. 

”We are being treated like we are dispensable and unprofessional,” said Potts. “Even though my principal has given me an excellent review of my performance at school, I am being treated like someone who was fired because of doing a poor job. This process is essentially creating a pool of temporary teachers who are losing tenure years due to no fault of their own.” 

A pink toilet seat adorned with the words “Don’t flush our schools down the drain” shared the steps of the Old City Hall with the Brass Liberation Orchestra and a group of union members who performed a “Return of the Super Teachers” skit. 

Anne Scheele, a third-grade teacher at Jefferson Elementary School, was hired on in November and has now received a layoff notice. 

“It’s because I joined in the middle of the year,” said Scheele, who came to the rally with her two young daughters, Olivia and Lucy. “I am concerned because I have to take care of my family and I am a single mother. I spent the past year and a half at school getting my credentials. I have so much energy to give—I am worried about what these cuts mean for my students.” 

A one-time Memorial Stadium tree-sitter was critically injured in a clash between Israeli troops and Palestinian protesters in the West Bank. 

Tristan Anderson, 38, was know as “cricket” during the days he occupied a perch in the branches outside the UC Berkeley football stadium. 

Kate Raphael, a longtime friend who lives in San Francisco, said Anderson had traveled to Israel where his girlfriend was making a free “birthright” trip offered to young American Jews who want to visit the Jewish state. 

According to news accounts from the Associated Press and Ha’aretz, Anderson was struck in the face by a tear gas canister during a protest against the controversial separation barrier at the village of Niilin, near Ramallah. 

“I’ve heard that he’s really critically wounded, and the last I heard this afternoon, he was still in surgery,” Raphael said Friday. 

According to Ha’aretz, the media office of the Israel Defense Force said the demonstration site was a closed security zone, off-limits to protests. The military said demonstrators had thrown rocks at soldiers, prompting the use of tear gas. 

Raphael said she has known Anderson for eight years. The activist is an artist, and had been introduced to activism in his youth because of his concern for the environment, she said. “He felt it was very important to support the tree-sit,” she said. 

Raphael said she had first learned of Anderson’s injuries in a phone call from Israel Friday morning.  

“He’s really interested in archaeology and was excited about going,” Raphael said. 

Marcus Kryshka met Anderson 18 years ago when they were both doing homeless advocacy work in Berkeley. 

“He has worked extensively with Food Not Bombs,” Kryshka said. “He was also heavily involved with the tree-sit.” 

Kryshka said one of the reasons for his trip to Israel “was to engage in solidarity with the Palestinian protesters.” 

Anderson had called last week to talk about his trip and share his concerns about the violence of Israeli police and military response to the protests,” said Kryshka, an Oakland carpenter. 

Anderson, who grew up in Grass Valley, had been working as a trade convention exhibit installer at the time of his trip. 

Cricket and two fellow tree-sitters wrote an account of their vigil for the Earth First! Journal, available online at www.earthfirstjournal.org/article.php?id=417.

Firefighters saved seven members of a West Berkeley family from a Friday the 13th early morning encounter with a silent, deadly killer—carbon monoxide. 

A 911 call from a resident of a home in the 1500 block of Sixth Street reported that one member of the household had fainted and two others were “feeling dizzy.” 

But when firefighters arrived, they found a more alarming scene, with four adults “in extremis,” a fifth unconscious and suffering from head injuries, and a toddler and an infant suffering as well. 

“We evacuated the residence after we realized they were all suffering from the same complaints, said Deputy Fire Chief Gil Dong. 

The rescue workers quickly discovered that the family members were all suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning, with levels of the odorless gas inside the home nearly three times those at which emergency workers are required to don breathing gear, Dong said. 

All the poisoning victims were given oxygen, and the unconscious victim, who had struck his head as he fell to the floor, was rushed to the Highland Hospital emergency room. 

Because of the multitude of victims, Berkeley called on other nearby departments to send ambulances to help in transporting the remaining six victims to other hospitals. 

Three other victims showing the worst symptoms were rushed to Castro Valley’s Eden Hospital for treatment in that facility’s hyperbaric chamber, where patients are enclosed in a metal cylinder and administered oxygen under pressure to drive out the carbon monoxide. 

The three others were dispatched to the Alta Bates Summit Medical center emergency room. 

All are expected to recover, said Deputy Chief Dong. 

“We determined that the cause of the poisoning was a charcoal barbecue which had been used earlier in the evening and kept too close to an open window, allowing the carbon monoxide to get into the home,” he said. 

Friday morning’s incident was the city’s second reported carbon monoxide emergency this year, with both occurring on Friday the 13th. 

The earlier one happened last month in an apartment building in the 2700 block of Durant Street. Alerted by the alarm of a carbon monoxide detector, a resident called 911 and firefighters arrived before anyone was affected severely enough to require hospitalization. 

There was no detector in the residence in the later, more serious incident. 

“Every residence should have one,” said the deputy chief. “They’re available at any hardware store for between $25 and $50.” 

AC Transit, battered by the economic downturn, is raising its fares. At a March 4 meeting, AC Transit announced a 25-cent increase for regular bus fares and a 15-cent hike for youth, senior and disabled fares.  

Monthly passes for youth, seniors and the diabled will remain unchanged 

The new fares go into effect July 1, when regular fares will rise from $1.75 to $2, and youth/senior/disabled fares from 85 cents to $1. 

While the updated fare rate is expected to raise $5.7 million a year for AC Transit, it will not be enough to bring the district out of its financial hole. The district is projecting an operating deficit in excess of $20 million for the current fiscal year. District reserves will cover the shortfall this year, but the district faces the possibility of running out of money sometime in the fiscal year beginning in July if it does not institute service cuts or find other sources of revenue.  

The 25-cent fare raise was originally proposed by the district last year, but AC Transit officials held off until after the passage of last November's Measure VV parcel tax increase. During the VV campaign, AC Transit officials promised voters that if they voted for VV, the district would not raise the rates for monthly passes for youth, seniors, and the disabled.

The Berkeley Board of Education unanimously approved revisions to the school district’s 2008-09 budget Wednesday to offset this year’s $3.1 million shortfall. 

Berkeley Unified School District faces an $8 million budget deficit over the next two years. 

The district was able to meet the reductions in state funds for this year by instituting a freeze on new hires, conferences, travel and consulting expenses, and equipment purchases over $500—measures which added up to more than $1.5 million in savings. 

Cathy Campbell, president of the Berkeley Federation of Teachers, said the board was able to save at least $600,000 through the hiring freeze that was put into place last fall. 

Taking advantage of a recent bill signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger which allows school districts to redirect funds from 40 programs for any “educational purpose” over a five-year period ending July 1, 2013, the district transferred $2 million from its categorical funds to its general funds.  

The move resulted in cuts to art, music and technological programs, textbook purchases, building maintenance, and school discretionary funds, among others.  

The board also looked at recommendations made by district officials to address a $4.9 million deficit in 2009-10, which includes an additional $1.2 million cut in art, music and library programs next year. 

The board will vote on these recommendations at a later date. 

The school district also hopes to receive about $800,000 from federal stimulus money, which it will use to address the shortfall. 

“The stimulus may change things, but we have lobbied our legislators to release the funds as soon as possible,” district superintendent William Huyett said. “We have to plan as if Armageddon is coming our way.” 

A majority of the board members told Huyett that they were against increasing class size, even in these tough economic times. 

Calling the cuts a “downward spiral,” board member John Selawsky expressed concern about the loss of arts programs in the schools. 

Selawsky also criticized the potential layoff notices that were sent out earlier this week to 124 teachers, counselors and at least three administrators. 

“It’s nothing short of criminal to me,” he said. “We have always been underfunded in California, but this is the worst we have seen in decades. We are looking at two, at least three years—I am not sure we are going to be able to weather this. There are programs that we are going to eliminate completely that, in this climate, I am not sure we will ever get back.” 

According to Campbell, the list of possible layoffs included 46 teachers at Berkeley High School and three teachers at Berkeley Technology Academy (B-Tech), a continuation high school that admits a high number of at-risk students. 

“A lot of temporary teachers were released from B-Tech, and they don’t need to be given notices,” she said. “The sad part is, the vast majority of them are people of color.” 

Campbell said that the school was suffering from all the cuts, which will leave only 10 or 12 teachers to manage approximately 150 students. 

Elementary schools that received layoff notices included Berkeley Arts Magnet (nine), Rosa Parks (seven), Oxford (six), Thousand Oaks (six), Emerson (five), Washington (four), Jefferson (three) and Malcolm X (three). 

Cragmont, John Muir and LeConte elementaries received one layoff notice each. 

Additionally, seven district teachers on special assignments received pink slips. 

The list of layoffs more than doubled this year compared with 2008, when the approximately 55 layoff notices sent out to teachers were rescinded, Campbell said. 

“People who went through this last year and have received layoff notices again can’t believe they are going through this again,” she said. “They are upset, but a little numb. The ones who are experiencing this for the first time are surprised and demoralized. They are unsure what it means for them.” 

Huyett stressed that the district would be working round the clock to reduce the number of layoffs. The list of final layoffs is scheduled to go out in mid-May. 

“This has been like a rotten week,” said Huyett, who helped B-Tech principal Victor Diaz distribute the layoff notices Tuesday. “One principal told me that he had to give layoff notices to everyone he had hired in the last four years. These positions are not positions we can afford to lose. We are not flush with people who can do all the work. I am angry that I have worked so long to make public education better and now we are working to make it worse.”  

Berkeley police have arrested three suspects in connection with a brutal home invasion robbery two weeks ago but five suspects remain at large. 

Police spokesman Andrew Frankel said the suspects are believed to be responsible for the incident in the 600 block of Santa Barbara Road Feb. 24 in which two victims were bound, pistol-whipped and carved on with kitchen knives. 

The victims were taken to a local hospital where they were treated and released, he said. 

Berkeley detectives served search warrants at four locations in San Pablo and Richmond early Wednesday morning, Frankel said. 

Information gathered during the warrants led to the execution of a fifth search warrant in Fairfield about 5 p.m. Wednesday that was conducted by that city's SWAT team, according to Frankel. 

Frankel said a break in the case occurred when a patrol sergeant from the El Cerrito Police Department stopped a car driven by one of the suspects. 

The sergeant recognized the car and driver from a flier El Cerrito police received from Berkeley police last week, Frankel said. 

The flier included photos of the suspects using stolen credit cards and a description of their vehicle. 

The people who have been arrested are Buk Khansuwong, a 46-year-old Richmond man, Tien Vo, a 29-year-old San Pablo woman, and a 16-year-old boy from Richmond. 

Frankel said one suspect was arrested Monday and two suspects were arrested Wednesday. 

Five suspects are still at large: Vern Town Saelee, 21, of Fairfield, Vern Sio Saelee, 18, of Fairfield, Anthony Ray Douglas, 18, of Richmond, Chiew Chian Saeturn of Fairfield, and a 16-year-old juvenile from Richmond. 

Frankel said the suspects still at large should be considered "armed and highly dangerous." 

He declined to comment about why the suspects targeted the victims in the incident. 

Bay Area Crime Stoppers is offering a $2,000 reward for information leading to their arrest. 

Frankel said people who know the whereabouts of the suspects should call Berkeley's robbery detail at 981-5742. 

People who want to remain anonymous may call Bay Area Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS. 

Berkeley police officers responded with guns drawn to an incident at the downtown Berkeley BART station late Wednesday night, cordoning off sections of the station for approximately 30 minutes. 

At least 14 Berkeley police cars pulled up outside the downtown BART station shortly before 11 p.m. Officers with weapons drawn positioned themselves outside the entrances on either side of Shattuck Avenue and stayed on the scene until 11:15 p.m. 

Lt. Gary Cagaanan of the BART police said the train operator reported “some sort of disturbance with a possible gun involved” to the BART control center at 10:51 p.m. 

Although Berkeley police showed up at the scene, BART police investigated the incident, he said. 

According to a report by BART police, three men and one woman wearing black clothes “made contact with the victim” in an incident that resulted in blood on the floor of the car. 

Lt. Cagaanan described the incident as an attempt to rob the victim of his cellphone. 

The victim refused medical treatment. Police were not able to find a weapon at the scene. 

Two suspects were detained on the platform but were released after the victim refused to give a statement or identify the suspects.   

Two young women, who requested the Planet withhold their names for fear of repercussions, told the Planet what they saw inside the BART train. 

The two women said they boarded a Richmond-bound train at the Montgomery Street station in San Francisco. After the train had crossed the bay and passed the Ashby station on the way to the downtown Berkeley station, the man sitting next to them checked his cell phone and said, “Oh, fuck.” 

Seconds later, the women said, four men entered the car from the rear of the train and brutally beat the man, drawing blood. 

Passengers in the car panicked and ran to the back of the train. When the train arrived at the downtown station, the two women disembarked to find police armed and waiting. The victim and his assailants were still on the train. 

Albany’s Golden Gate Fields goes on the auction block April 3 as part of a court-mandated sale of properties owned by ailing Magna Entertainment. 

Magna, the Canadian-based firm that emerged as the world’s largest owner of race tracks, is in bankruptcy actions on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border. Three of its tracks will be auctioned off in the sale. 

But the ultimate winner may well by the company’s parent firm, MI Developments (MID), which holds liens against the company and has entered a so-called “stalking horse bid” for three tracks—Golden Gate, Pimlico and Lone Star—as well as Magna’s odds-processing firm, a betting service and other real estate. 

If MID wins its $195 million bid it will move immediately to commercially develop the site, a move certain to ignite a political firestorm in Albany. 

In an announcement from corporate headquarters in Aurora, Ontario, MID announced that if it wins the Albany track, “it intends to immediately commence seeking all requisite approvals to develop the property for commercial real estate purposes.” 

But some of the company’s minority investments are alarmed, including New York-based Greenlight Capital, and they will get a hearing in bankruptcycourt March 13. 

Greenlight has been highly critical of Frank Stronach, the Canadian auto parts magnate whose Magna International originally owned the tracks before investors forced him to spin them off into a separate company because of ongoing losses. He controls the bulk of voting shares of both MID and the entertainment company, one of the reasons for the rising investor discontent. 

Another critical shareholder closer to home is Farallon Capital Management of San Francisco, which has been highly critical of MID’s funding of the entertainment company, according to filings at the Securities and Exchange Commission.  

Albany City Councilmember Robert Lieber said Stronach’s development plans sound “horrible.” 

“I hope we can keep racing for at least a couple of years,” he said. The city’s share of the betting revenue contributes about a half-million-dollars annually to the city’s coffers. 

Lieber said he hoped that the East Bay Regional Parks District would be able to obtain at least some of the site with the help of revenue bonds approved last year by voters in both Alameda and Contra Costa counties. 

Calls from Albany officials to Magna offices haven’t been returned, he said. 

The Berkeley Unified School District sent out at least 130 potential layoff notices to teachers and counselors Tuesday, district officials said. 

According to Berkeley Unified School District spokesperson Mark Coplan, the number includes 124 teachers and six counselors. 

The Berkeley Board of Education, at its Mar. 4 meeting, voted unanimously to eliminate numerous teaching jobs. 

The job cuts are a result of the state budget crisis, which has left the district at least $8 million short, prompting district officials to send out tentative layoff notices to teachers by Mar. 13, as required under state law. 

The preliminary layoff notices were hand-delivered to the principals of every school in the district, who discussed the news with the teachers, Coplan said. 

Teachers on leave will be notified by registered mail by Friday. 

The district will mail final layoff notices by mid-May, after releasing its 2009-10 budget. 

District staff worked over the weekend to look at years of service and teaching credentials of teachers to determine who will not be returning next year. 

Cathy Campbell, president of the Berkeley Federation of Teachers, said that newer teachers who have been with the district for less than two years were the most vulnerable, since they had the least seniority. 

Positions recommended for reduction include vice principal positions at a middle school, Berkeley High School and the Berkeley Adult School, counselors and teachers on special assignment. Music, math, biology, chemistry, physics and English teaching positions will also be affected. 

The California Federation of Teachers estimates that nearly 18,000 teachers statewide will get pink slips this week—almost twice as many as last year—because of the budget cuts, prompting the CFT to launch an ad campaign protesting the layoffs. 

The union has tagged Mar. 13 “Pink Friday” and has plans to hold mass rallies and protests around the state, purchasing radio ads and billboards to get its point across to the public. 

Campbell asked the community to join the Berkeley teachers’ union to protest the layoffs in front of the district administrative building at 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way on Friday. 

Superintendent Huyett has warned that unlike last year—when the district was facing a similar layoff threat but rescinded it at the last minute—the prospect of some teachers losing their jobs this time is a real possibility. 

In an e-mail sent out to the community on Mar. 10, Huyett announced that Berkeley Unified will have to cut $3 million from its general fund in the current school year and $4.9 million in 2009-10, which will result in significant staff reductions. 

In addition, many categorical funds—which provide money to arts programs and libraries among others—will be slashed by 15 percent this year and an additional 4.3 percent in 2009-10. 

“Both the general fund reduction and the categorical cuts will hurt our school in significant ways,” Huyett said in his email. 

The district has been able to make $3 million in one-time cuts in 2008-09 without immediately reducing pre-K through grade 12 programs by curbing expenses, and instituting a hiring freeze. 

Although district officials have recommended against increasing class size, Huyett said that enough layoff notices were sent out to give the school board the flexibility to raise the number of students in every classroom if necessary. 

Other school districts across the East Bay and California are facing a similar crunch, with the West Contra Costa School District planning to send out more than 200 pink slips and Mt. Diablo preparing to send about 100. 

Some Berkeley School Board members urged the public to keep in mind that the pink slips that would go out next week were “only potential layoff notices,” which could change once the district adopted its budget. 

“As schools decide their budgets, especially regarding teachers on special assignments, and the district office does the same, and as the school board makes decisions on class size and budget reductions, many teacher layoff notices will be rescinded,” Huyett said. “District staff will work hard to make sure teachers are removed from the layoff list as quick as possible.” 

He added that he had instructed his staff to make a preliminary list of budget reductions, which would be reviewed by the Superintendent’s Budget Advisory Committee—composed of district employees, union members and community members—and forwarded to the School Board in May. 

The district plans to give its classified employees layoff notices in April. 

UC Berkeley announced plans to institute a 9.3 percent tuition increase to address a state budget crisis that is taking away millions of dollars in public education funding. 

The proposed fee hike would take effect July 1 and would increase undergraduate tuition from $7,126 a year to about $7,789. 

The UC Board of Regents is scheduled to vote on the fee increase in May. 

Student service fees are also expected to rise. 

UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau told reporters Tuesday that a $60 million to $70 million funding shortfall for the 2009-10 fiscal year prompted university officials to increase fees, institute a staff hiring freeze, temporarily slow down faculty hiring and expand a program that encourages employees to reduce their work hours.  

Birgeneau said that until further notice, all career and contract staff positions will be frozen. 

He said the projected deficit includes a $15 million shortfall from the 2008-09 fiscal year, a $10 million to 20 million permanent state budget cut in 2009-10, and $35 million in unfunded obligations such as utilities, health and medical benefits, faculty merit and employee pay increases, and the anticipated restart of pension contributions. 

The chancellor said that in the coming weeks the university would have to implement permanent staff layoffs, but that efforts would be taken to minimize that by asking employees to take advantage of programs designed to reduce workforce expenses. 

“We’re not able yet to determine to what extent layoffs will be necessary in individual units,” he said. 

The university has already decreased faculty hiring from about 100 hires a year to about 25 in 2008-09 and 2009-10, which is expected to save about $5 million annually in salaries. 

Birgeneau acknowledged that the fee hikes would have a significant impact on students, particularly those from middle-class backgrounds. 

Under the proposal, families making more than $100,000 would pay the full fee increase. Families earning between $60,000 to $100,000 would pay half the fee increase, or about 4.65 percent. Families earning less than $60,000 would not be subject to the increase. 

Birgeneau said that the university administration rejected the possibility of top officials at the Berkeley campus taking a salary cut. 

“Obviously this is one of the things that we have considered,” he said. ‘Further reductions of senior administrators’ salaries would damage our ability to attract outstanding people.” 

He said that some university officials had responded generously to his call for help and donated parts of their salaries.  

Frank Yeary, a vice chancellor, donated his entire $200,000-a-year salary to the university. 

He said that UC’s Office of the President was considering six-day unpaid furloughs for staff and administrators for the next academic year. 

Birgeneau added that the university would not compromise on its quality of undergraduate education and would continue to make it accessible and affordable to California residents. 

“We expect to maintain a robust undergraduate program, but we will not be able to achieve that unless every department pitches in,” he said. 

Other UC campuses facing similar challenges are expected to adopt similar cost-cutting measures. 

George Breslauer, the university’s executive vice-chancellor and provost, said that the Berkeley campus has a $1.8 billion budget, $500 million of which comes from the state. 

Breslauer said that the campus was bracing for an 8 percent permanent budget reduction. 

He added that despite all the cuts that were taking place, he would be increasing the financial support allocated to undergraduate curriculum from his budget to “avoid this serious budgetary situation creating bottlenecks in student access to courses.” 

Nathan Brostrom, the campus’s vice chancellor for administration, said that the university was appealing to wealthy Californians to come forward in this time of crisis to support public education. 

He said that, even in these difficult times, private donations had been higher than ever at the university over the last eight months. 

Bergeneau said he was hoping that the money set aside in the federal stimulus bill for research in energy reforms and other areas would give UC Berkeley a much needed boost in funding. 

Whole Foods Market announced last week that the company has reversed its plans to let the lease expire for its tenant, Ashby Flowers.  

The supermarket chain had planned to take over the family-owned flower shop’s small retail space, located on the grocery store’s Berkeley property at Ashby and Telegraph avenues.  

Whole Foods Regional President David Lannon had previously told the Daily Planet that the company was not renewing the lease, set to expire in July, because the supermarket planned to expand its operations by using the space for a coffee shop or juice bar.  

But after a week of public criticism, the company shelved the plan and invited Ashby Flowers to stay. 

In a statement sent out Mar. 5 by Jennifer Marples of San Francisco-based Koa Communi- 

cations, Whole Foods’ PR firm, company officials acknowledged that they had arrived at the decision after listening to the public’s concerns. 

“During our conversations with Ashby Flowers and with members of the community that began in spring 2008, it has become clear that Ashby Flowers is indeed a treasured asset to the local community and that it should remain where it is,” the statement read. “[W]e’ve heard what our customers and neighbors have had to say, loud and clear. We look forward to a continued relationship with this company that clearly has a loyal, local following, and we wish them great success in the future.” 

Ashby Flowers’ owners, Iraj Misaghi and Marcy Simon, had expressed their desire to remain at the location, where the flower shop has operated for the last 60 years, drawing a loyal patronage. The married couple has owned the business since 1995.  

In a telephone interview, Simon said the company’s statement caught her by surprise and that she was “cautiously optimistic” about Whole Foods’ decision. 

“We have not spoken about it,” she said. “But I am eager to renegotiate our lease with them. I am happy—I think they did the right thing.” 

Whole Foods’ original plan met with stiff opposition from the local community and elected officials, including Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates and Berkeley City Councilmember Kriss Worthington, who joined in a Feb. 25 rally outside Whole Foods’ corporate headquarters in Emeryville.  

Worthington organized neighborhood groups and businesses to help Ashby Flowers, even asking a student volunteer to go door to door collecting signatures for a petition in support of the florist. 

The councilmember also met with Whole Foods’ corporate officials in an effort to get them to reverse the decision. 

Stacey Simon, a spokesperson for Ashby Flowers, said the owners had met with Whole Foods Vice President of Development Glen Moon since the rally and were waiting to talk to him about starting a new lease. 

“Apart from that, we have not heard anything official,” she said, “so [the] statement came as a surprise, a very pleasant surprise. We are guardedly optimistic.” 

“For a small business like Ashby Flowers, location is very critical,” Councilmember Worthington said, in response to Thursday’s development. “Plus the whole thing was hurting Whole Foods—it was making their customers unhappy. It’s wonderful that the company realized that Ashby Flowers is a landmark business—the building itself is not a landmark, but the business itself is important. Now two businesses in my district will have a happy ending.” 

Worthington said it was important that the new lease be for a five-year term at least, which would give the tenants a certain amount of protection if their landlord decided to reclaim the space again. 

Whole Foods’ officials were not available for further comment.

On a recent Friday morning, the lobby of the Berkeley-East Bay Humane Society in West Berkeley was missing the noisy barking and pitter-patter of tiny paws that has greeted visitors for the last five decades. 

The lack of noise is not because there is a dearth of animals to take care of at this private nonprofit shelter. 

On the contrary, the place is a stark reminder of how the economy has forced foreclosed home owners to give their pets up for adoption or simply abandon them. 

Staff at the Berkeley Humane Society are working twice as hard to take care of these abandoned animals, but most of the action is happening very quietly at the back, away from the public eye. 

The shelter, which can house up to 50 dogs and cats at a time, closed its veterinary hospital to private clients on Feb. 1 partly because it was losing money and partly because it wanted to focus on its own animals, shelter spokesperson Katherine S. O’Donnell told the Daily Planet. 

“We want to treat our animals and get them adopted more quickly,” O’Donnell said. “We found that the shelter wasn’t making any money from private clients. It wasn’t cost-effective and prevented us from caring for the shelter’s cats and dogs.” 

O’Donnell said that after discussing the shelter’s financial situation with private consultants, then-Executive Director Mim Carlson and the board of directors came to the conclusion that running a private veterinary hospital while trying to provide superior medical care to shelter animals was not cost-effective, and was preventing them from expanding their services to more homeless dogs and cats. 

Carlson and the board president, Dr. Alan G. Shriro, who has co-owned the Berkeley Dog and Cat Hospital for 32 years, were not available for comment. 

“We are taking in a lot of animals from other rescue organizations,” said Nancy Glaser, the shelter’s interim executive director. “We have a mission to take care of shelter animals, and since no one is taking care of them, they don’t have any other alternative.” 

O’Donnell said that, despite the economy, the shelter hopes to fund its operations through adoption fees, private donations and grants, and to rescue as many as 1,000 animals this year. 

It takes at least $600 to provide basic preventive care for each animal, she said. 

The shelter, which was started more than 80 years ago out of a pool hall at the corner of Ninth and Carleton streets by three locals concerned about homeless animals in Alameda County, was originally called the “Animal Rescue Haven.” 

George Denny, who later became executive director of the Animal Rescue Haven, converted the pool building—now a two-story blue glass-and-wood structure dwarfed by warehouses and industrial towers—into kennels and fed the animals food scraps donated by local merchants. 

The vet hospital was added in 1957. 

The shelter, which vows to find homes for all its animals regardless of their length of stay, also runs the PAWS/East Bay program, a Humane Education center and a low-cost spay-neuter clinic on Tuesdays, which is still open to the public. 

Every week, shelter Program Director Sara Kersey makes a trip to the Oakland Animal Shelter to bring back animals to the Berkeley Humane Society for adoption. 

“A lot of the animals in Oakland are either abandoned or surrendered these days,” she said. 

“The city is currently overpopulated by small dogs. There was a big Chihuahua fad that happened last year because of Paris Hilton. People went and got more and more dogs like that and more and more dogs ended up without a home. Pet owners just can’t afford to take care of their animals anymore. They are moving out of the area because they don’t have a house anymore or have lost their job.” 

Shelter Manager Marc Slater said that cats were in a worse position than dogs. 

“I get all these calls from people telling me they can’t afford to feed their cats anymore,” he said. “They often ask us if we can donate tins of food for their pets.” 

Kersey was busy showing a floppy-eared 18-month-old border collie–basset hound mix, from the Oakland Animal Services to a couple, during a recent meet-and-greet adoption session. 

In the cat bachelor pad, Kai Mander was getting acquainted with Mr. Fancy Pants, a seven-year-old surrender cat who likes being cuddled. 

“When you come to a place like this and see all these animals being taken care of so well, it’s what you want,” said Mander, who was trying to find a suitable cat for his family. 

Animals stay for anywhere from five to 21 days at the shelter before they get adopted. 

Michael Goldenberg, a Berkeley resident, was busy in another corner grooming Winona, a 4-month-old Shiba-Inu mix. 

“I am a big dog lover, and I come here twice a week to take care of the dogs,” said Goldenberg, who adopted a golden retriever from the Golden Retriever Rescue of Northern California. 

Everywhere you glance, shelter staff are busy taking care of dogs and cats. Some, like Malcolm, a lovable easy going Labrador mix, who was seized from a family by Berkeley Animal Care Services due to neglect, need special care. 

“He’s going to stay here as long as it takes for him to get adopted,” said Slater. “We are a limited-admission center and can control the number of dogs and cats we take in—that way we don’t have to euthanize any animals.” 

Slater pointed to Cherry, a papillon mix, who came to the shelter with a prolapsed eyelid gland, but is now recovering after a lengthy surgery, something he said would not have been possible if the doctors at the vet hospital had still been treating private clients. 

“We wouldn’t have been able to take her, since we had limited resources before February,” he said. “But now we can treat more shelter animals quickly at the hospital, which will help them get adopted more easily.” 

For more information on the Berkeley Humane Society, visit www.berkeleyhumane.org. 

The home of Berkeley architect Donald Olsen became a city landmark Mar. 5 in a move that marked the embrace of a new era of design. 

The Donald and Helen Olsen House, designed and built by the former UC professor in 1954, earned the designation in a unanimous vote by the Berkeley Landmarks Preservation Commission. In bestowing the honor, the commission expanded its focus to include postwar modernist architecture.  

Commissioner Carrie Olson said the Olsen House was just the second modernist residence to be landmarked in the city, the first being architect William Wurster’s Jensen Cottage on La Vereda. 

It offers a break from “fussy architecture,” she said at the meeting. According to the landmark application, the home’s design features an interplay of solids and voids, bringing forth the idea of minimalism, as articulated in Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s maxim “less is more.” 

To the casual observer, the house, at 771 San Diego Drive, has the appearance of a glass box on stilts. 

“It has a unique character, which makes it look underdone, but it is not,” said Steven Winkel, commission chair. 

Berkeley architect and Planning Commissioner James Samuels, who wrote the local landmark application, mentions in the document that the significance of the building’s design can be attributed partly to the fact that it was built at a “benchmark moment” in residential American architecture of the 20th century. 

“Coming upon the Olsen House,” the nomination says, “one is immediately reminded of the revolution which occurred in all the arts at the beginning of the last century, no more forcefully than in architecture.” 

It goes on to discuss how revolutionary architects of the early 20th century, including Walter Gropius, Pierre Jenneret, and Mies, broke from the past and designed a completely new genre of architecture, revolting against the “superficial application” of the Greco-Roman orders, Gothic romanticism, Renaissance classicism, and vernacular domestic architecture. 

Samuels said at the meeting that the Olsen House transcends the idea of a modernist structure. 

“It’s just as good today as it was 55 years ago,” he said. “It’s a testament to the quality of design. It stands out because it didn’t give way to any clichés. It’s an uncompromised design.” 

Part of a group of midcentury glass houses that laid the foundation for 1920s experiments by Mies, Le Corbusier and Gerrit Rietveld, the Olsen House, according to the nomination, makes an aesthetic statement that is remarkably different from that of Bay Area architects Bernard Maybeck and Julia Morgan. 

A pending nomination for the National Register of Historic Places, by Bruce Judd of Architectural Resources Group and three UC Berkeley graduate students, says that its “volumetric form, flexible internal plan and sense of efficiency” were a result of the economy. 

Perched In the North Berkeley hills, the Olsen House is a single-story white building—a “floating glass box,” as described by the nomination—which once had spectacular views of the San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge, now obscured by trees. 

The national landmark application says that the house, which was built on a tight budget, is part wooden beams and part steel columns—comparable to the supporting columns at Corbusier’s Villa Savoye—instead of a “prohibitively expensive” steel frame. 

“It’s a lot harder to do this house today because the building codes have changed, and earthquake resistance has increased,” said Samuels. 

Architect Pierluigi Serraino, who included the house in a book on modernist Bay Area architecture, said that the Olsen House is a link between European and East Coast modernism. 

“By landmarking it we [are] sending an important message to the community and at the state level,” he said. 

The Olsen House has also been featured in Architectural Digest, the Swiss design magazine Bauen+Wohnen and in the Japanese magazine A+U. 

“It feels like part of a fabric of the community to me,” said Olson, whose father is also a modernist architect. “There has not been a house like this before, and there will not be one later. We have tried to look at the next generation of houses that will be landmarked in Berkeley, and I think it’s the right thing to landmark this.” 

Hailed by architects as one of the best examples of modernist domestic architecture in the San Francisco Bay Area, the house is a striking work of art that represents many of the basic tenets of the modern movement in its purest form.  

Samuels said that the home’s design took the “modernist idiom to an entirely different level” by creating “an illusion of weightlessness” that is pure geometry. 

“In general we look back 40 years when we want to landmark a house,” Carrie Olson said, adding that when the preservation movement started, almost 35 years ago, the commission concentrated on houses built in the 1880s, 1890s and 1910s. “This is something we have known is coming. The Olsen House is a building of the future—it’s a box, but a very clever box built with a unique structural system, which is structurally sound.” 

Gary Parsons, vice chair for the commission, drew attention to the staircase at the center of the house, which is lit by clear glass windows on all four sides. 

“As we move into the ‘50s, we will be landmarking a lot of interesting and not so interesting houses, and this sets the bar quite high,” said Winkel. 

Samuels, who worked with Olsen on different projects in the ‘70s, told the Planet after the meeting that he had wanted to get the building landmarked to protect it from any kind of change in the future. 

“It’s the first of its kind—a totally consistent design,” he said. “No gesture toward any other period. It’s pure and simply modern.” 

Donald and Helen Olsen, who were present at the meeting, thanked the commission for its support. 

“I have reached an age where I have lost my hearing,” said Donald Olsen, who taught at UC Berkeley for 36 years and has lived in the house with his wife for the last 55. “Besides enjoying the views, we have had a wonderful time with all the visitors who have come to see the house from all over the world. Landmarking it will enhance the quality of the house and the neighborhood very well.” 

Originally from Minnesota, Olsen was a student of Walter Gropius’ at the Harvard Graduate School of Design in the 1940s and went on to work with Eero Saarinen and at Skidmore, Owings and Merrill’s San Francisco office. He received the National American Institute of Architects’ Honor Award for the Herman Ruth House in 1968.  

He has taught and traveled widely in Europe, where he was influenced by the works of Mies, Le Corbusier and other modernist architects. 

Most of Olsen’s work is archived at UC Berkeley.

The City of Berkeley continued in its place at the head of urban green technology, winning a first place City Solar Award from the non-profit Northern California Solar Energy Association (NorCal Solar) as the Bay Area city with the highest number of solar panel systems installed within its borders. 

A NorCal Solar representative made the presentation to the city at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting. 

According to NorCal Solar, Berkeley businesses and residents installed more than 443 solar PV systems between 1998 and 2007, a rate of 4.17 installations per 1,000 citizens that beat out such cities as Oakland (1.2 systems per 1000), San Francisco (.84 systems per 1000), and San Jose (.73 systems per 1000). 

In a prepared statement, Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates called the award “an honor.”  

“The Berkeley community is serious about reducing green house gas emissions,” Bates said. “By promoting energy efficiency and installing renewable solar energy we are tackling the global crisis of climate change on a very local and personal level.” 

The Berkeley City Council took a small step this week toward overhauling the city ordinance governing cellphone towers, approving on first reading Councilmember Gordon Wozniak’s substitute motion to adopt a slightly watered-down version of modifications to the ordinance. 

With cellphone use increasing dramatically, the council is caught between requests by cellphone companies for new tower facilities, concerns by citizens about the possible health effects of proliferation of the towers in certain areas, and a federal telecommunications law and federal court decisions that severely restrict the city’s ability to decide where and how many cellphone antenna facilities can be placed. The council is struggling to come up with modifications to the 1996 ordinance that strike some balance among all of the new demands and requirements. 

At Tuesday night’s meeting, the council also directed City Manager Phil Kamlarz to begin the process of setting aside money in the upcoming fiscal-year budget for a complete staff and Planning Commission review of the ordinance. 

The vote on the modified cellphone ordinance was 5-0-3 (Wozniak, Mayor Tom Bates, Susan Wengraf, Laurie Capitelli, Linda Maio yes; Max Anderson, Kriss Worthington, Jesse Arreguin abstain; Darryl Moore out ill for the meeting). 

Among other things, the revisions approved by the council make it significantly easier for cellphone companies to install lower-power “microcell” antenna clusters over the traditional higher-power cellphone towers. The revisions also flesh out the somewhat sketchy requirements in the current ordinance governing how the city determines whether a proposed new cellphone antenna facility is necessary, adding language that says the proposed new facility must be “necessary to prevent or fill a significant gap in coverage or capacity shortfall in the applicant’s service area, and is the least intrusive means of doing so.” 

At Councilmember Maio’s request, the proposed changes will not include the portions of the original staff draft that would have limited the number of telecommunications carriers in any one location to three, and would have ended the council’s ability to remand a cellphone antenna request back to the Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) for further review. 

Maio said that the number of telecommunications carriers on any given antenna site was not the source of community concern, it was the number and power of the antennas themselves. And several councilmembers said they did not want to make a special law for telecommunications carriers only that would prevent Council remand of a permit request back to ZAB. 

Verizon Wireless, which settled a 2008 federal lawsuit with Berkeley over the city’s cellphone antenna facility approval process, called the proposed amendments “an improvement over prior revisions.” But in a letter to Mayor Bates and the council, Verizon attorney Paul Albritton said that the revisions “(do) not address fundamental concerns that Verizon Wireless has raised” and that “there remain significant problems and missed opportunities.” 

Among other things, Albritton said that the current ordinance and proposed revisions “purport to justify burdensome permitting requirements for wireless facilities in residential zones as something other than health concerns.” Federal law prohibits cities and other local jurisdictions from denying the placement of cellphone towers based upon health concerns. 

Meanwhile, another cellphone company representative, Sprint’s outside counsel Nick Selby, had a somewhat more esoteric complaint about the city’s ordinance. Saying that the concerns about negative health effects of cellphone tower emissions “are closer to superstition than science,” Selby then raised the specter of Berkeley’s cellphone ordinance potentially causing the death of patients at some future date who could not contact their doctors about information gained from implanted medical chips. Selby said that he had recently heard a radio report on “new cellphone technology that allows a chip to be implanted in the body for people with severe medical problems. Using your cellphone, you can transmit important medical information to your medical provider that might be lifesaving. It would be really sad if you were this person who had that implant and you could not access your medical provider at a time of emergency.” 

A somewhat wry Councilmember Anderson, who has consistently called for revisions in the ordinance that allow greater city flexibility in regulating cellphone towers, later remarked that “we’ve now come to implantable chips.” 

With the city under the Verizon lawsuit settlement deadline to modify its telecommunications ordinance last January, the Planning Commission sent the proposed revisions to the council with no recommendation, asking that the council give it authority to take a more comprehensive look at the ordinance. 

Councilmember Wengraf, who sat on the Planning Commission during the seven meetings it held on the proposed ordinance changes last year and who seconded Wozniak’s motion to pass the modifications, said that the proposed changes “though not perfect, are an improvement.” Wengraf added, “It’s been well-vetted in the community. We’ve heard from the people here in the audience tonight five or six times, at least, at the Planning Commission.” But Wengraf said that even so, Planning Commission members felt that they were “not well-prepared to make a decision on this. We were not well educated about the science behind all of this.” Wengraf suggested that, when the ordinance is sent back to the Planning Commission for a comprehensive review, it be done “with experts who could guide the Planning Commission.” 

But Berkeley Neighborhood Antenna-Free Union member Michael Barglow, who spoke during the public comment section against council approval of the modifications, said following the meeting, “I think that the council doesn’t know what it’s doing. This is a complex process, and we shouldn’t be taking a piecemeal approach to solving it.” Barglow, who said he supported the comprehensive revamping of the telecommunications ordinance, with the help of experts, said that he and his organization would continue to monitor the city’s ordinance-change efforts. 

By Richard Brenneman 

America has lost another major urban daily paper while newsroom downsizings and cutbacks continue at an unprecedented pace, but the Bay Area’s most famous masthead will stay in print—at least for a while. 

The latest fatality is Denver’s Rocky Mountain News, which closed Feb. 27, leaving the Mile High City a one-newspaper town, with only Dean Singleton’s Denver Post still standing. 

And if the Hearst Corporation follows through on its threat to close the San Francisco Chronicle, Singleton could become the Bay Area’s reigning media king, with Denver media mogul Phillip Anschutz’s San Francisco Examiner, once the flagship of the Hearst media empire, offering the only daily rival to the MediaNews colossus. 

Hearst had threatened to shut or sell the Chronicle unless it received major concessions from the newspaper’s two unions. 

The agreement announced Tuesday night by the paper and the Media Workers Guild may have delayed the Chronicle’s demise, but at a price: the guild agreed to terms that include significant reductions in seniority protections in coming layoffs.  

The guild represents 483 workers at the Chronicle, including 218 in the newsroom. The concessions mean the loss of up to 150 of those positions, a 31 percent cutback. In addition, workers who keep their jobs will be working an extra two and a half hours every week. 

The proposal, which the union is recommending to members, would also exempt some new hires in advertising from mandatory union membership, though they would still be represented by the union in disputes and contract negotiations. 

The company also wants concessions from the Teamsters union, which represents 420 workers.  

The privately held Hearst Corporation concedes that it has lost money on the Chronicle since 2001, and the paper reported Tuesday that last year’s losses had reached $50 million. Venture capital consultant and former Chronicle executive Alan D. Mutter, who blogs at Reflections of a Newsosaur (newsosaur.blogspot.com), reports that actual losses are probably closer to $70 million. 

Hearst bought the Chronicle for $660 million in 2000 in a deal that required the company to subsidize the Examiner for three years after selling the smaller paper to San Francisco’s Fang family. The Fangs transformed the afternoon daily into a morning tabloid and later sold it to Anschutz.  

Northern California’s other major home-grown media chain, Sacramento-based McClatchy, announced a major downsizing move of its own this week that will strip the company of 1,600 jobs, including 128 at the flagship Sacramento Bee. The layoffs become effective April 11. 

In a similar strategy to Hearst’s, the publicly traded McClatchy negotiated the downsizings with the Media Workers Guild after first announcing the need for drastic cutbacks in the wake of devastating financial losses. 

In addition to layoffs, McClatchy employees are also taking pay cuts. At the Sacramento Bee, the guild agree to a 6 percent reduction for those earning $50,000 or more a year, 3 percent for those earning between $25,000 and $50,000 and none for those earning less than $25,000. 

The media guild announced that layoffs at the Sacramento paper meant that 19 jobs would be saved in the editorial and advertising departments. 

McClatchy CEO and Chair Gary Pruitt is taking a 15 percent pay cut, while other executives will take a 10 percent dock. Pruitt declined his bonus for last year and for the current year. Other corporate executives weren’t offered bonuses for last year and won’t receive any this year either, the company announced Tuesday. 

As a publicly traded company, McClatchy files detailed financial statements, unlike Hearst or Singleton’s MediaNews. 

Singleton’s Bay Area News Group (BANG) and Hearst have already undergone several rounds of newsroom layoffs. 

Members of BANG’s East Bay Media Guild unit agreed to take a week of unpaid leave during February and March to forestall further layoffs. 

Even with the cuts and MediaNews’ capture of the Denver market, Moody’s Investors Service reports that Singleton’s company is one of four newspaper publishers among the 283 companies they rank at “high default risk and weak liquidity.” 

Another California company also made the list, Orange County based Freedom Communications. A third company with a leading Golden State publication has already defaulted and is in bankruptcy court for reorganization, the Chicago-based Tribune Co., publishers of the Los Angeles Times. 

The Moody’s report is available online at www.moodys.com.  

According to Paper Cuts (graphicdesigner.net/papercuts), a blog that tracks newspaper layoffs, at least 3,938 newspaper jobs have been lost in 2009 as of Tuesday afternoon. That compares with 15,633 logged in all of 2008, putting this year’s reductions on track to top last year’s record figures. 

Hearst has also announced that it plans to close the 146-year-old Seattle Post-Intelligencer, though it hasn’t given a date for the final print edition. Reports have also surfaced indicating that the company may opt for an online-only publication. 

The company has notified employees that their jobs will end between March 18 and April 1, according to a report published by the paper. 

KGO television, the local ABC affiliate, reported on the Berkeley Daily Planet’s own struggles to survive in a rapidly downsizing media world in their Monday night newscast, which can be seen at abclocal.go.com/kgo.

Just as UC Berkeley researchers are poised to lead a national effort to create new fuels from genetically altered plants and microbes, they have encountered obstacles closer to home. 

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) says that any evaluation of the impact of biofuels—or agrofuels as critics prefer to call them—must take into account a full range of impacts that would result from their production, including both direct and indirect impacts. 

And one of UC’s corporate research partners has encountered a raft of financial problems and temporarily closed three of its refineries. 

In addition to the direct greenhouse gas emissions produced by the fuels, the Air Resources Board proposes that evaluation—mandated as part of new state regulations aimed at reducing greenhouse gases—should include indirect land use changes that occur when demand for fuel crops drives up the price of those crops, leading farmers to devote more of their available land to plants that can be used for fuel. 

As fuel crops replaced plants grown for human and animal food, rises in the prices of food crops follow, according to this argument, leading invariably to the farming of virgin land and the release of greenhouse gases sequestered in the soil and existing vegetation. 

The proposal by CARB staff to include these indirect effects has raised a storm of protest from researchers who are now ready to seek the rich federal research funds promised by the Obama administration’s Department of Energy (DOE), headed by Nobel laureate Steven Chu, who was pulled for the secretarial slot from his post as director of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. 

A letter of protest urging CARB to eliminate rules covering indirect land-use changes has been signed by many of Chu’s former LBNL colleagues, backed by Brazilian sugar cane producers, domestic ethanol producers and companies with a financial interest in ethanol production technologies. 

Several of the signatories come from LBNL’s DOE-funded Joint BioEnergy Institute, including Jay Keasling, its executive director. CARB has scheduled a two-day hearing in Sacramento on the proposals starting at 9 a.m. on Apr. 23. 

Chu’s choice 

In a Mar. 5 statement to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Chu focused on the need to increase funding for energy research, quoting his former LBNL colleague Dan Kammen—who, coincidentally, did not sign the protest letter to CARB. 

Kammen, he said, “has conducted studies showing that while overall investment in research and development is roughly three percent of gross domestic product on average, it is roughly one-tenth of that average in the energy sector.” 

Under the Obama administration, Chu said, “as part of the President’s plan to double federal investment in the basic sciences, the 2010 Budget provides substantially increased support for the Office of Science, building on the $1.6 billion provided in the Recovery Act for the Department of Energy’s basic sciences programs.” 

He singled out the DOE’s three bioenergy research labs at Oak Ridge, Tenn., the University of Wisconsin in Madison, and LBNL. 

“We need to do more transformational research at DOE to bring a range of clean energy technologies to the point where the private sector can pick them up,” he said, listing as his first priority, “gasoline and diesel-like biofuels generated from lumber waste, crop wastes, solid waste, and non-food crops.” 

One of the DOE’s first acts under Chu was a Jan. 30 announcement of a new $25 million Biomass Research and development Initiative, the first move in a new $1.6 billion program. 

The crops-into-fuel agenda received another powerful boost this week when Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced Monday that he wanted to move quickly to boost the amount of ethanol in domestic gasoline supplies. Ethanol, derived largely from corn in the United States, is currently the major source of synthetic fuels which are being advanced as alternatives to foreign oil.  

Both the President and Vilsack come from grain belt states, Obama from Illinois and Vilsack from Iowa. Obama was a U.S. Senator from Illinois while LBNL and the University of Illinois were successfully negotiating to win the $500 million research program funded by British oil giant BP that has produced the LBN-led Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI), a consortium that includes UCB and the University of Illinois. 

EBI is researching a range of fuel sources, with the primary focus on producing non-ethanol fuels from plant fibers. Other projects including creation of microbes to harvest oil from Canadian tar sands, a potential source of fuel in which BP has a significant interest. 

Partner’s woes 

While the EBI is focusing on non-ethanol fuels, the DOE-funded Joint BioEnergy Institute, or JBEI, is one of the three energy programs cited by Chu in his Senate address, and it is currently partnering on a pilot plant to derive ethanol from plant fibers rather than the sugars used in conventional ethanol distillation. 

Ethanol, popularly known as “white lightning” or “corn licker,” has been derived from plant sugars present in the fluids in corn and cane, but the JBEI project focuses on creation of organic chemicals designed to convert the hard-to-digest sugars in plant fibers. 

JBEI has partnered with Pacific Ethanol, a politically connected but financially troubled firm headed by former California Secretary of State and legislator Bill Jones. 

The DOE has funded $24.3 million for an Oregon demonstration plant to transform cellulose into ethanol using patented technology from a Danish company, BioGasohol ApS. 

But Pacific Ethanol has been hit by a succession of crises, and has closed—at least for moment—two 60-million-gallon-a-year plants in Stockton, CA, and Burley, ID, and a 40-million-gallon plant in Madera. The company continues to operate a refinery in Boardman, OR. It also owns a minority interest in a still-operating plant in Colorado. 

The company was also forced to renegotiate agreements with its lenders, announced Feb. 27, after it proved unable to meet repayment obligations. The new agreements run through March 31, after which the company could be default unless new financing can be arranged. 

While the company’s stock has traded for as much as $42 in 2006, in recent weeks, they hit a record low of 20 cents, but had risen to 28 cents by Wednesday morning. 

Chu’s aides  

The highly political nature of selling the administration’s energy agenda can be discerned from Chu’s picks to run the DOE’s public relations arm, announced Feb 26. All four choices come to the department directly from the Obama presidential campaign staff. 

Dan Leistikow, the agency’s new Director of Public Affairs, was, according to the official announcement of his appointment, “Regional Communications Director for the industrial battleground states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Michigan during the general election, after having served as a state communications director for primary contests in Wisconsin, North Carolina and Montana.” 

Lestikow’s deputy director, Tom Reynolds, had served as the campaign’s Deputy Communications Director in the key battleground state of Ohio. 

Press Secretary Stephanie Mueller had been the campaign’s Colorado Communications Director, and her deputy, Tiffany Edwards, was the campaign’s Deputy Press Secretary of Constituency Outreach..

Golden Gate Fields is up for sale as owner Magna Entertainment (MECA on the NASDAQ stock exchange), a move announced when the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Mar. 5. 

The Albany track is the last horse racing venue on San Francisco Bay. 

Magna has also filed for bankruptcy reorganization in Canada. 

A second blow to financially troubled Magna followed Monday, when the NASDAQ Stock Market, the nation’s leading electronically based stock exchange, announced it would be striking the company from its listings.  

That action follows a similar move announced a week earlier by the Toronto Stock Exchange, which also delisted Magna effective at the end of March. NASDAQ’s order takes effect Mar. 16, while the Canadian delisting begins Apr. 1. 

Golden Gate Fields is one of three tracks, a betting wire service and other assets that the company is offering for $195 million, with a $44 million down payment required. 

The other tracks are Gulfstream Park in Florida and Lone Star Park in Texas, according the announcement issued from the company’s Canadian headquarters in Aurora, Ontario. 

Operations at the tracks will continue while the company looks for a buyer, Magna announced in a public statement at the time of the bankruptcy filing. 

In its filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., Magna listed $1.05 billion in assets, along with $989 million in debts. 

Two of the company’s three independent board members overseeing corporate finances have resigned in recent weeks, with the Canadian delisting announcement following closely on the heels of the second resignation. 

In announcing the bankruptcy filing, Canadian auto parts magnate Frank Stronach said the company “has far too much debt and interest expense” and has been pursuing “numerous out-of-court restructuring alternatives but has been unable to create a comprehensive restructuring to date, due, in part, to the current economic recession, severe downturn in the U.S. real estate market and global credit crisis.”  

Magna shares had dropped to an all-time low of a nickel earlier this week, but had risen to eight cents a share by Wednesday afternoon—down from the all-time high of $198 seven years ago. 

To add insult to injury, the Baltimore Sun reported Wednesday that the Pepsi Bottling Group has demanded that Magna return $45,485.92 in products sold to the ailing company between Jan. 20 and Feb. 27. 

Magna has also cut 11 days of racing at its most famous track, Pimlico in Maryland, home of the Preakness Stakes, one of horse racing’s famed Triple Crowns. 

The reduction brings the Pimlico calendar to a mere 20 days of racing.

Berkeley’s Planning Department will begin its mandatory update of the city plan’s housing element on Monday, Mar. 23. 

The session begins at 7 p.m. in the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

The city is obligated to update the section of the plan that addresses housing needs both for existing residents and those who projections show may be likely to settle here. 

The document is critical in setting patterns of possible growth. 

The Mar. 23 session opens with a half-hour presentation by city planning staff on the legal requirements for the housing section and the update process. 

The next hour will feature a public discussion, followed by a closing 30 minutes focusing on population and housing trends and a look at the existing element and city policies and programs designed to fulfill its goals and obligations.

Berkeley police arrested three men in the early-morning stabbing of a UC Berkeley student Mar. 7 in the city’s south campus area.  

Carlos Argenis Guzman, 22, Fernando Ramos-Hernandez, 23, and Christian Aaron Woodward, 23, were arrested for their alleged involvement in the stabbing. Guzman and Ramos-Hernandez were also arrested for brandishing a deadly weapon, battery and a hate crime—incidents that took place just minutes before the stabbing, said Officer Andrew Frankel, spokesperson for the Berkeley Police Department. 

The assault took place at 1:13 a.m. at Piedmont Avenue and Channing Way. 

Officer Frankel said that all three suspects were residents of San Francisco and did not attend UC Berkeley. The victim was taken to Oakland’s Highland Hospital, where he is in stable condition. Police have not released his name since the case is still under investigation. 

It is the second stabbing of a UC Berkeley student near campus within a year. Last May, UC Berkeley senior Chris Wootton died after being stabbed by former Berkeley City College student Andrew Hoeft-Edenfield during a drunken brawl after a party on fraternity row. 

Officer Frankel said that Guzman, Ramos-Hernandez and Woodward crashed a party at a fraternity house on the 2400 block of Warring Street late Friday night. After being asked to leave, Guzman and Ramos-Hernandez brandished a knife and the situation quickly escalated as the suspects threw a few punches and shouted anti-Chinese slurs at one of the guests.  

They left the scene at around 1 a.m., Frankel said.  

Minutes later, two of the guests who had been punched were walking on Channing toward Piedmont with other guests from the party when they were confronted by the suspects, he said. Woodward started making unwanted sexual advances toward a girl in the group, Frankel said, and her boyfriend began to argue with him, resulting in a fight. 

“Another person tried to intervene in the fight and was stabbed in the stomach,” Frankel said. An eyewitness called 911 at 1:34 a.m. to report the stabbing.  

Police officers who were patrolling the area saw the suspects fleeing and arrested them at 2709 Parker St., Frankel said. All three were booked into Berkeley City Jail at 7:05 a.m., according to court records, and were scheduled to be arraigned at 2 p.m., Wednesday at the Wiley W. Manuel Courthouse in Oakland. Both Guzman and Woodward were also charged with violating parole. 

Frankel said police had interviewed a substantial number of witnesses in the case. 

One eyewitness, who did not want her name published due to concerns for her safety, gave her account of the incident to the Daily Planet. She said she had been with six girls at the party at the Kappa Sigma fraternity house at 2400 Warring St., which was shut down shortly before 1 a.m. because the three suspects were causing trouble. The suspects had provoked a few UC Berkeley rugby players, calling them “big bad football players,” she said. 

The witness said that she and nine other UC Berkeley students left the Kappa Sigma fraternity around 1 a.m. and were walking to the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity at 2395 Piedmont Ave. when Woodward approached them and made unwanted advances toward one of the girls.  

“She was just ignoring him, and then she got fed up and slapped him,” she said. “Then this other guy there [with Woodward] slapped her back. Her boyfriend stepped in, people got punched and then one of the Cal rugby players who was with us turned around and said he had got stabbed. All of us were stunned but called 911 at once. I was trying to keep his pressure stable but by the time I looked up there were people everywhere. I don’t know where they came from but I guess they heard our screams.” 

Calls to UC Berkeley’s media relations department were directed to UC Berkeley Assistant Police Chief Mitch Celaya. Celaya said that he couldn’t release details about the case, since it was under the jurisdiction of the Berkeley Police Department.  

“We are assisting Berkeley police in whatever way we can,” Celaya said. “It was a random act. Southside officers have taken note of it and are being vigilant and visible.” 

Hate crime 

On Wednesday, Mar. 4, staff at the Jewish Community Center on Walnut reported a hateful message scrawled on the front steps of the center. Sometime between 5 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., an unknown person wrote the word “die” on the front steps of the JCC in chalk. The incident was reported as a hate crime. 

Store owner held up 

The owner of the Candy Bouquet on Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Cedar Street was held up at gunpoint Tuesday morning. The 32-year-old Richmond man was accosted in front of his store by a man brandishing a gun.  

The suspect, a man in his 20s, standing 6 feet and wearing dark sunglasses, a black baseball cap, and a light green camouflage hoodie, took the store owner’s cash and fled north on MLK. He got into a late 1980s-model black Jeep Cherokee with mud spatters on the side and drove off.  

Beating and attempted robbery 

On Thursday evening, two Berkeley men were beaten by a group of several juveniles on Channing Way and Bonar Street. Around 8 p.m., a 36-year-old man and his 39-year-old friend were walking west on Channing when they were attacked by a group of five or six unidentified young men. They were pushed to the ground and kicked repeatedly. Two suspects rifled through the pockets of one victim, but fled when a passing cyclist intervened. Nothing of value was taken.  

Bank robbery 

Berkeley and Oakland police arrested a 20-year-old alleged bank robber in downtown Oakland on Monday afternoon. The suspect, Glenn Williams, has been charged with holding up the Mechanics Bank on Hearst Avenue near Fourth Street in West Berkeley shortly after 1:30 p.m., making away with an unknown amount of cash. 

A witness reported observing Williams driving away in a black Dodge Neon without license plates. BPD officers spotted the car getting on I-80 at University Avenue and followed it to I-580 and then to downtown Oakland. Berkeley officers called for assistance from Oakland police. Williams got out of the car at 19th and Jackson streets in downtown Oakland. He was arrested in front of 200 Lakeside by BPD and OPD officers.  

The stolen cash was recovered, although Berkeley police were unsure whether the firearm had been found or not. Williams is charged with second-degree robbery and is currently being held at the Berkeley City Jail.  

Some 50 to 75 demonstrators rallied for an hour and a half in front of the Fruitvale BART station turnstiles on the afternoon of March 5 in continuing protests over the New Year’s Day shooting death of a Hayward man by a BART police officer, but the sponsoring organization backed off on its pledge to attempt to shut the station down. 

Twenty-two-year-old Oscar Grant was shot and killed by BART officer Johannes Mehserle while Grant was surrounded by officers and lying on his face on the Fruitvale BART platform. Mehserle, who later resigned from the BART police force to keep from giving a statement on the shooting to BART officials, has been arrested and charged with murder in Grant’s death, and the shooting has sparked two months of demonstrations in the East Bay. 

Thursday’s demonstration was sponsored by No Justice No BART, one of several organizations that have been leading protests or rallying the community over the Grant death. Flyers announcing the demonstration had called the protest a “disruption” of BART services. And while No Justice No BART did not specify in advance what form that disruption would take, an organization spokesperson had earlier implied that it would involve blockages of BART operations, telling the BART board last month that the group’s direct action could take place on the platform, on BART trains, and on the BART tracks. 

On Thursday there was no such blockage, merely demonstrators waving signs and banners saying “We Are All Oscar Grant,” “The Whole Damn System Is Guilty,” and “Justice for Oscar Grant” and shouting chants, including “No Justice, No Peace, No Racist Police” and “BART’s not safe.” 

Even Shamar, a representative of the No Justice No BART organization who led several of the chants during Thursday’s demonstration, said that, while the group’s goal was to “shut [the station] down temporarily, we stepped back, because we didn’t want anyone to get hurt. The police officers were too combative.” 

While chanting demonstrators rallied and waved signs just outside the station’s turnstiles, riot-equipped BART police officers stood opposite the protesters in a skirmish line set up just inside the station. 

While speakers from No Justice No BART appealed to BART officers to support the demonstration, telling them “if you have a conscience, you’ll do the right thing,” other speakers who did not state any organizational affiliation appeared to be trying to provoke the officers, leaning far out into the small space that separated the demonstrators and officers, cursing the BART officers and calling them cowards. 

A contingent of Oakland police officers watched the demonstration from a short distance across the Fruitvale Plaza, but the Oakland officers were not dressed in riot gear and appeared to visibly relax during the course of the demonstration as it became clear no attempt would be made to actually block the turnstiles. 

Demonstrators allowed BART patrons to slip through the demonstration line without hindrance to enter the BART station, and BART personnel let patrons exiting the station use an emergency door on the opposite side of the station from the turnstiles. 

Even without the blockage, No Justice No BART organizing committee member Christopher Cantor called the demonstration a success. “Oh, yeah, definitely, in spades,” Cantor said, in answer to a reporter’s question if the group had accomplished its goals. “The station is practically empty.” 

Cantor said that No Justice No BART would hold a demonstration during the evening rush hour on Mar. 19 at the Rockridge BART Station. 

Meanwhile, although Thursday’s protests ended peacefully, with no arrests, court cases continue for several persons arrested in earlier Oscar Grant protests. 

David Santos, a Skyline High School student and a member of the Bay Area Revolution Club, has a pretrial hearing in Juvenile Court Apr. 10 on two felonies and two misdemeanors stemming from his arrest during the downtown Oakland vandalism that followed the Jan. 7 march from the Fruitvale BART station to the Lake Merritt BART station. 

In other court appearances stemming from the Jan. 7 arrests, Lee Pang (cocaine and concealed weapons possession) has a Mar. 18, 9 a.m. hearing, Andrew Lewis (cocaine possession and felony vandalism over allegations he threw a rock through the window at the Jackson and 14th street McDonalds) has an Apr. 3, 9 a.m., court date, and Cleveland Valrey Jr. (the Bay Area journalist known as JR who has pleaded not guilty to felony arson charges over allegations he set fire to a trash can on Clay Street near the City Hall complex) has a Mar. 16, 9 a.m. pretrial hearing scheduled. All of the adult charges will be heard at the Alameda County Wiley Manuel Courthouse at 661 Washington St. in Oakland.

Rain or shine, drought or deluge, the greater Bay Area has an extensive array of spring garden tours, shows, and plant sales from March through June. 

Here’s a chronological selection (most, but not all, visited in the past by the author) of several that might be of interest, and accessible, to Berkeley area residents. 

Golden Gate Cybidium Society 

If you missed the recent Pacific Orchid Exposition, you can still have your pick of cymbidium orchids at a “Show and Sell” this weekend, March 14-15, at the Lakeside Garden Center in Oakland. The event runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, organized by the Golden Gate Cymbidium Society.  

Free. www.ggcymbidiums.com 

San Francisco Flower & Garden Show 

The San Francisco Flower & Garden Show runs March 18–22. This year the show is moving from the Cow Palace to the San Mateo County Fairgrounds. We’ll see what it looks like there. 

Annual spectacles include: elaborate indoor show gardens, complete with ponds, trees, and patios; vendor galleries with plants, tools, and garden-themed items for sale; various talks and demonstrations. Always a good place to visit the booths of West Coast specialty nurseries selling everything from water lilies to dahlia tubers to Japanese maples. 

You can get a one-day ticket (cheaper if purchased in advance) or a multi-day discounted admission. Some sellers have “show special” prices on goods or services, and on the last day, Sunday, some vendors discount their remaining goods to avoid the expense of hauling them away. 

Annie’s Annuals Fab Spring Party 

From April 3-5 Annie’s Annuals, a great specialty nursery in Richmond has its Fab Spring Party with “music, munchies, clowns, free raffles, treasure hunts, face painting, garden talks, fun demos, and more.” Free. There are other events in May and June. 

www.anniesannuals.com. 

California Horticultural Society  

Specialty Plant Sale 

On Saturday, April 4, from 5-8 p.m. the California Horticultural Society has its Specialty Plant Sale and Gala Fundraiser at the Lakeside Garden Center is Oakland. Several specialty nurseries sell at this event. 

www.calhortsociety.org. 

American Rhododendron Society 

On April 11 is the show and sale date for the California Chapter of the American Rhododendron Society, at the Lakeside Garden Center in Oakland. The event includes plants for sale, and displays of blooms of a wide variety of rhododendrons. 

www.calchapterars.org. 

Spring plant sales 

On Saturday, April 18, there are three spring plant sales in the East Bay. 

The East Bay Regional Parks Botanical Garden has its big sale, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. The place to get native plants from bulbs to tree saplings, selected to thrive in the East Bay. A wonderful setting, with the plants for purchase displayed within the Garden in Tilden Park. 

And then there is the spring plant sale at the Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek. The Bancroft Garden, an amazing site of drought tolerant plantings, is the place that inspired the Garden Conservancy, which works to permanently preserve important gardens.  

Also, try the Gardens at Heather Farms, in Walnut Creek, a non-profit facility with six acres of gardens, including “more than twenty demonstration gardens and learning sites.” I have not been here. The gardens are also open daily. 

www.gardenshf.org. 

www.ruthbancroftgarden.org. 

www.nativeplants.org/plantsales.html. 

Going Native Tour 

Sunday, April 19 is the Going Native Tour, Santa Clara Valley & Peninsula. The West and South Bay counterpart of the Bringing Back the Natives tour (see May 3). 

Free, but must register in advance. 

www.goingnativegardentour.org. 

UC Botanical Garden Spring Plant Sale 

Saturday, April 25 the UC Botanical Garden has its Spring Plant sale, bu no information seems currently available on-line. The Garden also has a “Green Gala Garden party” scheduled for Sunday, June 28. 

http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

East Bay Secret Gardens 

April 26, 2009, is the Secret Gardens of the East Bay main tour day. This remains the premier East Bay garden tour, with an emphasis on “wow” factor gardens in Berkeley and Oakland—wow as in, “that’s amazing” but also “I didn’t know someone could spend that much money on a garden.” 

The tour is typically a mix of gardens created for well-to-do clients, as well as some home gardens of designers. The results can be spectacular. It’s a pricey and lengthy event, and some gardens get very crowded, but if you like showplace gardens, this is the key local tour. 

This year you can read about the gardens online from “Artist’s Nook in Temescal” to “Japanese Meditation Courtyard.” A fundraiser for Oakland’s Park Day School. Sunday tickets are $45 per person. Saturday there’s a preview tour for $140, with catered lunch, limited to 150 people. 

$45 per person. Pre-register. 

http://66.117.159.164/secretgardens. 

Bay Friendly Garden Tour 

If you want a free event, the Bay Friendly Garden Tour is also on Sunday, April 26. Sponsored by the Alameda County Waste Management Authority, this tour emphasizes private gardens that use water saving plantings and techniques, provide wildlife habitat, or produce food. More than 30 private gardens from Fremont to Berkeley are featured. You can’t possibly visit them all in one day, so select from the advance brochure. 

Free, but register in advance. 

http://stopwaste.org/home/index.asp?page=617. 

Roses at Vintage Gardens 

Vintage Gardens, located along a country road in Sebastopol not much more than an hour’s drive from Berkeley, offers weekend open houses in May. 

They sell roses, primarily through a catalog (and at a nursery nearby) but in May they typically open their main site to the public for viewing and sales. The two-acre site includes thousands of potted roses you can buy—they have over 3,500 varieties—and a hillside pergola and display garden twined with mature specimens in full bloom. It’s like visiting both a private country retreat and the Berkeley Rose Garden at the same time. See their website “beginning in April” for exact dates and times. 

Weekends in May, open houses at Vintage Gardens (old roses). Free. 

www.vintagegardens.com/about.html. 

Bringing Back the Natives 

May 3 is the East Bay Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour. Spread across the East Bay and focusing on gardens where native plants are the primary or only emphasis. As with the Bay Friendly tour, you won’t be able to make it to all the sites—60 this year—so select in advance from the tour booklet. 

New Berkeley area sites are on this year’s tour, plus familiar regulars like the magnificent Fleming Garden (a don’t miss site with views, a pool, stream, and steep, native-covered, slope) and the California Bee Garden, staffed by enthusiastic researchers, on the University’s Oxford Tract property. There’s usually a good mix of hill and “flatlands” examples. 

Free, but you must register in advance; you’ll receive a detailed tour booklet in the mail. The extensive website has lists and previews of this year’s gardens. Several native nurseries, some rarely open to the public, will also have special sales this weekend. 

Free. Must pre-register. www.BringingBackTheNatives.net 

(Note: This tour almost always gets scheduled on the same day as the Berkeley Architectural Heritage annual Spring House tour. But from past experience we know you can start the Garden Tour promptly at 10 a.m., go to three or four selected sites, and then move on to the BAHA tour, which will start in the North Berkeley hills at 1 p.m.) 

Celebration of Old Garden Roses 

Sunday, May 17, is the annual Celebration of Old Garden Roses in El Cerrito from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. This low-key annual event sponsored by the Heritage Rose Group features sales by Bay Area rose growers, and some specialty growers of other plants, a rose-themed arts and crafts market with everything from hand painted porcelain to books and, most spectacularly, an exhibition room full of blossoms from hundreds of rose varieties. If you have a question about roses, here’s where to find an enthusiastic expert. You can also bring cut flowers of your own mystery roses, and put them out for identification. 

Local rosarian John McBride wrote a detailed profile of the event for the May 10, 2005 Planet. Read it on-line in the Planet archive. 

El Cerrito Community Center, Moser Lane. Free. 

Sunset Celebration Weekend 

On June 6 and 7 there’s Sunset Celebration Weekend at the Sunset Magazine headquarters in Menlo Park, down the Peninsula. 

We’ve never been to this annual event, so I’ll just quote right from their website publicity. “Every year, more than 21,000 Sunset fans pay to tour our gardens and test kitchen; mingle with our writers and editors; attend how-to seminars on home, travel, food, and garden; create projects straight from the magazine; and enjoy fine food, wine, and shopping.” 

www.sunset.com/sunset. 

San Francisco Succulent Society 

June 13 and 14 the San Francisco Succulent Society has a show and sale at Strybing Arboretum, San Francisco. The Bromeliad Society tentatively has its show and sale scheduled for the same location, and date. 

www.sfsucculent.org. 

www.sfbromeliad.org. 

Mendocino Coast Garden Tour 

Finally, the Mendocino Coast is a bit of a trek away from Berkeley—and prudently calls for an overnight stay in the Mendocino or Fort Bragg area—but the annual Mendocino Coast Garden Tour can be worth the trip. It’s Saturday, June 20. It’s an all-day activity because the sites can be spread out. 

The year we went, the gardens ranged wildly from coastal cottage garden settings to a redwood-ringed pond, to a garden with hundreds of varieties of heather. And the natural surroundings, as you travel from site to site, can’t be matched. A benefit for the Mendocino Arts Center. 

Check “events” at www.mendocinoartcenter.org. 

Carnivorous Plant Society 

If you stay in the East Bay June 20, the Bay Area Carnivorous Plant Society is having their show and sale that day at the Lakeside Garden Center in Oakland. 

www.bacps.org. 

The Garden Conservancy 

The Garden Conservancy is a national organization that has regional “open garden days” around the country. In 2009, it doesn’t look like there’s an East Bay tour series, but there are San Francisco Peninsula tours on April 18 and May 2, and a Marin County tour on May 17. 

You don’t purchase tickets in advance, but select gardens from a catalog, and pay $5 per person at the gate for those you visit. 

“As UC president, Yudof will receive a compensation package valued at $828,000 in the 2008-09 year, compared to a current package estimated at $790,000 at the University of Texas. (These figures do not include standard retirement plan funding for future retirement benefits for university employees at both institutions.)" 

—University of California press release,  

April 16, 2008 

“This new agreement includes wages increases over five years of 4 percent, 3 percent, 3 percent, 3 percent, and 3 percent. For the first time, UC service workers will have a state wide minimum wage that reaches $14.00/hour by the end of the contract.”  

—Press release, AFSCME Local 3299,  

Feb. 13, 2009 

“Birgeneau said that the university administration rejected the possibility of top officials at the Berkeley campus taking a salary cut.  

‘Obviously this is one of the things that we have considered,’ he said. ‘Further reductions of senior administrators’ salaries would damage our ability to attract outstanding people.’” 

—Berkeley Daily Planet online article on UC Berkeley tuition increases and faculty cuts,  

March 11, 2009 

“True, a salary cap on Wall Street may limit the talent pool, but, on the other hand, if they get any more talented we’ll all be broke.” 

—Cocktail party guest in a New Yorker cartoon, March 2, 2009. 

Has anyone on Wall Street or in the UC system (looking more and more like the Wall Street farm team all the time) ever considered the possibility that too many “outstanding” and “talented” people have already jumped aboard their gravy train? Revelations in the last couple of years about double-dipping and other kinds of dubious dealings by top UC administrators suggest that the university’s management hasn’t exactly been doing a terrific job. Meanwhile, higher education becomes less and less affordable for children from working- and middle-class families, and an impossible dream for many talented young people without supportive parents.  

It’s true that UC’s 30-1 ratio between the top and bottom jobs is not as shocking as the 500-1 ratio common in financial corporations and even in some failing U.S. manufacturing companies. But just as a comparison, President Yudof’s $800K-plus package, including perks, is more than the whole Berkeley Daily Planet annual budget, which pays for all or part of the living expenses of some 10 or 15 hard workers, depending on how you count. Some of them even have children that they’re hoping to send to college some day. 

UC’s press release also tiptoes around the question of what’s happening to faculty hiring. Stripped of the administrative newspeak, they’re not going to offer many tenure-track jobs to entry-level Ph.D.s, (probably none at all in the humanities) and they’ll rely even more heavily on contract faculty (no tenure or even modest job security) and graduate student instructors (formerly known as teaching assistants). What this means is that the deal for undergraduates is getting worse—again. And a permanent class of wandering scholars now exists in the academic world, people who aren’t really paid enough to settle down and raise families. If they aren’t lucky enough to have working spouses, they’d be better off being celibate as Oxford dons used to be. 

It’s no better in the world of journalism, of course. The Chronicle’s new deal with its weak union means, in real world terms, that my friend who’s a crackerjack senior reporter, 60ish, with college-age kids, will be laid off with no future job prospects from his cushy job, which pays all of $60k a year. Is a UC administrator more than 14 times more valuable to society than an experienced reporter at the last metropolitan paper in a major city? He’s a business reporter, too, supposedly the watchdog who’ll protect us from the shenigans of the malefactors of great wealth who dominate the U.S. economy, and now he’s being muzzled.  

Which brings us to the point of acknowledging the changes in today’s masthead. Michael Howerton, who’s been with the Planet as long as the current owners, has resigned as managing editor to accept a job with the San Francisco Examiner. He’s been a pleasure to work with, we regret his loss and we’ll miss him, but in truth it’s a good decision for him. He’s supporting a family, with a spouse who hopes for an academic career. The Examiner is part of a larger organization that seems financially stable and offers an upward career path. Very few new jobs are on offer in journalism—it’s a compliment to the Planet that our employees are being recruited for one of them. 

We’re very lucky that Justin De Freitas, our award-winning cartoonist, writer and editor, is taking over the ME’s job. Justin has drawn cartoons for the paper since we started publishing in 2003 and has served as the Planet’s Associate Managing Editor for nearly as long. We’re still hoping to avoid layoffs, but we won’t be adding another associate editor, so he’ll inevitably have a good bit more work to do, as will the rest of us. Oh well, she said, that’s why we make the big money.  

Some have been inquiring about how our new “sustainable journalism” quest is doing. It’s too soon to tell, but we’ve had heartwarming responses from a couple of hundred enthusiastic readers, and received contributions in the low thousands of dollars. Our blank front page got the attention of various commentators and even a “news at 11” item on KGO-TV, and maybe something will come of it. We certainly hope so.

PEDESTRIAN ROUTES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In the future, caregivers who routinely guide children from Emerson to Clark Kerr Campus should use the far superior yet equidistant route: Continue along Piedmont, which fronts the school, crossing Derby northward a block down from the tragedy. Barricades there mean very little traffic passes right through that intersection. Walk one more block along quiet Piedmont, then right up Parker. This leads directly into the most visible of crosswalks in the area. Due to the wide entrance to the campus, northbound cars stop 30 feet back from the crosswalk, southbound about 50 feet back. 

The organization seeking improved crossing safety would be wise to research and advise other school-to-daycare guides on route choices, even if it means a bit longer walk. Visibility is key. 

Kathy Horn  

• 

TRAFFIC SAFETY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The death of the 5-year-old Zachary Cruz highlights a problem in Berkeley that has existed for years but seems to be getting worse, unfortunately. Crosswalks are dangerous in Berkeley. As a seasoned pedestrian, I always wait for a break in traffic before crossing. I was even encouraged by a police officer once to step out of the curb to get them to stop, even though I only did it that one time in front of him (we had been waiting forever). Even if a car stops at a stop sign there is no guarantee that it is stopping for you. 

Close calls happen every day in Berkeley. Deaths happen every year. Unfortunately, people on most roads are trying to beat the clock. We have great through-roads here: MLK, Shattuck, Dwight, Ashby, University, Marin, Telegraph. They get you to where you want to go fast, and yet they still pass through residential neighborhoods and there is often very little cooperation at the crosswalks.  

I’ll admit that the pedestrians in Berkeley are just as bad as the drivers. People always jay-walk, saving that extra 30 seconds of waiting. However pedestrians and drivers alike are afflicted with the same hostile attitude that often defines our city. How nice it was to go to Los Angeles recently (that’s right, Los Angeles of all places) and have pedestrians and drivers respect intersections. How nice it was to go into a grocery store there and not have to worry about extremely rude aisle hogs who plow right into you as they do at Berkeley Bowl ( or “Berkeley Brawl,” as some call it). Despite our “liberal” attitude, I think it would still help to recognize that there are other people around. Street signs and intersections were not put in by “the man” because he is authoritarian trying to uphold a hierarchy. They are there to keep people safe and make things move efficiently. While we like to think of ourselves as embodying higher ideals, we can’t understand the golden rule and the basic social skill of sharing the road. Take one walk across town and you’ll see: the death of Zachary Cruz is hardly surprising. 

Saul Crypps 

• 

MAYOR BATES MAKES  

COURAGEOUS VOTE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

On Feb. 25, Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates took a courageous stand to protect jobs and guard social justice in our communities. Mayor Bates represents the cities of Alameda County on the Metropolitan Planning Commission (MTC), which is responsible for spending billions of dollars of transportation money in the Bay Area every year.  

The MTC staff originally brought forward a disastrous proposal for how to spend the $1.4 billion in transportation money from the federal stimulus that is designated for the Bay Area. The proposal suggested diverting $225 million that would otherwise go to support transit operations and instead spend the money on expansion projects. These expansion projects would have come at the expense of existing service. This is like building an addition to your house while it is in foreclosure.  

Genesis, a regional faith- and values-based community organizing group in the Bay Area, took an early stand against the MTC’s proposal. Clergy and leaders in Genesis said that it was wrong for the MTC to cut funding needed for AC Transit and BART service. Every job created through construction of new projects would have meant two transit operations jobs lost. Furthermore, these service cuts would hit hardest those who need public transit the most, the thousands of youth, seniors, and working class people who depend on operators like AC Transit as their only means of transportation. 

Through the activism of Genesis and its allies such as Urban Habitat, along with the leadership of Mayor Bates, the MTC eventually restored all but $70 million of the money they originally proposed to divert from transit operations. Further still, even when all the other MTC members were satisfied to still allow the $70 million to be diverted, Mayor Bates had the courage to cast the single vote against the diversion. 

Genesis salutes the courage and wisdom of Mayor Bates and will now turn its attention to some of the other Commissioners who would do well to see things as he does. 

Rev. Scott Denman 

President, Genesis  

Rector, St. John’s Episcopal Church 

• 

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In a recent letter to the editor, Ms. Pulido asked, “So what should they [illegal immigrants] do? Give up driving?” I, for one, am awed by the simple, insightful brilliance of her question, and the obvious answer: yes! 

Here is a simple understanding of cause-and-effect: When one enters a country illegally, and operates a motor vehicle without an operator’s license and insurance, one shoulders the risk of consequences when asked to produce said license and proof of coverage. 

Any further clarification necessary? 

Jeffrey L. Suits 

Kensington 

• 

KARL MUST BE GIGGLING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Well, my goodness, in these anxious days, Milton Friedman must be squirming in his grave, and Karl must be giggling! It always, always, goes back to that old mantra: “Capitalism can never be successfully regulated.” 

Robert Blau 

• 

O’CONNELL’S MANDATE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Clearly, our goal as a community is educational excellence, opportunity and equity for all children, not just for some children at the expense of others. I applaud state Superintendent of Schools Jack O’Connell’s ongoing work as a champion of public education—working to reduce the achievement gap and to fight for education funding. It is within this context that I am alarmed by his recent unilateral decision to redirect nearly $500,000 away from the Oakland Unified School District to charter schools. The decision runs counter to O’Connell’s role to help the district achieve its multi-year recovery plan, jeopardizes years of positive mutual efforts to return the district to local control and, above all, sets bad precedent for future actions of state administrators. 

As county superintendent responsible for fiscal oversight and charged with working collaboratively with the state takeover in Oakland, I object to the recent mandate issued to Administrator/Trustee Vince Matthews to reallocate $60 per enrolled student to charter schools. The priority of the state administrator is to develop a multi-year fiscal recovery plan and ensure that it is implemented. O’Connell’s directive to Vince Matthews contradicts the goal of fiscal recovery of the district—the sole reason the district was taken over by the state. 

Schools throughout California are struggling to make ends meet in light of increasing cuts to education. As superintendent of Alameda County schools, it is my charge to work proactively to support the financial stability of every district in the county. I question the mid-year transfer of nearly half a million dollars out of district schools as an unnecessary hardship for a beleaguered district. 

The question of student equity is an important one. I think O’Connell and I both agree that every child in Oakland deserves a quality education. In these tough economic times, it is important that we work together to ensure that charter schools serving Oakland youth get a share of parcel tax funds through a planned process that will not jeopardize the financial stability of the district. 

I call upon Superintendent O’Connell to suspend this directive and work with district officials on an alternative plan of action. Particularly during this time of unprecedented mid-year and ongoing cuts, we are all stressed to find ways to stay afloat. There are difficult decisions to be made. Let’s take this opportunity to work together to develop a stable environment with solid systems to return the schools back to local control on a sound fiscal basis. 

Sheila Jordan 

Alameda County  

Superintendent of Schools 

• 

DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I don’t always agree with Rep. Ellen Tauscher. She’s too conservative for me. But when she introduced the bill to end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” I cheered her on. Besides being silly, the rule is ugly. You can volunteer to fight and die for me, but you must pretend to be someone else. Heroes in disguises belong in our entertainment, not in our armed forces. 

Julie Keitges 

• 

SUPPORT THE PLANET 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Regarding the Daily Planet’s request for support from the public: Whether it’s worth $100 per year, who knows, but it’s worth paying for meaningful content. I would pay the same for online-only or paper. If doing without paper is needed for the Planet to survive, then do it, though of course losing the “rag” is sad. But we should be willing to belly up to the bar to keep the content going, to keep the reporters eating. If the Planet needs more than $10 a month per subscriber, I would try to find ways to enlarge the subscriber base—but your paper I think, has a shot to do so. My impression is that you have a high news density compared to other papers.  

I’d hate to see them go if other people cared, but you don’t need to run the funnies, if that’s not cost-effective. That content is available elsewhere. 

Now that I have opened my mouth, I owe you a check. 

Long live the Planet. Keep up the good work. (Your platitude here.) 

Eric Dynamic 

• 

EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT DANGEROUS FOR MICRO BUSINESS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Existing labor laws are already leveraged by unions. The EFCA invites misuse. I know from first-hand experience. 

In 2007, our small progressive green business, Metro Lighting, was targeted by the IWW. With three employees, a dozen paid picketers protested in front of our shop, making many false accusations and filing a dozen frivolous unfair labor charges. 

Under the EFCA, such charges would carry the burden of $20,000 penalties. As it was, all the charges were thrown out, but we incurred huge legal debt in order to defend our life’s work. Under the additional financial threats of the EFCA, we would have closed our business, and seven employees from our community would have lost fairly compensated skilled employment and full health benefits. And why? Because we had treated anyone poorly? No. Because one worker, in a quest for personal power, had abused the system to his own benefit. 

The consequences of this legislation are huge. We must shield the engine of our economy from the abuse of power enabled by the EFCA. I would propose a 50-employee minimum and penalties against unions making false accusations. Yes, employees deserve protection from unscrupulous businesses, but employers also deserve protection from unscrupulous unions. 

Lawrence Grown 

Metro Lighting 

• 

SPUD’S RESTAURANT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Don’t get me wrong, indiscriminate sales of alcohol to minors are wrong and should not be tolerated. I also agree that underage drinking is a problem and vigilance and age enforcement are warranted.  

However, as our case illustrates, care needs to be practiced when applying enforcement actions, else the Law of Unintended Consequences comes into play.  

In our instance, due to our carelessness, enforcement will cause the closure of a business, the loss of nine jobs, the loss of business license revenue to the city, the loss of sales tax and income tax revenue to the state, the loss of income tax to the federal government, the loss of a substantial private investment in a local business and last, but not least, the loss of federally guaranteed funds used for improving an underprivileged area of Berkeley. 

Why? you may ask. Allow me to explain: Over the last two years, Spud’s has been targeted several times by the Berkeley Police Department’s undercover alcohol age enforcement task force. Funded by the state, BPD sends an underage decoy into licensed establishments to purchase alcohol. Licensees that slip and serve the BPD decoy get cited and after a hearing by the state’s Alcohol and Beverage Control Department (ABC) get their license revoked for varying periods of time. 

Now, it must be mentioned that Spud’s is more a family restaurant than a post-college-age hangout. In three years of having our beer and wine license, we have never had any drunk and disorderly incidents that necessitated police action, nor have any complaints been filed against us for indiscriminate sales of alcohol. I would say that we ask for ID from 99 percent of young adults, even people in their 30s and 40s, and we have never had an attempted purchase of beer or wine by anyone under 21, other than by the police decoys that have been sent to our establishment by BPD. 

In fact, because attempted underage purchases never happen under normal circumstances (only during police stings), we have been probably less vigilant and more likely to be tripped up by BPD’s undercover operation. 

Now our goose is cooked. We have been tripped up three times by BPD and, save for a public outcry that might convince the powers that be to not prosecute our slip, we are about to have our beer and wine license permanently revoked. This would impact our revenues so significantly that we would have to close down and all the unintended results described above would happen. 

Is this fair? Does the punishment fit the crime? Is this what you, citizens, intended? 

You be the judge. 

Andrew W. Beretvas 

• 

PLANETARY VOICES 

Thank you so much for all you have done for journalism in the Bay Area. I am donating $50 to the Planet as a token of my esteem, and also as encouragement to the Planet to continue its practice of making available new voices with fresh perspectives on events. So much of what we read these days is stale and just a rehash of what the major media outlets are gushing out. Outfits like NPR, the big TV stations and newspapers (e.g. the calcined Chronicle—good riddance!) and the “Associated Press” (whatever that is) keep doling out an endless series of predictable propaganda ad nauseam, most of it self-reinforcing. 

I especially appreciate your many pages of letters to the editor. It is essential to read what people say, however contentious (and even sometimes repetitive). No other publication gives such a voice, even though surveys have shown that a large percentage of readers of mainstream newspapers turn to the letters page right afer they read the top headlines on the front. 

I am also speaking of fresh voices on your op-ed pages, like that of the astute observer “Steve Tabor,” who wrote about global cooling replacing global warming. I really apppreciate an opinion like that, so contrary to the orthodoxy (but soon to become common knowledge). Voices like Tabor’s on your op-ed pages area a real treat! Keep them coming, and let’s see more! 

Your paper is a genuine asset to the community that should not be allowed to die. 

Steve Tabor 

• 

DIEBOLD 

Once again, Diebold voting systems is the poster child of what’s wrong with e-voting. If it weren’t for the courageous Humboldt County registrar of voters, who allowed a group of transparency project volunteers to review the last election, a long-standing but little-known bug in a Diebold system that counted then later dropped almost 200 votes would not have been discovered. And if it weren’t for our great Secretary of State Debra Bowen and her office just doing their job of seriously investigating what happened, we wouldn’t have known about another shocking problem in the Diebold system, an audit screen “clear” button that all too easily would allow an insider committing election fraud to erase audit logs that could prove a theft - something they stumbled upon and were shocked to find. The Secretary of State’s Office will meet on March 17. And hopefully this time they will decertify Diebold and not conditionally re-certify such an incompetent at best voting system to count our sacred votes. No more Russian Roulette with our elections! 

Richard Tamm 

It’s the height of cynicism to accuse someone of being hateful in a letter that is itself filled with hate and misrepresentation, then try to inflict financial damage. It’s the best irony when the attacker shoots himself in the foot.  

That cynicism and subsequent limp is what Jim Sinkinson serves up in a letter to my company asking us not only to stop reading the Berkeley Daily Planet, but also to cancel our advertising contract with the paper. He says he speaks for “East Bay Citizens for Journalistic Responsibility” and complains that the Daily Planet “is an anti-Semitic newspaper” that has a “constant one-sided editorial drumbeat of falsehoods and denigration of the State of Israel.” Terrible charges. Could they be true?  

In addition to a sample notice of cancellation he wants us to sign and send, he provides four “recent examples of hate-speech published in the Daily Planet.” The “recent examples” were from Aug. 8, 2004; Oct. 23, 2008; Nov. 4, 2003; and Aug. 4, 2006.  

After musing on how the words “recent” and “constant” can change meaning according to one’s perspective, I Googled Jim Sinkinson and got something called the “Bulldog Reporter.” Its motto is “Media News and Intelligence for PR Pros.”  

Mr. Sinkinson also mentions a website entirely devoted to attacking the Daily Planet. Does he pay himself to operate it? Is he a volunteer?  

To find the context Mr. Sinkinson leaves out, I started with the August 2004 citation, which was about Middle Eastern history. The paper didn’t publish on Aug. 8, so I looked in the August 6 and August 10 editions. I searched for “Cyrus,” the ancient Persian king mentioned in the quote. The Aug. 6 paper featured a collection of heated readers’ letters on various sides of Middle Eastern issues, but no “Cyrus” results.  

Searching the Planet’s entire history, I found the “Cyrus” quote in the Aug. 8, 2006 edition—two years after Mr. Sinkinson’s citation. It was in a now-infamous reader’s letter claiming to be from an Iranian student studying in India. That sure created a community flap at the time, but it wasn’t the Planet’s own thought, and the paper paid dearly for publishing it.  

Following his sequence, next I jumped two years forward to Oct. 23, 2008. Joanna Graham’s opinion “Oy Vay the Israel Thing” had lots of sentences including the ones Mr. Sinkinson cites as evidence of anti-Semitism. Apparently Mr. Sinkinson wasn’t happy with how Ms. Graham expressed her thoughts, so he inserted his own words into them to make them as bad as he wants us to think they are. Like all the headlines he writes for each quote, it is Mr. Sinkinson’s language that is anti-Semitic. Also, like the Cyrus piece, the original thought wasn’t the Planet’s opinion, but a letter-writer’s.  

Mr. Sinkinson’s bullet-point headline for the November 2003 letter he quotes is “Why it’s okay for Palestinian suicide bombers to kill Jews.” In fact this letter says no such thing. It begins as an argument for clarity in language and against self-absorbed bias. Unfortunately the writer goes on apparently to defend suicide bombing in general and to ask, “Are journalists self-serving, servile or just plain lazy to habitually refer to suicide bombers as terrorists? Such labeling inexcusably denies the fact that to his countrymen the suicide is a martyr.”  

To make his sensational headline stick, Mr. Sinkinson needs the letter to praise suicide bombers that kill Jews, but it doesn’t. So he resorts to adding the Jews to the letter’s text using brackets to make sure his version of the writer’s supposed intention is inserted. Then he slams the letter for his own anti-Semitic insertions. I didn’t find any integral anti-Semitic intention in the writer’s original letter. In the last few years suicide bombers have probably killed far more Muslims than Jews, not to mention Spaniards, Hindus, Londoners, and others.  

Jump foward again to August 2006. Israel’s retaliatory attack on the Hezbollah in Lebanon generated multiple heated letters. One was from the same gentleman mentioned above who defended suicide bombers, this time complaining that “Characterizing killing and maiming hundreds of civilians, one-third of them children, with bombs and rockets and destroying buildings, roads, homes, bridges, airports, etc. as a crisis reduces savagery and barbarism to ‘unstable’ and ‘stressful’ conditions.” That’s an opinion about the evils and excesses of war; it isn’t hate speech.  

Mr. Sinkinson chose a different author’s letter to object to this time, however: five sentences written by someone who said “Israel’s actions were worse than what Hitler did in Germany.” Many people might take the writer to task for this opinion. But by neglecting to identify the source, Mr. Sinkinson duplicitously implies that the opinion is the Planet’s own view.  

In fact none of the purported offenses cited were the Planet’s expressions. One wasn’t even the writer’s expression, but only Mr. Sinkinson’s.  

Perhaps Mr. Sinkinson is campaigning for Captain of the Thought Police and wants the Planet not to publish people he finds unreasonable. He’d be the judge if he could, but it’s clear his real intent is to abolish the court—the Planet.  

What or who is he really defending? He doesn’t say.  

Prospective clients can consider Mr. Sinkinson’s sorry attack a sample of the quality of outreach available when they hire the Bulldog Reporter to provide “Media News and Intelligence for PR Pros.” For our part, we intend to keep on advertising with the Planet. It’s a quality paper, an invaluable journalistic asset to Berkeley and its environs.  

Mary Lou Van Deventer is a proprietor of Urban Ore.  

EDITOR’S NOTE: Urban Ore’s complaint is one of several the Planet has heard from our advertisers in the past two weeks about similar harrassment.

The bailout money handed to financial firms was supposed to relieve the credit constraints of the economy. Perhaps this prevented a greater crash, but the effects have been relatively minor. Some of the bailout funds will be used by banks to pay dividends, bonuses, and to buy out other banks rather than lending it to credit-starved customers. 

One cannot blame the bank chiefs from seeking to maximize gains to themselves and their institutions. One can blame the government for subsidizing the financial industry rather than focusing directly on the credit constraint. 

The trillion-dollar bailout will have the consequence of a sharp increase in the federal debt, on top of the already large deficit. The borrowing will also crowd out global private investment. Congress got scared into a speedy adoption of the bailouts, without considering other options.  

The economy’s credit constraints can best be relived with the ultimate credit, cash. Congress can authorize the U.S. Treasury to print $1,000 bills, and then give each legal resident six of them. Each citizen resident in the United States and each non-citizen legal permanent resident would obtain a lump sum of $6,000 in currency. Cash in their hands would have a psychological impact greater than a credit to their bank account. 

The $6,000 would be a significant stimulus. If people spent the funds, that would stimulate business to replace the goods sold. It would at least temporarily halt the decline in retail sales. Some recipient would use the funds to pay down debt, and that would be good also, as one of the problems has been too much debt. Some homeowners would use the funds for mortgage payments, which would reduce the amount of foreclosures for a while. If the cash is deposited in a bank, that would help put capital into the banking system. Funds invested in stocks would help end the market’s financial waterfall. 

With a population of 300 million, the total amount of funds would be $1.8 trillion. By printing the money, this program would not increase the federal debt. It would cause inflation, but that would decrease the real value of the debt. True, creditors would suffer some loss, but there is no free lunch solution. The issue is one of comparative analysis, of which plan has the least economic damage. 

“Money to the People” has the advantage of being egalitarian. A poor person would get as much as a rich person, and the poor would have a relatively greater gain in utility, since a lump sum of extra money is more important to the poor than to the rich. An equal distribution of cash would also avoid the moral hazard of bailing out failure. 

With calls now for a new stimulus package, a pure cash distribution should be considered among the other options. “Money to the People” may well be the least worst of the stimulus options. 

Fred Foldvary teaches economics at Santa Clara University, California. 

When God said “Be fruitful and multiply” perhaps he should have added “within reason.”  

By 2050, global population will exceed 9 billion people. In California, there are already 36 million people, projected to grow to nearly 60 million by 2050. Yet there is no discussion of population growth in the current environmental debates—instead there is endless blather about smart growth, transit, green building, and CFL’s. The Association of Bay Area Governments tells individual cities how many housing units to build every year in order to accommodate the projected population increase, when population growth itself is the problem. The problems which plague our planet: pollution, climate change, traffic gridlock, overcrowded cities, greenhouse gases, homelessness, illegal immigration, poverty, hunger, and genocide- all are made worse by higher populations and all could be alleviated by fewer people. Unlimited growth is the philosophy of a cancer cell, yet it has become taboo to discuss population growth—which is rather like treating cancer by ignoring the tumor and trying to alleviate the symptoms instead. Population growth isn’t just the elephant in the room, it’s more like the Woolly Mammoth. But since our economy is based on endless growth, entrenched interests on every side would prefer that population growth never be mentioned. Politicians, developers, corporations, and even the “pro-life” movement have a vested interest in population continuing to grow, and none of them give a damn about the future, though many give lip service to “sustainability.”  

If population were stabilized or reduced, there would be no need for sprawl. There would be no need to line every arterial with multi-story condos. There would be no need for water rationing in a drought. There might even be enough jobs to go around. 

We live on a finite planet, though we treat it like its resources are endless. Many scientists believe that even at the current world population of 6.8 billion, we have already overshot the capacity of the planet to regenerate. It’s like we’re on the Enterprise and life support is failing on all decks but we still expect Scotty to pull some miracle out of his hat to save us.  

We can either stabilize (and eventually reduce) our population through humane methods (family planning, education, incentives), or Nature will do it for us in ways that are neither pleasant nor fair. People in developing countries are already suffering from starvation, drought, disease, wars, and genocide—while we in the developed nations believe that will never happen to us, and go blithely on thinking that building enough “density near transit” will somehow solve the problem. There are many who believe there will be a huge population die-off in the next fifty years, and that our future may resemble Mad Max more than it does Star Trek. Those of us who are concerned with overpopulation have chosen this month to speak out, in the hope of putting the subject back up for discussion. More information is available at http://gpso.wordpress.com. 

Jane Powell is an Oakland resident.

After many months of considering Bus Rapid Transit, my neighbors and I have developed an alternative plan that we think is much better. Our plan should provide the benefits desired by transit supporters without damaging our neighborhood. This should satisfy AC Transit, the City of Berkeley, and the people who live and work in this part of Berkeley. 

Instead of converting the two center lanes of Telegraph into bus only lanes that can only be used by AC Transit, our plan would convert those lanes into express lanes to be used by ALL vehicles. Small underpasses would be built to carry those two lanes under the major cross streets like Ashby and Alcatraz, and other cross traffic would be prohibited. The outer two traffic lanes, the bike lanes, and the parking lanes would remain as they are. This would allow cars, trucks, and buses to drive from Dwight Way in Berkeley to Downtown Oakland, Highway 24, or the San Leandro BART station without stopping, while still allowing access to driveways and parking. A number of elevated bridges would be built to allow pedestrian, bicycle, and handicap access across Telegraph between the underpasses. 

I am in discussions with my City Councilmemember, Gordon Wozniak, and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission about this, and they both have expressed interest in the express lane. The City of Berkeley Traffic Engineering Department says the express lane concept is “great.” Essentially everyone I discuss this with in Berkeley and Oakland prefers it to the current BRT proposal. I would be in discussion with AC Transit about it, but AC Transit has still not responded to my request for dialog from 2007. Their only interest seems to be to force BRT onto our neighborhood over the objections of the people who live here. 

The exact cost of the express lane has not been determined yet, but it looks like it might not cost much more than BRT. And even if it is a little more expensive, it promises to provide some real improvements to transportation around here. Whereas BRT would slow down car and truck traffic and force more vehicles into the neighborhoods surrounding Telegraph, the express lane would do just the opposite. Traffic flow on Telegraph would be improved, making Telegraph a more desirable path for cars and trucks entering and leaving Berkeley from the south. This would likely pull vehicles off of College Avenue and Warring Street, reducing congestion and improving pedestrian safety. The express lane could also help carry the additional traffic flow that will arrive with the completion of the fourth bore of the Caldecott Tunnel. Without the Telegraph express lane, many of these additional cars and trucks will end up on College and Warring, making the existing unacceptable situation even worse. If BRT is built, College and Warring will see the addition of both the vehicles it displaces from Telegraph and the new vehicles brought into Berkeley by the Caldecott. 

To the people in this neighborhood, the choice is clear. We can either make this part of Berkeley more congested and more dangerous to pedestrians, or we can make it a better place to live and work. If AC Transit is interested in being a responsible member of the community, they will support this alternative to BRT. But I suspect they won’t. After all, it will speed up their buses, maybe more than BRT would, but it will also speed up cars. And AC Transit seems more concerned with making car travel more difficult than with making bus travel easier. So I expect a lot of complaining from them about how most people would rather drive a car than ride their buses, and how they need an unfair advantage over cars if they are to feel good about themselves. But that is no reason to stick with the their badly flawed plan for BRT, when we can have something that is so much better. 

Russ Tilleman is a Berkeley resident.

According to the Department of Commerce, foreign affiliates of American multinational corporations employ about 10 million workers. As many as 400,000 jobs annually are being lost as a result of foreign outsourcing. Another study revealed that three years after layoffs about one third of displaced workers were still unemployed. Moreover, about half who did find jobs suffered substantial wage reductions. Millions more blue and white collar jobs are expected to go abroad by the end of this decade, leaving behind the damage—mass unemployment, underemployment, poverty, and even substantially higher mortality rates, as a study at Johns Hopkins showed.  

The federal stimulus package will ease this dire situation somewhat. But the catch is that a substantial proportion of the stimulus will do more to stimulate foreign economies, which supply us with a growing share of what we purchase. Take for example the following: An astonishing 97 percent of the clothing we wear is manufactured abroad. Green technology is also mostly imported. For instance, 70 percent of wind turbines purchased here are manufactured abroad. And patriotic Americans should know that even the American flag they are waiving might be one made in China. Significantly, about half of all our imports come from foreign subsidiaries of American multinational corporations. 

The millions of jobs that are being lost and the decline in wages as a result have contributed immensely to the economic downturn. Leo Gerard, the president of the steel workers union is right when he complained that “We cannot work our way out of this economic mess unless we refocus on making things in America.” But we have a big problem on our hands. The federal government has been complicit with the corporations in deindustrializing America. The government has been continually involved militarily and politically to assure multinationals a low wage and union free environment abroad. Various bodies and agencies of the federal government have been intervening in Latin America, Asia and Africa on behalf of American multinational companies 

Congress and various federal agencies, including the Commerce Department, Agency of International Development (AID), and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have aided multinationals to relocate and remain abroad. For example, congressional legislation exempts foreign subsidiaries from corporate taxes unless the profits are remitted to the United States. As a result, many corporations pay no taxes at all because they shift their domestic profits to their foreign subsidiaries. An IRS investigation could easily uncover the scam. But instead the IRS is looking the other way. 

The media on rare occasions gives us glimpses of government complicity in encouraging corporate foreign outsourcing. A few years ago the TV program 60 Minutes exposed the attempt by AID to encourage businesses to take advantage of cheap labor and relocate to El Salvador. The Department of Commerce at taxpayer expense has done the same. In fact, a congressman complained that the Department co-sponsored a conference with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to encourage companies to relocate to Mexico. The loss in domestic purchasing power, precipitated by the unemployment and underemployment that is created as a result of foreign outsourcing, is barely touched by the stimulus package. In fact, the purchasing power created by the stimulus is dwarfed by the considerable economic loss suffered by American workers. 

What is to be done? First, legislation, taxes, and bailout policies should be constructed to persuade and even require corporations to manufacture domestically. For example, rather than encouraging GM to retrench as a condition for the bailout money, the federal government should insist that GM set aside some of the factories it is closing to manufacture subway and light rail cars for public transportation, which it is quite capable of making. Also, instead of the government giving foreign subsidiaries more favorable tax treatment than domestic based enterprises, the federal government should impose a higher tax on foreign subsidiaries. 

Second, millions of decent paying jobs must be immediately created. The administration estimates that over three million mainly private sector jobs can be in place in two years. To put the unemployed to work swiftly, FDR’s right hand man, Harry Hopkins in 1933 instead generated public sector jobs. In two months over 4 million unemployed were working in mainly manufacturing and construction related jobs. 

Although stimulus money will certainly reduce the pain for many workers and should be supported and expanded, public policy that favors corporate desertion must be radically changed. To continue on our current path may forebode a bleak America with no end in sight. 

Harry Brill is a Berkeley resident.

I watched the oral arguments before the California Supreme Court in challenge and defense of Proposition 8. 

It seems to me that the challengers wholly missed the simplest and most direct argument available to them, although there is a small chance that the justices themselves see this argument. It goes as follows: 

By its plain language, if we accept the Proposition 8 amendment as part of the state constitution, then we have a seemingly self-contradictory constitution. On the one hand, the constitution guarantees equality of liberty and privacy: these provisions prohibit (as the court earlier found) marriage laws which discriminate by the sexes of the spouses in a marriage. On the other hand, with Prop. 8, marriage laws are required to be discriminatory. 

We should understand this as a self-contradiction rather than a revision for the obvious reason that nobody, on either side, claims that Prop. 8 is a revision. Thus Prop. 8 adds a conjunction (“and”) rather than a negation (“is modified to say”). “Equal and straight-only marriage”—a contradiction. Prop. 8 doesn’t say, in its plain language, “Equal, as we said earlier except, now, straight-only marriage.” The difference is critical. 

It is for that reason, as Justice Chin noted, Proposition 8 very plausibly requires the court to order the state that all marriages are invalid and not recognized by the state. Of course, as Justice Chin also noted: it is a legitimate question (or perhaps more accurately a question of legitimacy) whether or not the court has such power. 

In the alternative, per Justice Kennard: marriage laws stand fully intact but “it’s just a name.” In Kennard’s view, the court would order the state to treat civil unions exactly like marriages, in all regards except name. In that case, probably within months, couples of all types could still go to county offices to get hitched but the pretty certificates the state prints up would say something like “State Recognized Union” or (my preference) “Hitched Up in California.” 

Either way, it would appear, Proposition 8 implies a wrenching, far-sweeping change to the constitution with immense impact on existing statutes and regulations. It throws up problems of interpretation for the court that, frankly, the court lacks the power to resolve. Is the court supposed to order the state to stop using the word “marriage” at all? Is it supposed to declare that in California courts, “marriage” and “civil unions” are synonyms? Is it supposed to declare all extant marriages null and void? And, we’re supposed to believe the court has those powers? 

The huge problems of interpretation that Proposition 8 creates are critical for a very simple reason: Nothing in the amendment or on the voter guide arguments in favor of Proposition 8 acknowledges these problems of interpretation or gives any guidance to the court about resolving them. The electorate—the voters—were not clearly informed about the implications of what they were voting upon. 

I’ll say that more clearly: the ballot initiative was misleading. Everyone for or against it, with strong feelings, believes they know what it means. They just don’t all agree. The points over which they disagree create impossible-to-solve problems for the court. 

It is the duty of those who draft a proposed amendment and the voter guide arguments for it to not create such impossibilities of interpretation and to make sure that voters are well informed of the intent. In the case of Prop. 8, the intent is incoherent, and the information given to voters paints a misleadingly simple picture. 

The court has two legitimate choices that I see: 

One alternative is to overthrow Prop. 8 as having been grossly inappropriately represented on the ballot and in the voters’ guide. This would return us to the status of Nov. 3, 2008. 

The other alternative is to let Prop. 8 stand but to order the state to treat it as wholly inoperative in the absence additional clarification by further amendment or statute. This would return us to the status of Nov. 3 except that the legislature could try to pass laws to implement Prop. 8. Any such laws would still have to pass muster as not violating equal protection of liberty and privacy. 

Either alternative is livable to the No-on-8 folks, but the first alternative—outright overturning—is more sensible. After all, if Prop. 8 is understood to create a new legislative power, then where is the talk about that in the language of the amendment or the voters’ guide? 

Perhaps the court should flip a coin between those two choices, since the justices looked today like deers in headlights. Meanwhile, the counsel for the challengers could have done a better job, but at least Kennard and Chin were there to lay out a more substantial case. I hope their sharp dialectic from the bench reflects an awaiting and rational synthesis in chambers. 

Thomas Lord is a Berkeley resident. 

So far, President Obama has kept his campaign promises by addressing the economy, Iraq, healthcare, civil liberties, and a host of other issues. Nonetheless, liberals fear Obama is about to make a big mistake in Afghanistan. 

Historians will cite conduct of the Afghanistan war as a major mistake of the Bush presidency. After the United States invaded Afghanistan on Oct. 7, 2001, a series of dreadful administration decisions let Osama bin Laden and other al Qaeda leaders responsible for the 9/11 attacks escape and reconstitute in the Federally Administered Tribal Area of Pakistan. Rather than admit their hunt for bin Laden had failed, the White House shifted focus to Iraq. For the past eight years, despite receiving billions of dollars in U.S. military aid, Pakistan studiously ignored al Qaeda and their Taliban cohorts. 

When asked why the United States has not captured the 9/11 planners President Obama replied, “We took our eye off the ball.... Iraq was an...enormous diversion of resources and attention....There’s no doubt that had we stayed more focused on Afghanistan and the problems there, and had we thought through more effectively Pakistan and its role in this whole process of dealing with extremists, that we would probably be further along now than we are.” The president has assigned veteran diplomat Richard Holbrooke to review American policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan and present a comprehensive report by mid-March. Obama said, “The achievable goal is to make sure [Afghanistan is] not a safe haven for terrorists, to make sure that the Afghan people are able to determine their own fate.” 

After Obama ordered 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan many observers noted a disturbing parallel to Vietnam. Retired Army colonel and professor of international relations Andrew Bacevich warned, “Efforts to stabilize Afghanistan are contributing to the destabilization of Pakistan, with potentially devastating implications. No country poses a greater potential threat to U.S. national security—today and for the foreseeable future—than Pakistan. To risk the stability of that nuclear-armed state in the vain hope of salvaging Afghanistan would be a terrible mistake.” 

As he reassesses U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, President Obama needs to be mindful of five realities: The first is that the conflict in Afghanistan also involves Pakistan and the Federally Administered Tribal Area, a lawless state. The second reality is that Afghanistan-FATA-Pakistan is a threat to all of Central Asia, an area that includes Iran, India, China, and Russia—because Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan are Russian allies, former members of the Soviet Union. 

The third consideration is that Pakistan possesses as many as 100 nuclear warheads that, because of Pakistan’s weak civilian government, are under the control of the army and the infamous Inter-Services Intelligence agency. Many observers believe that the Pakistani army-ISI has cut a deal with the al Qaeda-Taliban leaders in FATA: “You stay out of the rest of Pakistan and we will leave you alone.” (The same reporters believe the army-ISI sees Hindu India, not Muslim terrorists in FATA, as the primary threat to Pakistan.) 

The fourth reality is that there is no effective central government in Afghanistan. Recently, Dexter Filkins, the veteran New York Times reporter in the region, noted, “Kept afloat by billions of dollars in American and other foreign aid, the government of Afghanistan is shot through with corruption and graft. From the lowliest traffic policeman to the family of President Hamid Karzai himself, the state built on the ruins of the Taliban government seven years ago now often seems to exist for little more than the enrichment of those who run it. A raft of investigations has concluded that people at the highest levels of the Karzai administration, including President Karzai’s own brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, are cooperating in the country’s opium trade.” (Unlike Iraq, where three ethic-religious factions dominate politics, Afghanistan is Balkanized, a conglomeration of warlord states.) 

The fifth consideration is that opium fuels Afghan politics: “Since its liberation from Taliban rule, Afghanistan’s opium production has gone from 640 tons in 2001 to 8,200 tons in 2007... 93 percent of the global opiate market.” Opium brings more than $3 billion into the Afghan economy, 35 percent of its GDP. 

Any Obama Afghanistan initiative should involve China, India, Iran, and Russia, as well as NATO. To build a new coalition to eradicate al Qaeda, the United States must establish regular diplomatic relations with Iran and mend relations with China and Russia. This endeavor needs the participation of both India and Pakistan; to ensure this, the United States should help them resolve their longstanding conflict over Kashmir. Our strategic focus should be on quashing al Qaeda rather than “democratization” of Afghanistan-FATA-Pakistan, but the U.S. must bring stability to the Afghan economy by finding a suitable substitute for their opium crop. One tactic would be to legalize production of opium and for the United States and its allies to purchase all that is produced, while facilitating transition to comparable revenue sources. 

Thus, Obama faces two daunting challenges: stopping the recession from becoming a multi-year depression and preventing Afghanistan-FATA-Pakistan from sliding into a quagmire. 

Bob Burnett is a Berkeley writer. He can be reached at bobburnett@comcast.net.

Over the past several years, Oakland has been using a two-prong strategy to attack its nagging and serious problem of violent crime: police-related solutions (more police, better targeted policing strategies, “community policing”) and strengthening and creating violence-prevention projects and programs. 

I would suggest a third strategy should be added to the arsenal: strengthening Oakland’s African-American middle class, particularly the black small neighborhood business-owning class. 

This suggestion was prompted by a recent Oakland Tribune article on the decline of the Fruitvale’s African-American community, but these are thoughts that have been working around in my mind for quite some time. 

Many of the black-dominated blocks—and sometimes whole sections—of West and East Oakland currently sit in the center of the city’s drug-and-violence whirlwind, but two generations ago and further, these areas were the solid, stable core of Oakland’s African-American working, professional, and small-business class. 

Oakland’s historical black community is, of course, West Oakland. My mother’s grandmother—the widow of a San Francisco bootmaker whose shop and business were advertised in that city’s African-American-oriented Elevator newspaper—moved to West Oakland following the 1906 earthquake, probably about the same time that other African-Americans were moving there. My mother remembered my grandmother saying some 30 years later that West Oakland was the area “where the best people live(d),” and even as late as the early 1960s, Seventh Street remained an African-American restaurant and nighttime entertainment center, with virtually all of the country’s top black singers and musicians—from Count Basie to Ella Fitzgerald to Nat “King” Cole to Ray Charles—making it one of the mandatory stops on their national tours. Probably as good a snapshot as any of what West Oakland must have looked like in the post-World War II years is the depiction of the Los Angeles black community—both the neighborhoods and the nightlife district—in the movie version of Walter Mosely’s Devil In a Blue Dress. 

While the flatlands of deep East Oakland south of Seminary Avenue never developed the kind of compact black business district that characterized West Oakland’s Seventh Street, the area had a briefer period as a stable African-American neighborhood when working class black families broke the restrictive, whites-only covenants in the area following the end of World War II, and for a while there was something of a boom in African-American mom-and-pop grocery stores and other small business outlets scattered throughout the community. 

So what happened? 

It’s a complicated story, far too involved and detailed for a column of this length. But briefly, the deterioration and eventual fall of West and East Oakland’s stable African-American middle- and working-class neighborhoods came in two distinct waves.  

The first destructive wave came as Oakland slowly lost the good-paying industrial jobs African-American military personnel and shipyard workers had moved into at the end of World War II. That and integration pulled much of the rug of black dollar support out from under black businesses, and began a process in which streets and neighborhoods in West and East Oakland began falling into decay. That helped spark a black middle class exodus from Oakland’s flatlands, first into the hills and later into the more affluent communities east of the hills.  

By the time the second and far fiercer destructive wave hit in the 1980s—the crack epidemic—that infrastructure of community stability had long been fractured, and the African-American neighborhoods in West and East Oakland had little ammunition with which to fight off the new drug epidemic. Couple that with a combination of land speculation and unofficial neglect of black flatlands neighborhoods running as a constant strain through Oakland’s City Hall, and you have a short version of why large sections of West and East Oakland—once thriving—are now virtual wastelands. 

That’s where a good portion of the city’s crime and violence problems are centered and spiraling out from. 

For a while, there has been a sort of underground strategy being espoused by some in Oakland that if life is made miserable enough for the city’s lawbreakers and potential lawbreakers, they will be forced out of the city and become somebody else’s problem. 

That philosophy appeared to set the unofficial direction of the city during the Jerry Brown years, from the dismantling of the independent city school system to the police excesses that led to the Allen v. Oakland federal court consent decree to the drawing of city redevelopment money out of existing neighborhoods to create Mr. Brown’s “elegantly dense” new upscale downtown neighborhood. 

The immorality of such a “class cleansing” policy aside, it never had much of a chance to work. The people who the policy was trying to drive out of Oakland—the violent, the hard-core criminals, and long-term drug users—are the ones most likely to dig in and stay, since they have less of a care about the quality of community life and, moreover, they have fewer alternatives of places to go. 

With Mr. Brown himself now gone, at least from City Hall if not as an Oakland resident, “class cleansing” is no longer Oakland’s unofficial policy, though there are elements both inside and outside city government—in portions of the Oakland Police Department, for example—who continue to carry it forward. 

I think those “class cleansing” efforts should be stopped, but that is not enough. The greatest antidote to Oakland’s epidemic of crime, drugs, and violence is to re-establish the health of the neighborhoods that are currently the breeding grounds for those elements. And that is where we need to look to strengthen the African-American middle class, particularly that element of the African-American middle class interested in the creation of small neighborhood businesses. 

It is an interesting fact of human nature that ethnic businesses tend—more often than not—to hire within their own ethnicities, sometimes for no other reason than the hiring is being done within their own extended families. Small Asian-American stores and restaurants tend to have Asian-American workers, Hispanic stores and restaurants Hispanic workers, Arab-American stores and restaurants Arab-American workers. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this, except in this case where one class of business owners—in Oakland, that class being African-Americans—are greatly underrepresented. In that case, many African-American young people are left out of entry-level jobs. 

Following World War II, members of my mother’s and father’s families founded Reid’s Records in Berkeley, an African-American business institution that at times grew large enough to have satellite stores in downtown Oakland, in Richmond, and in Vallejo. Many of our family members, including my brother, got their first jobs working as clerks at Reid’s.  

One of my cousins, David Reid, summed up the situation in a recent interview with the Berkeley Post. “A lot of families, a lot of people I know,” he said, “have grown up with those kinds of jobs, the starter jobs in African-American mom-and-pop businesses. The first one out of high school. But right now, for a lot of these young African-Americans, it’s a lot easier to sell crack, it’s a lot easier to sell marijuana down the street, than it is to have a job. It pays a lot better. So if we don’t have the small moms-and-pops to give these kids jobs, that’s the first line of defense. That’s taking care of our own. You go to the Hispanic community, they have business districts, they have all kinds of community support, social support for their community. You go to the Asian districts, they have all of this, too. Where is the black district? The only black districts we have are where you can go purchase drugs.” 

Another cousin, Geoffrey Pete, owned and operated Geoffrey’s Inner Circle downtown nightclub for many years, a nightspot that rivaled and even surpassed some of the fabled black Seventh Street entertainment establishments of the last century. Mr. Pete, too, established a policy of giving young African-Americans their first real jobs. Three of my daughters were among the many who worked there. 

My parents did something similar, operating a mom-and-pop grocery store for some 40 years in deep East Oakland, giving employment to family members and neighborhood residents, as well as giving business to a large number of black handymen. 

Reid’s Records is now facing declining sales—mostly due to first the integration of the record-selling business and then the penetration of the market by megastores like WalMart and Internet giants like Amazon—and Geoffrey’s Inner Circle was forced to close a few weeks ago in part because of Oakland police discouragement of downtown, black-owned entertainment venues. And my parents closed their store many years ago. 

No government intervention helped open Reid’s, Geoffrey’s, or my parents’ store. They were all started by personal initiative, money saved from employment or taken out of retirement funds, and bank loans. But personal retirement funds have been devastated by the recent economic collapse, extensive personal savings are—at least for now—a thing of the past, while the good jobs necessary to create such savings are becoming fewer and farther between. And given the law of the land in California following the passage of Ward Connerly’s Proposition 209 in 1996, government intervention specifically designed to assist African-American businesses is no longer possible. But a way needs to be found. Small business in Oakland in general always needs a boost, but we are talking about specific social and racial problems that cannot be addressed and solved by a broadband approach. If it is black-dominated blocks and neighborhoods where much of the problem is targeted, then it is partly in a black-focused approach that the solution must be found. Being diverse and multi-cultural does not mean neglect of the component communities that make up that diversity. 

To help break Oakland’s spiraling cycle of crime, drugs, and violence, I think we have to look at how our enterprising parents and grandparents did it once before. 

Tinkering with the natural world often invites unintended consequences. Replacing exotic weeds with native vegetation is usually a laudable goal. But what if a sensitive species has its own plans for the weeds? 

That situation arose last month at the Berkeley Meadow, the parcel of land across University Avenue from the Seabreeze Market. It’s part of the East Shore State Park, managed jointly with the East Bay Regional Park District. For years the former landfill was covered with ruderal vegetation, plants like fennel, pampas grass, Himalayan blackberry. My dictionary defines “ruderal” as “growing in rubbish, poor land, or waste places.”  

The meadow has evidently been good enough habitat for California voles, small rodents that are a staple food for many birds of prey. The voles attracted short-eared owls, white-tailed kites, and the sensitive species in question, northern harriers. Northern harriers are listed by the California Department of Fish and Game as a Species of Special Concern, largely because of habitat loss. 

You may have noticed these long-winged hawks flying low over fields or marshlands, their wingtips tilted up in a dihedral. “A lazy, loafing, desultory flight it seems,” writes Arthur Cleveland Bent, “but really it is full of purpose, as it quarters low over the ground in a systematic search for its prey.” Males are pale gray above with striking black wingtips; females brown with white bellies; juveniles brown above, reddish-brown below. In all plumages, a white patch at the base of the tail is diagnostic. 

Harriers—about a dozen species worldwide, if you treat the North American northern harrier, Eurasian hen harrier, and South American cinereous harrier as separate forms—hunt by ear, as owls do. Their owl-like facial discs concentrate sound, enabling them to locate unseen voles rustling in the vegetation. Harriers have outperformed kestrels and other hawks in acoustic prey location trials. 

These adaptable birds have been seen tracking fencerows, ditches, or roadsides; hunting at the edge of fires, to catch prey rousted by the flames; scouting newly-mown hayfields for exposed nests; following foxes to pick up whatever they flush; even foraging in active bombing ranges. They’ll take meadowlarks and other songbirds, waterfowl up to the size of a teal or coot, and the occasional fish. Mostly, though, it’s voles. 

Most hawks nest in trees or on cliffs, but harriers (except for the spotted harrier of Australia) are ground nesters. Northern harrier nests have been found in marshes, grain fields, weed patches, cutover forest, young conifer plantations, and sagebrush. They’re more likely to be located near damp areas, where the voles are. Even in dry places, there will usually be a creek or stock pond nearby. The common requirement seems to be thick cover. Harrier nests are hard to find. 

Both sexes seem to be involved in selecting the site. A male harrier’s courtship sky-dance—a series of deep, U-shaped undulations—often ends with a plunge to the ground at a potential nest location. The male may start work on the nest; she’ll either finish it or construct her own nearby.  

The nest begins as a shallow platform on the ground, built up with sticks, straw, reeds, and weed stems and lined with feathers or moss. Wetland nests may be floating rafts. The male brings material, handing it off in an aerial pass or dropping it at the site. A pair may use the same nest several years in a row, refurbishing it annually. 

The northwest corner of the Meadow seems to have what harriers are looking for. Corinne Greenberg, who has been keeping an eye on the area for a long time, says they’ve nested there since the mid-90s. Although males are often polygamous, only one female at a time has been observed here. The vegetation may be weedy, but it’s dense enough; and the prey base supports both the harriers and a pair of white-tailed kites. 

Greenberg has also been keeping track of the Park District’s restoration work. The District has proceeded in three phases, starting with the area just north of University. Work on Phase 3, encompassing the northwest corner, began this winter, with crews clearing out the fennel and other weeds to be replaced with native plants. 

Last month she discovered that one of the two weedpatches where the harriers had previously nested had been taken out. She and others had seen the pair in the vicinity and even watched them mating, a likely sign of intent to nest. Greenberg contacted the Park District and the Department of Fish and Game, and put out an alert on the East Bay Birders listserve. 

That’s how Ron and I wound up at an informal stakeholders’ meeting at the Seabreeze Market. More on that next time.

Some of you may remember Rube Goldberg. He’s a favorite case study of mine when it comes to home remodeling. If you know who he is, you’re giggling now. Rube, a UC Berkeley grad and local engineer (he worked on the sewer systems in San Francisco!) invented cartoon machinery that would perform one simple task in 20 or more complicated and ludicrous steps.  

Complicated is fine for a cartoon. In your home, simpler is better. A lean, tightly designed system is more reliable and also easier to diagnose and repair when things go wrong. 

When I crawl through our old houses I’m often reminded of Rube’s work—but not in an amusing way. I often find twice as much piping as would be actually needed to feed all the fixtures in the house. Excessive piping and fittings reduce flow and allow for lots more leaks. Excessive and poorly designed wiring gets hotter and has many more chances to fail, increasing fire concerns. A gas distribution system with 60 parts instead of 25 is that much more likely to leak and to break during an earthquake.  

One of the most difficult areas of discussion with regard to home repair is the question of how deep or thorough a repair should be. I’m going to attempt to discuss this in a broad manner, but we’ll touch on some specific areas of common upgrade, such as plumbing and wiring. 

First, repairs are almost always best achieved when done broadly. This speaks to quality but also to cost, if one looks at things on a per-unit basis. For example, adding a single electrical outlet in an upstairs room far from the electrical panel may cost several hundred dollars, whereas installing five outlets in a circuit from the same source may be less than $100 each when done as a single job. 

This rule applies to all sorts of things and needs to be considered prior to beginning a course of work. However, the issue of primary importance here is that work must be planned and organized. 

When deciding to add a gas line to your kitchen (you’re finally sick of cooking on a electric stove), it’s a good idea to first have your plumber take a look at the whole gas distribution system. It may be that you are only feeding three appliances but that the gas piping is routed, a la Rube, back and forth all over the crawlspace to sites that are no longer using gas (such as the long-gone floor furnace, or the laundry which is now in its third location.) If this is the case (and I certainly see quite a bit of it), I think it’s worthwhile to have the plumber bid the cost of rerouting the entire system. It also may be possible to remove most of the extraneous piping while leaving some in place. It will cost more to redo things properly, but it may not cost much more. Don’t miss out on an opportunity for big improvement if small dollars are in the way. Also, old piping is often loose at fittings and poorly supported, not to mention installed in such a way as to obstruct inspection (thank you very much) and the installation of other systems, such as furnace ducting. 

Let’s take another common example. Say your dining room ceiling is cracked and unsightly, and you’ve been thinking about painting and putting in some nice lighting. In this case, it is almost certain that the removal of all the plaster in this room would be worth your while. When the room is free of encumbering and obstructive surfaces, it is far cheaper to do all the things that the room may require, such as a well-arranged spate of lamps, electrical outlets all around, switches in all the right places, TV cable, DSL, a skylight, or whatever your heart desires. All these things are so much easier to do when the wall material is gone, and when you’re done, drywall installation is relatively inexpensive and the finishes will be smooth and crack-free. Now this certainly isn’t the necessary approach when you need only one outlet, but it’s important to stop and ask yourself whether you might not be better off taking a broader approach. 

Let’s turn to the issue of old wiring. Say you have a house full of antique “knob and tube” wiring (are all your outlets two-prong?). If this is the case, it’s probably not worthwhile to take small measures when the house is in need of a lot more wiring and possibly the repair of existing wiring. Talk to your electrician and look at your long-range needs. Do you have a lot of computers, lamps and laser printers? Are you using lots of extension cords? (Naughty!) If this is you and you can set aside a few thousand dollars (gulp), it’s very much to your benefit to do a major system upgrade. You’ll be safer and, with a well-designed plan, you’ll get a lot more for your buck. (OK, your whole herd of bucks.) 

This thinking applies to almost every system in your house, so next time you’re thinking about one little fix, see if you can broaden the approach and make your home just a bit nicer in the process. 

THURSDAY, MARCH 12 

EXHIBITIONS 

Justice for Oscar Grant Photography Exhibition by Keba Konte. Reception at 5 p.m. at East Side Arts Alliance, 2277 International Blvd., Oakland. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Wild Women of California” A talk by Autumn Stephens at 1p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak sts., Oakland. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

ZZ Packer at the Story Hour at 5 p.m. at 190 Doe Library, UC campus. Free. 643-0397. storyhour.berkeley.edu 

Poetry Flash with Dobby Gibson and Matt Hart at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

Fred Kaplan reads from “Lincoln: The Biography of a Writer” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Diamano Coura West African Dance Company “Collage des Cultures Africaines” dance and drum workshops through Sun. at th e Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts, 1428 ALice St., Oakland. For details see www.DiamanoCoura.org 

Little Wolf & The Hell Cats at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $22.50-$23.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

“Truth Be Told” Hip Hop and spoken word with Rico Pabon at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $5. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Jim Grantham Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Genralissimo, Ferocious Eagle, Ovipositor at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082 www.starryploughpub.com 

John Seabury at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

FRIDAY, MARCH 13 

THEATER 

Altarena Playhouse “Gypsy” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Altarena Playhouse, 1409 High St., Alameda, through April 5. Tickets are $17-$20. 523-1553. www.altarena.org 

Berkeley Playhouse “Once On This Island” a family musical, Thurs. at 7 p.m., Fri. and Sat. at 7:30 p.m., Sun. at 1 and 5 p.m. at Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave., through March 15. Tickets are $22-$28. 665-5565, ext. 397. berkeleyplayhouse.org 

Berkeley Rep “In the Next Room (or the vibrator play)” at 2015 Addison St., through March 15. Tickets are $33-$71. 647-2949. berkeleyrep.org 

Berkeley Rep “Crime and Punishment” at 2025 Addison St., through Mar. 29. Tickets are $27-$71. 647-2949. berkeleyrep.org 

Central Works “The Window Age: A Guided Tour of the Unconscious” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m., through March 22, at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Tickets are $21-$25. 558-1381. centralworks.org 

Contra Costa Civic Theater “Nine (The Musical)” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at 951 Pomona Ave., El Cerrito, through March 28. Tickets are $15-$24. 524-9132. www.ccct.org 

Impact Theatre “A Midsummers Night’s Dream” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave., through March 14. Tickets are $10-$17. impacttheatre.com 

Virago Theatre “The Hermit Bird” through March 28 at Bridgehead Studios, 2516 Blanding Ave., Alameda. Tickets are $12-$20. www.viragotheatre.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Eat It!” Group art exhibit based on any and all things food and “Bunny-licious” Mary Patterson’s paintings inspired by matchbook cover art, reception at 7 p.m. at Eclextix Gallery, 10082 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. Exhibition runs to April 26. www.eclectix.com 

“Returning to El Centro: Street Photography of Mexico City” Ilona Sturm’s photography exhibit. Artists reception at 5 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. 849-2568.  

FILM 

S.F. International Asian American Film Festival “Half-Life” with filmmaker Jennifer Phang in person at 8:20 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Alan Boss describes “The Crowded Universe: The Search of Living Planets” at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Cost is $10. 

Tom Odegard and Howard Dyckoff will read their poetry at 7 p.m. at Nefeli Caffe, 1854 Euclid Ave., a little north of Hearst, as part of the Last Word Reading Series. There is also an open reading. 841-6374. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

San Francisco Cabaret Opera “The Marriage of Fiagaro” at 8 p.m. at The Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Tickets are $15-$30. 415-289-6877. www.goathall.org 

Womansong Circle An evening of participatory singing for women celebrating International Women’s Month, at 7:15 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, Small Assembly Room, 2345 Channing St., at Dana. Suggested donation $15-$20, no one turned away. www.betsyrosemusic.org 

Jewish Music Festival: Shir Hashirim at 7:30 p.m. at JCC of East Bay. www.jewishmusicfestival.org 

Voices of Music Young Artist Concert at 8 p.m. at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, 1501 Washington Ave., Albany. Donation of non-perishable food. 236-9808.  

The Stairwell Sisters at Utunes Coffe House at 8 p.m. at First Unitarian Church of Oakland, 685 14th St., Oakland. Tickets are $10-$18. www.brownpapertickets.com 

“Aqui te traigo una rosa” with Rafael Manriquez and Ingrid Rubis at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12-$20. 849-2568.  

Hurricane Sam & The Hotshots at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $114. 841-JAZZ.  

Stompy Jones at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Swing dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $11-$13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Geoff Muldaur at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Gooferman, The Zoopy Show, Party of Ten at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Saviors, Agenda of Swine at 7 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

Kymberly Jackson at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Beep! Trio at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Mark Holzinger at 8 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. Cost is $7-$10. 597-0795. 

SATURDAY, MARCH 14 

CHILDREN  

“Adventures in Music” Family Concert with the Berkeley Symphony at 9:45 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. at Malcolm X Elementary School Auditorium, 1731 Prince St. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for 18 and under. 841-2800. www.berkeleysymphony.org 

Stagebridge “Grandpa’s Teeth” the musical, at noon and Sun. at 2 p.m. at Arts First Oakland, 2501 Harrison St. at 27th. Tickets are $5 for children $12 for adults. 444-4755. www.stagebridge.org 

Abby and the Pipsqueaks at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $5 for adults, $4 for children. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Kids Matinee Series “A Hard Days Night” Sat. and Sun. at noon at Elmwood Theater, 2966 College Ave. Cost is $4, and benefits local elementary school PTAs. 433-9730. 

Blake Maxam “The Wizard of Ahhhhs” Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. at Children’s Fairyland, 699 Bellevue Ave., Oakland. Cost is $6. 452-2259. www.fairyland.org 

THEATER 

Blended Voices “Another Antigone” at 8 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd, Kensington. Tickets are $10. www.uucb.org  

EXHIBITIONS 

“Elza & Valters 1981-2001” Sibila Savage will talk about her photographs of an elderly immigrant couple at 2 p.m. in the Central Catalog Library, at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. Exhibition runs to May. 1. 981-6240. 

“Dusk on Lucy’s Pond” Oil paintings by Juliana Harris opens at the Christensen Heller Gallery, 5829 College Ave., Oakland, and runs through May 3. 655-5952. www.christensenheller.com 

Valerie Raven: “Urban Casualty...Little Known and Seldom Seen Birds” Sat. and Sun. from 1 to 5 p.m. at Garage Gallery, 3110 Wheeler Street, near Shattuck and Ashby. www.berkeleyoutlet.com 

FILM 

S.F. International Asian American Film Festival “Tokyo Sonata” with filmmaker Kiyoshi Kurosawa in person at 3 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

6th Annual Dance IS Festival at 3 and 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Arts Center, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $8-$12. www.juliamorgan.org 

Diamano Coura West African Dance Company “Drum Call – Diaspora Drum Explosion” at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Community Theater, BHS campus, 1980 Allston Way. Doors open at 6 p.m. for African Marketplace. Tickets are $15-$30 from www.BrownPaperTickets.com 

American Bach Soloists “Favorite Bach Cantatas” at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way at Dana St. Pre concert lecture at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10-$44. 800-838-3006. americanbach.org  

AIDS/Lifecycle Concert with WAVE, UC Berkeley Chorale Ensemble, Young People’s Symphony Orchestra at 7 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave. Oakland. Tickets are $10-$20. 449-4402. 

Voyage Kreyol with Michelle Jacques and Chelle, sounds of New Orleans, at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12-$15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

In Jazz We Trust at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $14. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Moh Alileche, Cheb I Sabbah, Triple Dog Devils, and Danse Magreb at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10-$13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Susan Werner at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $22.50-$23.50. 548-1761.  

Kerry Marsh and Julia Dollison at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15. 845-5373.  

Dgiin at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

Strange Angels at 8 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. Cost is $7-$10. 597-0795. 

The Eric Mcfadden Trio, The New Up at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10. 841-2082.  

RWH & The Jazz Triad, CD release, at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

The Prids, Disaster Strikes, Swann Danger at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $7. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, MARCH 15 

THEATER 

Blended Voices “Another Antigone” at 3 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd, Kensington. Tickets are $10. www.uucb.org 

UC TDPS “Sauce for the Goose” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m., at Zellerbach Playhouse, UC campus, through March 15. Tickets are $10-$15. 642-8827. tdps.berkeley.edu 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Animals Have Souls” Reception with artist Patricia Leslie at 1 p.m. at RabbitEars, 377 Colusa Ave., Kensington. 525-6155. 

FILM 

S.F. International Asian American Film Festival “Project Kashmir” with filmmakers Senain Kheshgi and Geeta V. Patel in person at 3:30p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Allensworth: California’s African-American Town” A panel discussion with historians Susan Anderson and Guy Washington and authors Alice C. Royal, Mickey Ellinger and Scott Braley, at 2 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak sts., Oakland. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2200.  

Poetry Flash with Etel Adnan, Hayan Charara and Fady Joudah at 3 p.m. at Diesel, 5433 College Ave., Oakland. 653-9965. 

“Learning from the Absurd” a lecture by South African artist William Kentridge and hosted by the Townsend Center for the Humanities, at 5 p.m. in Hertz Hall, UC campus. Free. 643-9670. http://townsendcenter. 

berkeley.edu 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley High School Alumni Jazz All-Stars with Peter Apfelbaum, Will Bernard, Steven Bernstein, Dave Ellis and many others at 3 p.m. at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School, 1781 Rose St. Tickets are $24.50-$25.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

San Francisco Cabaret Opera “The Marriage of Fiagaro” at 2 p.m. at The Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Tickets are $15-$30. 415-289-6877. www.goathall.org 

Chamber Music Sundaes with San Francisco Symphony musicians and friends at 3 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets at the door $20-$25. 415-753-2792. www.chambermusicsundaes.org  

San Francisco Chamber Orchestra “Mendelssohn Madness” at 3 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Free. www.sfchamberorchestra.org 

California Bach Society with Paul Flight, director and counter-tenor, Brian Staufenbiel, tenor, Curtis Cook, bass at 4 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft Way. Tickets are $10- $30. 415-262-0272. www.calbach.org 

Sine Nomine, a cappella, at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. Tickets are $8-$10. 644-6893.  

Soli Deo Gloria with Orchestra Gloria at 3:30 p.m. at St. Joseph Basilica Parish, 1109 Chestnut, Alameda. Tickets are $20-$25. Children in grades K-8 are free. www.sdgloria.org 

Oakland Civic Orchestra Hilda Li, violin, at 4 p.m. at Lake Merritt United Methodist Church, 1330 Lakeshore Ave., Oakland. Free. 238-7275. 

Chalice Consort presents “Music of the Spirit & of the World” at 4 p.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal, 116 Montecito Ave, Oakland. Tickets are $10-$20. 415-520-6928.  

Oakland Bay Area Community Chorus “Sing into Spring” at 4 p.m. at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, 2808 Lakeshore Ave., Oakland. Tickets are $10-$20.  

Belly Dance Medley at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $10-$20. 849-2568.  

Sylvia Cuenca Group at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

The Big Nasty at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

7 Generations, From the Depths, Acts of Sedition at 4:30 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $7. 525-9926. 

MONDAY, MARCH 16 

FILM 

Monday Afternoon at the Movies: Krzysztof Kieslowski’s “The Decalogue” Segments 7 and 8. at 1:15 p.m. at JCCEB, 1414 Walnut St. Free, donations accepted. 848-0237. www.jcceastbay.org 

Buddhism Meditation and Film “I Heart Huckabees” with lecture by Robert Sharf at 3 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Kensington’s Architectural Gems” with author Dave Weinstein at 7 p.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave., Kensington. 524-3043. 

PlayGround, short works from new and emerging playwrights at 8 p.m., pre-show discussion at 7 p.m., at Berkeley Rep, 2025 Addison St. Tickets are $15. 415-704-3177. www.PlayGround-sf.org 

Joel Berg, executive director of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger, will discuss his book “All You Can Eat” about the pervasive and often hidden problem of hunger in the United States at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

Vikki Law author of “Resistance Behind Bars, The Struggles of Incarcerated Women” at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

West Coast Songwriters Competition at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $5. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

TUESDAY, MARCH 17 

CHILDREN 

Timothy James and his Sidekick Rocky the Racoon, magician, comedian, for ages 3 and up, at 6:30 p.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043. 

FILM 

S.F. International Asian American Film Festival “Lust, Caution” with Ang Lee and Linda Williams in conversation at 7 p.m. at Wheeler Auditorium, UC campus. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“The Imperfect Garden” an evening of poetry, stories, and photography celebrating the soul of gardening with Adina Sara and Rachel Michaelsen at 7:30 p.m. at JCC of the East Bay, 1414 Walnut St. Cost is $10-$20. 528-6725. 

Eugenie Scott and David Wake on “Evolution: The First Four Billion Years” at 5:30 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585. www.universitypressbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Quin Irish Band at noon at Oakland City Center, 12th and Broadway.  

Blind Duck Irish Music at 7:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $3. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Driving with Fergus at 7:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Celebrating the Golden Age of Arab Music at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC campus. Tickets are $30 and up. 642-9988. www.calperformances.net 

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. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Black Brothers at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $20.50-$21.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Jacques Ibula at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18 

THEATER 

Word for Word “More Stories” by Tobias Wolff. Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2:30 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $20-$25. www.brownpapertickets.com 

FILM 

“Murmer of the Heart” at 3 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Kala Fellowship Talk: Samantha Lautman and Chris Turbuck at 7:00 p.m. at Kala Gallery, 1060 Heinz Ave. www.kala.org 

Tom Davis in Conversation with Dennis McNally on “Thirty-Nine Years of Short-Term Memory Loss: The Early Days of SNL from Someone Who Was There” at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. Cost is $10. 

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik and Three Blind Mice, at 8 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082 www.starryploughpub.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Music for the Spirit Organ arrangements of Irish folksongs at 12:15 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, 2619 Broadway. 444-3555. 

Wednesday Noon Concert, with University Symphony Orchestra at Hertz Hall, UC campus. Free. 642-4864. http://music.berkeley.edu 

Whiskey Brothers at 9 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Ed Neff and Friends, bluegrass, at 7 p.m. at Le Bateau Ivre, 2629 Telegraph Ave. www.lebateauivre.net 

UC Jazz Ensembles at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $6. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Monthly Milonga, Argentine Tango, at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Dance lessons at 7:30 p.m. Cost is $7. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

THURSDAY, MARCH 19 

THEATER 

Sun & Moon Ensemble “Twobird” Benefit at 8 p.m. for South Berkeley Community Church. Fri.-Sun at 8 p.m. through March 29 at the South Berkeley Community Church, 1802 Fairview St., at Ellis. Tickets are $10-$25 sliding scale. 800- 838-3006. www.sunandmoonensemble.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Dr. Robert Root on “Imagining Istanbul” at 7 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Poetry Flash with D.A. Powell and Hugh Behm-Steinberg at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

Women’s History Month Showcase A multi-generational poetry conversation featuring Patricia Smith, Emcee Jen Ro, Deema Shehabi and Aya de Leon at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave., Cost is $5-$10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Elaine Showalter describes “A Jury of Her Peers: American Women Writers from Anne Bradstreet to Annie Proulx” at 7:30 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Cost is $10.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Melodians, reggae, at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Todalo Shakers at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Kelly Park & Friends at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $8. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Sun House, Somori Pointer and the Skinny Guns at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Sheppard’s Krook at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

FRIDAY, MARCH 20 

THEATER 

Altarena Playhouse “Gypsy” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Altarena Playhouse, 1409 High St., Alameda, through April 5. Tickets are $17-$20. 523-1553. www.altarena.org 

Berkeley Rep “Crime and Punishment” at 2025 Addison St., through Mar. 29. Tickets are $27-$71. 647-2949. berkeleyrep.org 

Central Works “The Window Age: A Guided Tour of the Unconscious” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m., through March 22, at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Tickets are $21-$25. 558-1381. centralworks.org 

Contra Costa Civic Theater “Nine (The Musical)” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at 951 Pomona Ave., El Cerrito, through March 28. Tickets are $15-$24. 524-9132. www.ccct.org 

Sun & Moon Ensemble “Twobird” Fri.-Sun at 8 p.m. through March 29 at the South Berkeley Community Church, 1802 Fairview St., at Ellis. Tickets are $10-$25 sliding scale. 800- 838-3006. www.sunandmoonensemble.org 

Word for Word “More Stories” by Tobias Wolff. Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2:30 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $20-$25. www.brownpapertickets.com 

EXHIBITIONS 

“frost, fog, flora” Black and white photographs by Michele Hofherr. Artist reception at 5 p.m. at Photolab, 2235 Fifth St. 644-1400. www.photolaboratory.com 

“Unleaded, Please!” Art auction to benefit West Oakland and the Environmental Movement for Clean Air, with art, documentary showing, live entertainment, and more, from 5 to 8:30 p.m. at Excel High School, 2607 Myrtle St., Oakland. Suggested donation $3-$20. RSVP to www.mobaganda.com/unleadedplease 

FILM 

“The Big Lebowski” followed by discussion at 7 p.m. at The Dream Institute, 1672 University, at McGee. Cost is $10. 845-1767. dream-institute.org 

“Fruit Fly” with filmmaker H.P. Mendoza at 6:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Friday Night Poetry Readings and open mic from 7 to 9 p.m. at Expressions Gallery, 2035 Ashby Ave. 644-4930. www.expressionsgallery.org 

Susan Cohen and Christine Cosgrove describe “Normal at Any Cost: Tall Girls, Short boys, and the Meidcal Industry;s Quest to Manipulate Height” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Oakland East Bay Symphony Concert performance of Verdi’s “Otello” Act 1 at 8 p.m. at Paramount Theater, Oakland. TIckets are $20-$65. 444-0801. www.oebs.org 

Isabel Stover at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Dmitri Metheny Group at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Trombonga, trombone quartet, at 6:45 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

Wake the Dead at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13-$15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Patrick Ball at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Country Casinovas, Delilah Monroe and the Tom Cats at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $9. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

California Love, Laughing Dog, Maggot Colony at 7 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

Mo’Fone at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

SATURDAY, MARCH 21 

CHILDREN  

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Jerry Kennedy at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $5 for adults, $4 for children. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Lady Emerald Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. at Children’s Fairyland, 699 Bellevue Ave., Oakland. Cost is $6. 452-2259. www.fairyland.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Reflections of Rebirth and Survival from the Clutches of War” Dramatic readings on the wars in Iraq and Palestine at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10-$12. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Annual Poets’ Dinner Awards With Laverne Srith on “Surprise” Luncheon at noon at Francesco’s Restaurant, 8520 Pardee Drive, Oakland. Tickets are $28-$29.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra “Winds & Waves” at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $30-$72. 415-392-4400. www.philharmonia.org 

“Two Cherries” MaryClare Brzytwa and Annie Lewandowski, original compositions for voice, flute, prepared piano and electronics at 8 p.m. at Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana St. Tickets are $8-$12. 549-3864. www.trinitychamberconcerts.com 

Barbara Nissman Benefit Piano Recital at 7:30 p.m. at R. Kassman Piano, 843 Gilman St., Suite B. Tickets are $25. 558-0765. www.rkassman.com  

Kathleen McIntosh at 7 p.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 114 Montecito, near Grand and Harrison, Oakland. Benefit for Alameda County Community Food Bank and the Friends of Music of St. Paul’s Church. Suggested donation $10-$20. Bring non-perishable food items for the Food Bank. 834-4314. 

Kosher Gospel with Joshua Nelson and Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Oakland, 2501 Harrison St., Oakland. Tickets are $24-$28. 800-838-3006. www.jewishmusicfestival.org 

Spring Equinox Concert and Ritual “One Soul Sounding” featuring vocalists Linda Tillery, Eda Maxym, Lisa Rafel, and Evelie Delfino Såles, at 7:30 p.m. at Lake Merritt United Methodist Church, 1330 Lakeshore, Oakland. Tickets are $15-$22. 654-3234. www.lisarafel.com 

Macy Blackman & The Mighty Fines at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $14. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Youssoupha Sidibe at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10-$13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Flowtilla at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Melanie O’Reilly and “Aisling” at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Kalley Price Old Blues & Jazz Band at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $3. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Luke Thomas Trio at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Bowman’s Jammer Showcase at 8 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. Cost is $7-$10. 597-0795. 

SFSC All-Stars perfom The Beatles White Album at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $9. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

In Disgust, Kill the Client, Final Draft at 7 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, MARCH 22 

CHILDREN 

Octopretzel at 11 a.m. at Studio Grow, 1235 10th St. Cost is $8. 526-9888. 

EXHIBITIONS 

Asian Folk Art: Balinese Painting and Chinese Paper Cuts. Reception at 1 p.m., lecture at 2 p.m. at Giorgi Gallery, 2911 Claremont Ave. 848-1228. 

Linda Lorraine and Salma Arastu A exhibition of gloves, paintings, drawings, digital photos, from 2 to 5 p.m. at Jamie Erfurdt Art Gallery, 1966 University Ave. & Milvia, through May 10. 849-1312. 

FILM 

Talk Cinema Berkeley Preview of new independent films with discussion afterwards at 10 a.m. at Albany Twin Theater, 1115 Solano Ave., Albany. Cost is $20. http://talkcinema.com 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Black Passenger, Yellow Cabs” Jamaican author Stefhen Bryan will read from his memoir of life in Japan at 3 p.m. at Jamaican Soul Café, 2057 San Pablo Ave., at Addison. 260-4647. www.blackpassenger.com 

Egyptology Lecture “Theban Tomb 16: The Tomb of Two Ramesside Chanters” with Dr. Suzanne Onstine, University of Memphis, at 2:30 p.m. at Barrows Hall, Room 20, Barrow Lane and Bancroft Way, UC campus. 415-664-4767. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra “Winds & Waves” at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $30-$72. 415-392-4400. www.philharmonia.org 

Roy Brown Group at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Still on the Hill at 8 p.m. at Wisteria Ways, Rockridge, Oakland. Not wheelchair accessible. Cost is $15-$20. Reservations required. info@WisteriaWays.org 

Mac Martin & the California Travelers at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Olehole, Dateless, Hudson Falcons, The Albert Square at 5 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $7. 525-9926.

The Berkeley High School Alumni Jazz All-Stars, featuring musical director Peter Apfelbaum, will perform Sunday afternoon in almost 20 different groups to honor band director and teacher Charles Hamilton’s 27 years of service. 

The event, emceed by radio personality Greg Bridges, is a truly stellar gathering of more than 30 musicians who played with the Berkeley High School Jazz Ensemble over the past 40 years, many of whom were students in the jazz program started in Berkeley schools by Dr. Herb Wong in 1966. 

Hamilton, who will close the concert by conducting the current ensemble, took over the group in 1981 when Phil Hardymon, its original leader, stepped down. Hamilton, who was the recipient of the NFAA Distinguished Teacher of the Year Award, has led the ensemble in venues around the world, including the Montreux and North Sea Jazz Festivals in 1997, a tour of Japan in the summer of 1999 and an appearance at the Monterey Jazz Festival at the beginning of the 1999-2000 school year. 

Multi-instrumentalist and composer Peter Apfelbaum (class of ’78), musical director of the event, leader of the New York Hieroglyphics, talked about how it all came about: “Several months ago, it came to light Charles Hamilton—who’s been threatening for a few years now—would be retiring, so there was the idea to throw him a surprise party, and several of us from past bands agreed to play and a date was set. Of course, Hamilton was going to find out about it—and he did. Sooner, not later. When they asked me to be musical director, I sat down and made a list. In the space of 10 minutes I came up with 35 people I knew who came through the program and are professional musicians. Some of it spread through word of mouth. I called a few, in particular Rodney Franklin, who I wanted to talk with. I hadn’t, in a long time. It was great to reconnect. Rodney and I started in the program in 1967; I was in second grade, he was in the fourth—and had the good luck to be in it all the way through school.. We all collectively realized it was a great reason to bring a lot of people together who had gone together through the program.” 

Apfelbaum talked about the musicians gathering this Sunday and the ensemble and program in the schools over the years. “I’m still working with people who came through the program, like [slide trumpet player, composer-arranger] Steve Bernstein and [tenor saxophonist/pianist] Jessica Jones, who is herself important in jazz education and setting up jazz camps. Most of us are approaching 50 now, but some have surfaced who I didn’t know, from different times, as early as the 1960s. And there’ll be a young rock band, Thirst Busters, playing, who are all currently in the Ensemble. [Pianist/singer/rapper/composer] Kito Gamble—Sistah Kee—will play with her band. And Dayna Stephens, a great young saxophonist who also plays bass, who like me lives in New York now, but continues to play out here.” 

Apfelbaum played in the ensemble under Phil Hardymon, but “kept close ties; when the ensemble toured Japan under Charles Hamilton, I went along as guest soloist and director. They brought in a piece of mine, too, and I sat in with them. Then, in 2006, they commissioned a whole suite. I came out and rehearsed it with them for four weeks; we premiered it at Yoshi’s. 

“What’s a great thing about the way the show’s taking shape for Sunday,” Apfelbaum continued, “is there’s lots of variety. It all somehow fits under the umbrella of jazz. The program always celebrated diversity. That’s what it did so beautifully, what Herb Wong managed to do, with Phil Hardymon and Charles Hamilton: tap into kids’ natural creativity. Rather than learning a particular style, we were encouraged to improvise, to create, to develop as a musician. It harnessed our natural curiosity; most of us became composers, improvisers—involved with the creation of music.” 

Dr. Herb Wong, founder of the jazz program in the schools, KJAZ radio personality for 36 years and founder of the Palo Alto Jazz Alliance, called Sunday’s show “a keystone event which points back to the genesis of the program in ’66.” He recalled how they “got the trail started” in great part with a grant from the National Science Foundation—and how he brought in pianist Oscar Peterson for a concert “and Rodney Franklin, then in grade school, tugged at my sport jacket, pointed up to Oscar and said, ‘That’s what I want to do!’ I put my arms around him and said, ‘If that’s what you want to do, I’ll help you.’ When Rahsaan Roland Kirk played for us with three horns simultaneously, Peter Apfelbaum—another of my earliest—looked at Rahsaan and wound up doing it with two saxophones at only 12 years old. We had the entire Ellington Orchestra here. When I drove Duke from the airport to the playground where a thousand kids were waiting for him, and a little girl said, ‘Mr. Ellington, I know you’re very old, but your music’s so young,’ Duke started saying, ‘Nirvana! Nirvana!’ And like the Ellington band’s music, the program is holistic, not only for musicians or to teach instrumental playing. 

“But there’s no question in my mind that Charles needs to be celebrated; his incredible capability to carry on the torch lit by Phil, me, Dick Whittington and others. It’s rare to find somebody to do this. They’ve played a lot of festivals I’ve adjudicated; I knew what the results were going to be! It’s buoyed my spirit each time, knowing Charles is carrying the torch.” 

Other performing alumni, spanning over 30 years of BHS graduates, include: Mike Aalberg, Ravi Abcarian, Mariel Austin, Andrew Baltazar, Cale Brandley, Billy Buss, Sarah Cline, Phillip Coffin, Dave Ellis, Jonathan Finlayson, Peter Hargreaves, Toby Hargreaves, Colin Hogan, Whitney Jacobson, Erik Jekabson, Josh Jones, Yanos Lustig (aka Johnny Bones), Mariana Martinez, Dave McFarlane, Hitomi Oba, Rafa Postel and Howard Wiley. 

BERKELEY HIGH ALUMNI JAZZ ALL-STARS 

3 p.m. Sunday (doors open at 2) at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School Auditorium, 1781 Rose St. Tickets throuch Freight & Salvage Box Office (cash or check), 1111 Addison St., or online at freightandsalvage.org. Adults $24.50; students 18 and under, $12.50. Proceeds benefit Berkeley Schools Jazz Program. www.berkeleyhighjazz.org.

Going into Bridgehead Studio in Alameda—practically across the street from the Nob Hill Market on Blanding—the newly-collaged doorway, a real portal now, is the first thing to catch attention. Then, inside, is the “Isolated Beauty” exhibit, featuring works in different visual media which parallel the theme of The Hermit Bird, the original play by John Byrd that Virago Theatre Co. is premiering at the studio. (The band Pike County will play before this Friday’s performance—also thematic to the region in which the play is set.) 

A play about a dysfunctional—and strange—family, set in a trailer home, staged in a warehouse studio... “I grew up in West Virginia,” comments Byrd in the program. “I watched a lot of television. I liked television because it didn’t resemble anything or anyone that I knew.... At Harvard I learned of the existence of Southern dramatists.... Their plays, while rich and elegant in cadence, weren’t the stories of anyone I knew. I wanted to tell the stories of the people who never got stories told about them.” 

Virago featured The Hermit Bird in their “Visions and Voices” program of readings of new plays a couple years ago. With this production, Michael Storm (directing for the company for the first time after serving as fight coordinator) and Virago put the play they’ve developed with the author out into the world—the world The Hermit Bird’s characters seem lost in. It isn’t Southern Gothic or its offshoots, but uncanny nonetheless. And it isn’t an update on God’s Little Acre. Instead, it’s an unusually sensitive telling of what goes on just beneath the surface, behind the back door, in the unscheduled moments of a family living in this rude place, living in a way that’s usually the butt of jokes (and there’s plenty of humor in The Hermit Bird) or strung out on the line as pathos for a tearjerker. 

In The Hermit Bird, the usual simile is reversed: Rain—any kind of water—flows like tears. 

We see Missy (stunningly enacted by Molly Holcomb), dancing all alone in “the crick,” or the rain, possessed by water, the weather she seems to predict or remember precisely like an idiot savant. A Sensitive (in an older meaning of that term), childlike, she’s watched over closely by her parents. 

Missy also seems to mirror, to crystalize the contradictory nature of her parents’ menage. Her slack, sweet-talking father seems to understand her. A good old boy mourning quietly for his youth, his talent is to smooth things over. Virago co-founder Robert Paine-Lundy is very impressive in the role, delineating Roger’s laissez-faire character. 

Linda, Missy’s mom, is the responsible party, cross with her daughter and husband for adding to her work load through their obliviousness. Linda loses herself in her collection of ceramic birds, bought off TV (including the bird of the title). They are touchstones of her own lost beauty and young love, her hopes to get out, to move to the California revealed to her in televsion specials and in the pages of glossy magazines. Angela Dant, another Virago founder, is both precise and forceful as a frustrated woman, wistful under a no-nonsense exterior. 

Missy not only reels off the weather from the remote past in response to her father playfully shooting dates at her from an almanac, but, in a rush, recites TV shows verbatim along with her mother’s commentary on them, taking it as gospel, the way the world is—or should be. 

Into this insular scene comes Tom, local boy who’s known Missy—and apparently idealized her, as something different—since they were kids. He’s watched her dancing alone in the stream and thinks of her all the time. Tom wants something else in his life after losing his family one by one, maybe a way out, or just this strange girl enshrined in loneliness in their isolated backwoods. Harold Pierce—who just played in another saga of familial dysfunctionality, James Keller’s excellent Leave of Absence at the City Club—performs very well again as a sincere young man obsessed with something he doesn’t understand, hesitant and awkward, but determined. There’s a simple yet subtle humor, a shade pathetic, then grotesque, to the nervous grin and big, helpless eyes of a young fellow capable in everything save when faced with ambiguity.  

Different forms of that humor, that pathos, that grotesqueness, serve as the chiaroscuro of this otherwise brown study of a chamber play, trailer for chamber, lit by TV, quenched by blackout and flash flood. 

It’s an unusual play, something truly original, which Byrd has—with Virago’s help—extracted from his own past and personal grief. The dialogue is nicely long-limbed, with relaxed rhythms that counterpoint catastrophe perfectly. 

One criticism, a quibble maybe, in light of what’s unusual here: Those long lines of dialogue and timing sometimes get choked up by the author attempting to add it all up, to make it all make sense, to make the pieces fit together—in effect, to satisfy all sensibilities at once. That also allows some things to become too vague, or change tone abruptly, as with Roger’s startling aggressiveness when Tom visits. It makes sense, but maybe it would make more left alone, unresolved, as with Missy, who is—and is not—the inverse image of her mother, reflected in a mirror, or water. There’s something truly mythic—not the myth of psychological quest, but what’s unspoken, fragmentary, pieces of a whole that can’t quite fit back together—something of the essence of John Byrd’s vision. Inelegant, perhaps, in its setting, but enriched by simple cadence. 

THE HERMIT BIRD 

Presented by Virago Theatre Co. at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Bridgehead Studio, 2516 Blanding Ave., Alameda. Pike County bluegrass band plays at 7:15 p.m. Friday. $15 advance, $20 at door Students/seniors, $12 advance, $15 at door. 865-6237. viragotheatre.org.

Stripped of its overtly political satire, Mozart and Lorenzo Da Ponte premiered their adaptation of Marriage of Figaro, proclaiming a new form of musical theater. San Francisco Cabaret Opera’s production (under the aegis of Goat Hall) teases out the vaudeville still lurking in the sleek new—or Neo-Classical—model, once again fusing entertainment with lavish singing. The show started last weekend in San Francisco and now, with some changes in cast and accompaniment, migrates to the Hillside Club, a few bucolic blocks east of the Gourmet Ghetto. 

This production—and Figaro itself—inspires a playful anachronism reminiscent of the Captain of the Guard in The Scarlet Empress, reassuring Marlene Dietrich as the young Catherine the Great, who is shocked by his advances: “This is the 18th Ccentury! Live a little!” 

They live a lot—and very quickly—in Le nozze di Figaro. During one breathless day in the palacio of a Spanish count, scheme and cabal are met by counter-scheme and cabal, authored by all hands. Marriages are arranged, broken, rearranged and broken again; libelous testimony is superceded by the surprise of family reunion, and love trysts carried out with jealous husbands lurking in the shadows—but who’s trysting with whom? And wherefore? It’s a true comedy, poking fun at social identity but ending in marriage and reconciliation, and every moment, big and little, exhales a youthful free spirit. There’s always something new; Figaro always refreshes itself. 

Librettist Da Ponte, a friend of Casanova, grew up in the Venice where Goldoni introduced psychological characters into the stock comic types of Commedia Dell’Arte with The Servant of Two Masters, and where Carlo Gozzi countered him with a renewal of romance tied to burlesque in The Love of three Oranges and Turandot. De Ponte dialectically combined and exceeded these innovations of the mid-century on the eve of the Revolution. He and Mozart, without being aware of Diderot’s innovations in dramaturgy, which replaced the old surprises and reversals of Baroque theater with a more classic sense of “tableaux”—images and scenes that, as his German counterpart Lessing said, showed “the pregnant moment”—arrived at an original and very flexible style that gracefully incorporated the older contradictory forms. The innovation seems to invite oxymorons: a comedy that is bawdy yet graceful, youthfully innocent but with the wisdom and detachment of age.  

When Da Ponte (who would end his long life in New York as the first Jew on the faculty at Columbia) presented himself before the Holy Roman Emperor in Vienna (after fleeing Venice, where he’d opened a brothel with the married mistress he’d taken as a young seminarian) to plead for the post of court poet, Joseph II asked what plays he’d written. “None,” replied Da Ponte. “So we shall have a virgin muse!” exclaimed the Defender of the Faith, who hired him on the spot. 

Even before Cabaret Opera’s curtain goes up, the audience is treated to some sparkling diversions, with tables in front of the house, and the choruses, male and female, waiting on the patrons at arrival, looking like lusty footmen and demure maids in their antediluvian weeds. There’s a lot of chasing around, in and out of the as-yet-unraised curtain, as Cherubino (Meghan Dibble in the San Francisco production, Elizabeth Henry in Berkeley), having just discovered love, pursues Barbarina (Sarah Sloan/Shauna Fallihee), the gardener’s daughter. (Adam Broner takes the role of Antonio).  

Once the curtain is raised, the complications begin. Figaro (Steven Hoffmann) and Susanna (Suzanna Mizell/Eliza O’Malley) are preparing to celebrate their wedding—but are grimly aware their master, Count Almaviva (Joaquin Quilez-Marin), intends to exercise “doite du seigneur” on Susanna, the aristocrat’s right over his female subjects, by hook or crook. Meanwhile, Almaviva is jealous of his Countess, Rosina (Pamela Connelly/Letitia Page), whom the scamp Cherubino is pursuing. In true comic fashion, the lies mount, dreamt up on the spot to explain away the discovery of the last deceit—a palimpsest of hypocrisy—and the opposing sides scheme and the individuals soliloquize their own thoughts, versus what they say to each other. And what is said may change when a character dons a disguise or takes another’s place, as when Figaro, who has pretended to escape out a window to cover for Cherubino (the real defenestrator), is confronted with a witness to the boy’s flight, and counters with, “If he jumped, why couldn’t I?” 

Cabaret Opera’s cast acts out their parts with piquant zest and sings wonderfully. Last weekend, Pamela Connelly’s arias were stunning; Suzanna Mizell and Mehan Dibble excelled in acting and singing their roles. And Robert Ashens’ piano accompaniment (Hadley McCarroll will play in Berkeley) backed these troupers with excellence and brio. Ashens’ musical direction and Goat Hall founder Harriet March Page’s artistic and stage direction combined artistic success with the fun of the comedy and the pleasure of cabaret style, with refreshments and conversation before the show, at intermission and after. Bravo Figaro—and Cabaret Opera! 

THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO 

Presented by San Francisco Cabaret Opera 

at 8 p.m. Friday, March 13 and at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 15 at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. $15-$30. (415) 289-6877. www.goathall.org.

If you think Jewish music is confined to singing Hava Nagila at Jewish summer camp, well get ready to have another nagila. The Jewish Music Festival, now in its 24th year, features music in Hebrew, Ladino, Yiddish and English performed by a cosmopolitan array of singers and musicians representing traditions that range from the Sephardic Balkans, European classical, Eastern European Chasidic and klezmer, Indo-European Gypsy, Middle Eastern Mizrachi as well as blues, jazz, swing, bluegrass, gospel, rock, punk and hip-hop. In whatever lands that Jews have lived, they have absorbed musical influences and in turn have influenced the music of their adopted lands. Nowhere has this been truer than in the United States. 

The festival kicks off at 8 p.m., Saturday, March 21, when African-American cantor Joshua Nelson brings his kosher gospel to Oakland’s First Congregational Church (2501 Harrison St.), along with special guests Mark Rubin, a bluegrass virtuoso on tuba and bass, and the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir, directed by Terrance Kelly. Many people, even Jews, are unaware of the tradition of black Hebrews or Black Israelites that dates back to the 1880’s in the United States. I first became aware of them through photographs of black Hebrew congregations taken by pioneering Harlem Renaissance photographer James Van Der Zee in the 1920s. More recently, black Hebrew congregations made the news because the First Lady’s cousin is Rabbi Caspers Shmuel Funnye of Beth Shalom B'nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation in Chicago. 

Cantor Nelson is a native of Newark, New Jersey, where he grew up singing the Hebrew liturgy in an African-American Sephardic congregation. If you have heard his recordings, you know that he sings traditional texts and melodies, but with the spiritual power of the great gospel singers. In fact, Mahalia Jackson was his earliest influence and he is as concerned to preserve the authentic sound of gospel music as he is in bringing that power to the music of the Jewish liturgy.  

Mixing the gospel sound with Hebrew words and Jewish cantillation may seem strange, but after hearing Nelson’s stunning version of “Shema Yisrael” (“Here, O Israel”), I was reminded of Gershom Scholem’s remarks about the author of the mystical Zohar, that “the true interpretation of certain passages of the Torah may…after all be found here and nowhere else!...Again and again a hidden and sometimes awful depth opens before our eyes, and we find ourselves confronted with real and profound insight.” Indeed, Nelson imparts to his chosen texts that quality that Freud calls unheimlich, the uncanny, at once strange and familiar. In his voice we witness the confluence of two great mythic currents: the ancient Exodus story of enslavement and freedom merging with the modern history of an African diaspora, slavery and liberation. If you have usually been disappointed with the chanting heard in American synagogues, Nelson’s beautiful interpretations will come as a revelation. 

The following are some of the highlights from the rest of the festival that promise to be just as fascinating: 

The Young People’s Symphony Orchestra commemorates the music of Swiss-American Jewish composer Ernest Bloch (1880-1959) on the 50th anniversary of his yahrzeit with performances of Bloch’s Schelomo featuring cellist Bonnie Hampton, a klezmer concerto by Berkeley composer Arkadi Serper featuring violinist Jeremy Cohen, and Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” featuring pianist Chloe Pang. 2 p.m. Sunday, March 22 at the Castro Valley Arts Center, 19501 Redwood Road, Castro Valley. 

Andy Statman, clarinet and mandolin virtuoso, performs with his trio in a blending of bluegrass and avant-garde jazz with klezmer and Hasidic nigunim, among other influences. 8 and 10 p.m. Monday, March 23 atYoshi’s San Francisco, 1330 Fillmore St. 

Flory Jagoda, Sarajevo native, octogenarian, composer of the Chanukah classic “Ocho Kandelikas,” and NEA National Heritage Fellow sings in Ladino, the Judeo-Spanish language of the Sephardim. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 25 at JCC of the East Bay, 1414 Walnut St., Berkeley. 

Di Goldene Pave (the Golden Peacock): Yiddish Muse and Mystery features Lenka Lichtenberg, Toronto native and Yiddish singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist, in duet with Kinneret Sagee, master clarinetist, for two programs of Yiddish standards and originals. 1 p.m. Thursday, March 26 at JCC of the East Bay, and again at 6 p.m. at the San Francisco Public Library, Koret Auditorium, 100 Larkin St. (at Grove). 

Daniel Kahn and The Painted Bird with Beatboxer Yuri Lane perform their mix of contemporary klezmer, Yiddish song and political cabaret at the release party for their second CD Partisans and Parasites. 9 p.m. Thursday, March 26 at Rickshaw Stop Club, 155 Fell St., San Franicisco, and at 8 p.m. Thursday, April 2 at Congregation Beth Am, 26790 Arastradero Road, Los Altos Hills. 

The all-female Sisters of Sheynville, created by Lenka Lichtenberg, and Django Reinhardt-influenced Gaucho present an evening of Klezmer and Gypsy swing. 8 p.m. Saturday, March 28 at JCCSF, 3200 California St., San Francisco. 

The festival concludes with a family music day, instrument petting zoo and finale dance party featuring Brass Menazeri, a klezmer/Balkan brass band; Yuri Lane; Daniel Kahn and members of Painted Bird; Elana Jagoda and Sisters of Sheynville. 11 a.m., Sunday, March 29 at JCC of the East Bay. 

24TH JEWISH MUSIC FESTIVAL 

Begins at 8 p.m. Saturday, March 21 and continues through April 2. (800) 838-3006. jewishmusicfestival.org.

Bay Area Baroque Orchestra, a group of Bay Area musicians led by conductor Frances Blaker, will play a program of Corelli, Bach and Lully at 4 p.m. Sunday, Mar. 15 in Richmond. 

The orchestra, which rehearses in Berkeley, began in 2008 as a one-day session meant to give local string and wind players an opportunity to work on orchestral music of the Baroque era. Frances Blaker, who plays with Ensemble Vermillion and the Farallon Recorder Quartet, talked about the orchestra’s beginning and ongoing programs: “I’m a recorder player. I teach a lot and hold workshops. One thing led to another and I decided to have a one day orchestra workshop, for musicians to learn more about playing Baroque style. I didn’t know there were enough amateur string players for an ongoing Baroque orchestra.  

“It was such a success we now have several sets a year. We just did a six-week set. There was another in August. It’s nice to have that many rehearsals, to get in depth like that.” 

The orchestra is “16 or 18 players—not huge, but certainly an orchestra, as opposed to being a little chamber ensemble.” Some of the players play on fine replicas of 18th-century instruments.  

This Sunday’s concert features “an entire concerto grosso by Corelli, the first movement of the Second Brandenberg Concerto—and the Lully, not a complete piece in itself, but four instrumental movements from different operas, kind of a little suite ... character pieces, like the march of a ceremony of theTurks—a little martial, a little exotic, with lots of flash.” 

In the Second Brandenberg Concerto, Blaker is substituting a recorder for the trumpet part. “There are, of course, recorders of different sizes. They can make a triumphant sound. Mix and match is what we do for each piece; take liberties. The Corelli is meant for all strings, but we put winds in there to keep all working. It’s very Baroque, that way of doing it. We try different things.” 

Of St. David of Wales Church, Blaker said, “My brother is the priest there, Father Blaker. We grew up making music together. He did sing; now, he’s too busy—a priest! They have a choir director there, Ondine Young, who’s a professional Baroque violinist as well. And their organist, Ed Teixeira. They naturally put together productions for certain times of year, like parts of Messiah, or Baroque music for their services, and some of our musicians participate. It’s nice to have a church where they love music. It gets the community interested as well.” 

BAY AREA BAROQUE ORCHESTRA 

4 p.m. Sunday, Mar. 15, at St. David of Wales Catholic Church, 5641 Esmond Ave., Richmond. A reception will follow the performance. Admission is free. For information, call 559-4670. 

Adventure in Music, the second installment in Berkeley Symphony’s new family concert series, led by conductor Ming Luke and featuring San Francisco Opera violinist Dawn Harms, will include “Spring” from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons; Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Violin Concerto in D Major”; Leopold Mozart’s “Toy Symphony”—and the theme (by Danny Elfman) from The Simpsons TV series.  

Saturday’s concert is billed as “a humorous and educational journey through music written 300 years ago and music written today.” It is part of the interactive program of Music in the Schools, in which children have an opportunity to play along with the orchestra and compose music with Dawn Harms performing. 

“This follows our I’m a Performer series, which are in-school concerts,” explained Ming Luke, director and conductor of the symphony’s Music in the Schools Program. “All year, students in the different schools have been learning about instruments—what a stringed instrument is, as compared to woodwinds or brass—and to make instruments: rubber band guitars, shakers and straw oboes (which are called for in the “Toy Symphony”), wind instruments using garden hoses for mouthpieces and funnels.... We talk about the physics of music, different sounds from different instruments; the fourth-graders are learning about sound waves. It fits right in. And every class has learned a song to sing or to perform on instruments with the Symphony as their back-up band. 

“We’ve been really excited about this season,” Luke continued, “because we’ve been able to visit all 11 schools, not just four, as we’ve had to the past few seasons. We’ve been able to tailor the curricula, collaborate directly with the teachers to find out what the kids like—what would be more effective, more memorable—and what would be better for each school, age level, different classes. And some musicians can put forward what they’d like to talk about with the kids. The visits are interactive, and now it is throughout planning as well.” 

Luke described the fun of the Family Concert: “Dawn Harms is really hilarious, besides being a fine violinist. She dresses up in costumes—as a big chicken for a violin showcase number that features the instrument tweeting like a bird. And she has a sort of “he-she” outfit—I think she calls her character Billy Bob Sue—a fiddler she dresses up as to play. She makes me improvise with her. And students write notes on a staff up on a board and she makes a melody out of it. She talks about listening to the brook around you when we play Vivaldi, about the musical sounds of thunder and lightning. And she gets kids to play ‘Pop Goes theWeasel’ with her, kids who’ve never in their life played violin.” 

All ages participate, too, in the Family Concert. “We pass toy instruments through the audience for the Leopold Mozart piece; I conduct and invite everybody to perform.” 

ADVENTURES IN MUSIC 

9:45 a.m. and 11:15 a.m., Saturday, March 14 at Malcolm X Elementary School Auditorium, 1731 Prince St. $10 for adults; $5 for 18 and under 841-2800. www.berkeleysymphony.org.

American Bach Soloists bring Favorite Cantatas of their namesake to First Congregational Church at 8 p.m. Saturday (lecture at 7), a show that will also play in Belvedere, San Francisco and Davis, featuring remarkable baritone William Sharp, excellent singers soprano Yulia Van Doren and alto Jennifer Lane, and Bach Soloists’ own extraordinary tenor, musical director Jeffrey Thomas. $10-44. (800) 838-3006. http://americanbach.org.

Russian actor-director Oleg Liptsin, who has presented a piquant Beckett’s Happy Days and a remarkable staging of Dostoyevsky (Notes From Underground as Apropos of the Wet Snow) in Berkeley, will premiere the first part of his latest project, The Nose, a solo show centered around Gogol’s Overcoat, celebrating the great Russian author’s 200th anniversary. 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Phoenix Theatre Annex, 414 Mason St., Suite 406, San Francisco (near Union Square). $15-20. (415) 944-1555. http://phoenixtheatresf.org, http://theatreensemble.org.  

Some of you may remember Rube Goldberg. He’s a favorite case study of mine when it comes to home remodeling. If you know who he is, you’re giggling now. Rube, a UC Berkeley grad and local engineer (he worked on the sewer systems in San Francisco!) invented cartoon machinery that would perform one simple task in 20 or more complicated and ludicrous steps.  

Complicated is fine for a cartoon. In your home, simpler is better. A lean, tightly designed system is more reliable and also easier to diagnose and repair when things go wrong. 

When I crawl through our old houses I’m often reminded of Rube’s work—but not in an amusing way. I often find twice as much piping as would be actually needed to feed all the fixtures in the house. Excessive piping and fittings reduce flow and allow for lots more leaks. Excessive and poorly designed wiring gets hotter and has many more chances to fail, increasing fire concerns. A gas distribution system with 60 parts instead of 25 is that much more likely to leak and to break during an earthquake.  

One of the most difficult areas of discussion with regard to home repair is the question of how deep or thorough a repair should be. I’m going to attempt to discuss this in a broad manner, but we’ll touch on some specific areas of common upgrade, such as plumbing and wiring. 

First, repairs are almost always best achieved when done broadly. This speaks to quality but also to cost, if one looks at things on a per-unit basis. For example, adding a single electrical outlet in an upstairs room far from the electrical panel may cost several hundred dollars, whereas installing five outlets in a circuit from the same source may be less than $100 each when done as a single job. 

This rule applies to all sorts of things and needs to be considered prior to beginning a course of work. However, the issue of primary importance here is that work must be planned and organized. 

When deciding to add a gas line to your kitchen (you’re finally sick of cooking on a electric stove), it’s a good idea to first have your plumber take a look at the whole gas distribution system. It may be that you are only feeding three appliances but that the gas piping is routed, a la Rube, back and forth all over the crawlspace to sites that are no longer using gas (such as the long-gone floor furnace, or the laundry which is now in its third location.) If this is the case (and I certainly see quite a bit of it), I think it’s worthwhile to have the plumber bid the cost of rerouting the entire system. It also may be possible to remove most of the extraneous piping while leaving some in place. It will cost more to redo things properly, but it may not cost much more. Don’t miss out on an opportunity for big improvement if small dollars are in the way. Also, old piping is often loose at fittings and poorly supported, not to mention installed in such a way as to obstruct inspection (thank you very much) and the installation of other systems, such as furnace ducting. 

Let’s take another common example. Say your dining room ceiling is cracked and unsightly, and you’ve been thinking about painting and putting in some nice lighting. In this case, it is almost certain that the removal of all the plaster in this room would be worth your while. When the room is free of encumbering and obstructive surfaces, it is far cheaper to do all the things that the room may require, such as a well-arranged spate of lamps, electrical outlets all around, switches in all the right places, TV cable, DSL, a skylight, or whatever your heart desires. All these things are so much easier to do when the wall material is gone, and when you’re done, drywall installation is relatively inexpensive and the finishes will be smooth and crack-free. Now this certainly isn’t the necessary approach when you need only one outlet, but it’s important to stop and ask yourself whether you might not be better off taking a broader approach. 

Let’s turn to the issue of old wiring. Say you have a house full of antique “knob and tube” wiring (are all your outlets two-prong?). If this is the case, it’s probably not worthwhile to take small measures when the house is in need of a lot more wiring and possibly the repair of existing wiring. Talk to your electrician and look at your long-range needs. Do you have a lot of computers, lamps and laser printers? Are you using lots of extension cords? (Naughty!) If this is you and you can set aside a few thousand dollars (gulp), it’s very much to your benefit to do a major system upgrade. You’ll be safer and, with a well-designed plan, you’ll get a lot more for your buck. (OK, your whole herd of bucks.) 

This thinking applies to almost every system in your house, so next time you’re thinking about one little fix, see if you can broaden the approach and make your home just a bit nicer in the process. 

THURSDAY, MARCH 12 

Blake Garden Walk for Age 50+ Tour the UC Berkeley Landscape Architecture Department’s 10-acre Kensington estate from 9 to 11 a.m. Meet at garden gate at 70 Rincon Rd., Kensington (AC Transit 7). Free but numbers limited; register at Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave., 524-9122, or Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin. 524-9283. For information contact walk leader Susan Schwartz, f5creeks@aol.com, 848-9358. 

Golden Gate Audubon Society Field Trip to the Berkeley Fishing Pier. Meet at 8 a.m. at the beginning of the pier, just south of Skates restaurant. 540-8749. www.goldengateaudubon.org 

Berkeley Housing Authority Annual Plan discussion at 2 p.m. at BHA, 1901 Fairview St. Plan is available at www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/bha 

Tilden Nature Area Docent Training from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Fee. is $35. For an application or information call 544-3260. www.ebparks.org 

14th Collages des Cultures Africaines series of West African Dance & Drum Workshops taking place at the Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts, 1428 Alice St., Oakland, through Sun. For details contact 733-1077. www.DiamanoCoura.org 

Purim Carnival & Silent Auction from 12:30 to 3 p.m. at Temple Beth Hillel, 801 Park Central, Richmond. 223-2560. www.templebethhillelrichmond.org 

East Bay Mac Users Group meets to discuss UPEK, biometric fingerprint security solutions, at 7 p.m. at Expression College for Digital Arts, 6601 Shellmound St., Emeryville. http://ebmug.org 

Red Cross Blood Drive from 1 to 7 p.m. at 2106 Shattuck Ave. To schedule an appointment go to www.BeADonor.com  

Circle of Concern Vigil meets on West Lawn of UC campus across from Addison and Oxford, Thurs. at noon and Sun. at 1 p.m. to oppose UC weapons labs contracts. 848-8055. 

Three Beats for Nothing South Mostly ancient part music for fun and practice meets every Thurs. at 10 a.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center, Ellis at Ashby. 655-8863. asiecker@sbcglobal 

Fitness Class for 55+ at 9:15 a.m. at Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237. 

Free Meditation Class at 7 p.m. every Tues. and Thurs. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarians, 2nd flr. , 1606 Bonita Ave. at Cedar. 931-7742. 

Buddhist Class on Shikan Meditation at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, Cedar at Bonita, through May 28. http://caltendai.org 

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, MARCH 13 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Kiyolo Woodhouse, docent, Asian Art Museum, “Japanese Art and Its Context in Japanese Daily Life” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $15, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 524-7468. www.citycommonsclub.org 

Dafur Take Action Event with student-led workshops, discussion and plans for action from 6 p.m. to midnight in Room 159, Mulford Hall, UC campus. Donation $3. 972- 567-1605.  

“American Sandinista” A documentary about the life and execution of Ben Linder, a young American supporter of the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua, at 7 p.m. at Berkeley City College Auditorium, 2050 Center St. Both the film-maker and the author of the investigation the film is based on will be present for questions after the film. Free. 

Conscientious Projector Film Series “9/11 Press for Truth” at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar St. 841-4824. 

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. 

Berkeley Chess Club meets every Fri. at 7 p.m. at the Hillside School, 1581 Le Roy Ave. 843-0150. 

SATURDAY, MARCH 14 

Race Judicata: 10k Run/5k Run-Walk Fundraiser for UC Berkeley Environmental Law Summer Fellowship, from 10 a.m. to noon, registration starts at 9:15 a.m. at the Kroeber Fountain, corner of Bancroft Way and College Ave. Cost is $30. 619-992-9619. 

Disaster Preparedness Workshop with representatives from Albany Fire Department and Bay Area Seismic Retrofit, at 4 p.m. at Albany High School, 603 Key Route Blvd., Albany. 229-9651. http://albanytoday.org 

Improve AC Transit Line #51 Community Meeting at 10:30 a.m. at AC Transit General Offices, 1600 Franklin St. 891-4755. Report is avaiable at http://www2.actransit.org/planning_focus/details.wu?item_id=50 

Little Farm Poultry Pals Learn about the different breeds and their personalities at 2:30 p.m. at the Little Farm, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Workshop: Eat Local Learn about how to eat more from your local foodshed, by gleaning and foraging edible weeds, alternative food sources and food preservation. Includes a short walk. From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $10-$15. Advanced registration required. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

Spring Equinox Compost and Cultivation at 10 a.m. at The Edible Schoolyard. To register, contact Kyle Cornforth, Program Coordinator kyle@chezpanissefoundation.org 

Rhododendron Walk through the Garden from 10 a.m. to noon at UC Botanical Gardens. Cost is $12-$15. Reservations required. 643-2755. botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

“The Tyranny of Oil: The World’s Most Powerful Industry—And What We Must Do To Stop It” with activist and author Antonia Juahsz, at 7 p.m. at the Alameda Free Library, 1550 Oak St., Alameda. Suggested donation $5; no one is turned away. 814-9592. 

Healthy Communities Financial Freedom Conference from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., registration at 9:30 a.m. at Richmond Auditorium, 403 Civic Center Plaza, Richmond. 568-5899. 

The Richmond Plunge: A Remarkable Look Inside” The public is invited to look at the restoration in progress from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Garrard Blvd at West Richmond Ave., Richmond. www.richmondplunge.org 

Strait Talk Symposium with student from China, Taiwan and the U.S. on their historic discussions at 10 a.m. at IEAS Conference Room, 6th flr., 2223 Fulton St.  

“Vietnam Journey” A report-back by members of the CCDS delegation at 10:30 a.m. at Savo Island Community Caenter, 2017 Stuart St. 841-0738. 

Annual Burma Human Rights Day Benefit Join us for a Burmese style dinner and Burma documentary film along with two speakers on Burma, Min Zin and Zoya Phan at 6 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Hall, 1924 Cedar, at Bonita. Suggested donation of $15 benefits the Burmese American Democratic Alliance. 485-3751. www.badasf.org 

“Grow Your Own Salad” with Stefani Bittner, at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. 

Family Yoga at 10:30 a.m. at Niroga Center for Healing, 1808 University Ave. between MLK Way and Grant St. All classes by donation. 704-1330. www.niroga.org 

“Keeping Cool in the Fire: Becoming More Skillful with Inner or Outer Conflict” A two-day training with Lawrence Ellis and Donald Rothberg, Sat. from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sun. from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at East Bay Meditation Center, 2147 Broadway, Oakland. Donations accepted. Register at www.eastbaymeditation.org/event/55 

The East Bay Chapter of The Great War Society meets to discuss “The Russians Are Coming To the Western Front” by Michael Hanlon at 10:30 a.m. at the Albany Veterans Hall, 1325 Portland Ave., Albany. 527-7718. 

Head Shaving Event to benefit Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland from noon to 6 p.m. at Bay Street Plaza, Emeryville. 655-4002. www.baystreetemeryville.com 

American Red Cross Free CPR Training throughout the East Bay. Register today and learn lifesaving skills that will better prepare you and your family for emergencies. For a detailed list of other training sites and to pre-register, visit RedCrossCPRSaturday.org. Registration is also available by phone at 888-686-3600. 

Train Your House Rabbit Learn how to get your pet bunny to come when called and other tricks at 10 a.m. at RabbitEARS, 377 Colusa 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.  

Lawn Bowling on the green at the corner of Acton St. and Bancroft Way every Wed. and Sat. at 10 a.m. for ages 12 and up. Wear flat soled shoes, no heels. Free lessons. 841-2174.  

SUNDAY, MARCH 15 

“California’s Families” A family exploration day from 1 to 4 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak sts., Oakland. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

“Compost 101” Learn the basics of composting and how to use this nutrient-rich material in your home garden, at 11 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

“Allensworth: California’s African-American Town” A panel discussion with historians Susan Anderson and Guy Washington and authors Alice C. Royal, Mickey Ellinger and Scott Braley, at 2 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak sts., Oakland. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

Trails Challenge: Kennedy Grove This hike explores the hills, early flowers and late winter wildlife. Bring a lunch. Meet at Fern Cottage, at 11 a.m. 525-2233. 

Solo Sierrans Wildflower Walk, Mitchell Canyon, Mount Diablo State Park, Clayton. Leisurely loop walk to enjoy spring wildflowers in a scenic canyon. Meet at 2 p.m. in Interpretive Center parking area at end of Mitchell Canyon Rd. $5 parking fee. Rain cancels. After hike, optional stop nearby for refreshments. 925-458-0860. 

Fiber & Dye Exhibit opens at the UC Botanical Gardens, and runs through April 5. Cost is $12-$15. 643-2755. botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

“Learning from the Absurd” lecture by South African artist William Kentridge and hosted by the Townsend Center for the Humanities, at 5 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC campus. Free and open to the public. 643-9670. 

Red Cross Blood Drive from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Temple Beth Abraham, Social Hall, 327 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland. To schedule an appointment go to www.BeADonor.com  

Personal Theology Seminars with Helene Knox on “My Spiritual Odyssey as Embodied in my Poems” at 10 a.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302, ext. 306. 

East Bay Atheists meet to watch a video of Richard Dawkins at the 2007 Atheists Alliance International Convention, at 1:30 p.m. at Berkeley Main Library, 3rd Floor Meeting Room, 2090 Kittredge St. 222-7580. 

Tibetan Buddhism with Mark Henderson on “Sacred Art and Prayer Wheels: An Avenue to Light” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 809-1000.  

“Today’s Global Meltdown and the Dialectics of Organization and Philosophy” at 6:30 p.m. at Niebyl-Proctor Marxist Library, 6501 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. 658-1448. 

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 every Sun. Meet at 3 p.m. at the colonnade at the NE end of the lake. 763-8712. lmno4p.org 

Sew Your Own Open Studio Come learn to use our industrial and domestic machines, or work on your own projects, from 2 to 6 p.m. at 84 Bolivar Dr., Aquatic Park. Also on Thurs. from 2 to 6 p.m. Cost is $5 per hour. 644-2577.  

MONDAY, MARCH 16 

“Thinking Green: How Can Information Replace Energy and Finesse the Biosphere?” with Stewart Brand at 7:30 p.m. in Sibley Auditorium, Bechtel Engineering Center, UC campus. 642-0635. http://bcnm.berkeley.edu 

Mills College MBA Information Session with concentrations in socially responsible business, nonprofit management, global business, finance, and marketing at the Lorry I. Lokey Graduate School of Business at 7 - 8:30 p.m. in Reinhardt Hall, Mills College, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland. Please RSVP to mba@mills.edu www.mills.edu/mba/ 

“Rachel Corrie Rememberance” with a report back from Gaza by Darlene and Donna Wallack at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar St. 841-4824. 

Red Cross Blood Drive from noon to 5 p.m. at the University Village Gymnasium, 1125 Jackson St., Albany. To schedule an appointment go to www.BeADonor.com 

East Bay Track Club for girls and boys ages 3-15 meets Mon. at 6 p.m. at Berkeley High School track field. Free. 776-7451. 

Community Yoga Class 10 a.m. at James Kenney Parks and Rec. Center at Virginia and 8th. Seniors and beginners welcome. Cost is $6. 207-4501. 

Morning Meditation Every Mon., Wed., and Fri. at 7:45 a.m. at Rudramandir, 830 Bancroft Way at 6th. 486-8700. 

Small-Business Counseling Free one-hour one-on-one counseling to help you start and run your small business with a volunteer from Service Core of Retired Executives, Mon. evenings by appointment at Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. For appointment call 981-6148. www.eastbayscore.org 

ASUC Student Legal Clinic provides free legal research and case intake. Drop-in hours Mon.-Thurs. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. anfd Fri. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., UC campus. 642-9986. asuclegalclinic@gmail.com 

World Affairs/Politics Discussion Group, for people 60 years and over, meets at 9:45 a.m. at Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave, Albany. Cost is $3.  

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 

Free Boatbuilding Classes for Youth from 10 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. at Berkeley Boathouse, 84 Bolivar Dr., Aquatic Park. Classes cover woodworking, boatbuilding, and boat repair. 644-2577. www.watersideworkshops.org 

TUESDAY, MARCH 17 

Tuesdays for the Birds Tranquil bird walks in local parklands, led by Bethany Facendini, from 7 to 9:30 a.m. Today we will visit Miller/Knox Regional Shoreline. Call for meeting place and if you need to borrow binoculars. 544-3265. 

Tilden Explorers An after-school nature adventure program for 5-7 year olds. We will explore spring ponds from 3:15 to 4:15 p.m.. Cost is $6-$8, registration required. 1-888-EBPARKS. 

“Extending Your Garden Season with Perennials” with Nicole Hackett at 2 p.m. at the United Methodist Church,1953 Hopkins St. 524-7296. 

“Growing Sustainability in a Low-Carbon World” Speaker series sponsored by Inst. for Urban and Regional Development at 6 p.m. at the UCB Faculty Club. http://iurd.berkeley.edu 

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute Open House from 10 a.m. to noon at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant at Ellsworth. RSVP to 642-9934. http://olli.berkeley.edu 

“Evolution: The First Four Billion Years” with Eugenie Scott and David Wake at 5:30 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585. www.universitypressbooks.com 

“If I Were You, I Wouldn't Start from Here: Understanding Oxford Through Its Past” Illustrated talk by Christopher Day, M.A., FSA, university lecturer and Fellow of Kellogg College at Oxford University at 4:30 p.m. at UC Berkeley Extension, 1995 University Ave. Call for reservations 642-4111. 

Habitot’s Shamrock Day For children ages 0-6. Irish music at 10:30 a.m. Interactive storytelling at 11:30 a.m. at 2065 Kittredge St. Cost is $7-$8. www.habitot.org 

“Adventures in East Africa: Kilimanjaro Climb and Safari” at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Tuesday Tilden Walkers Join a few slowpoke seniors at 9:30 a.m. in the parking lot near the Little Farm for an hour or two walk. 215-7672, 524-9992. 

End the Occupation Vigil every Tues. at noon at Oakland Federal Bldg., 1301 Clay St. www.epicalc.org 

Street Level Cycles Community Bike Program Come use our tools as well as receive help with performing repairs free of charge. Youth classes available. Tues., Thurs., Sat. and Sun. from 2 to 6 p.m. at at 84 Bolivar Dr., Aquatic Park. 644-2577. www.watersideworkshops.org 

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 

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. 

Ceramics Class Learn hand building techniques to make decorative and functional items, Tues. at 9:30 a.m. at St. John's Senior Center, 2727 College Ave. Free, materials and firing charges only. 525-5497. 

Bridge for beginners from 1 to 2:15 p.m., all others 1 to 4 p.m. Sing-A-Long at 2:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5190. 

Rhythm Tap Exercise Class Tues. at 5 p.m. at Redwood Gardens, 2951 Derby St. Donation $2. 548-9840. 

Qi Gong Meditation 7:30 p.m. at 830 Bancroft Way, Lotus Room 114. Cost is $5-$10. 883-1920. tgif@tiangong.org 

Free Meditation Class at 7 p.m. every Tues. and Thurs. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarians, 2nd flr. , 1606 Bonita Ave. at Cedar. 931-7742. 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18 

Tilden Mini-Rangers Hiking, conservation and nature-based activities for ages 8-12. Dress to ramble and get dirty. From 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8, registration required. 1-888-EBPARKS. 

Berkeley Retired Teachers Association Annual Meeting with Jenefer Baune, founder of Elder Financial Protection Network at 12:30 p.m. at Northbrae Community Church, 941 Tha Alameda.  

Foreclosure Prevention Information Session at 6 p.m. at The HomeOwnership Center, 3301 East 12th St., Suite 201, Oakland. To register call 535-6943. homeownership@unitycouncil.org 

Alameda County History Day Competition for students in grades 4-12 at 3:30 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak St., Oakland. To register call 670-4329. ablack@acoe.org 

Forum on the Death Penalty with Deldep Medina, California Crime Victims spokesperson, Delane Sims, ACLU-NC Outreach Coordinator, Judy Kerr, California Crime Victims spokesperson, Darryl Stallworth, Former Alameda County prosecutor, Aaron Owens, wrongfully convicted in Alameda County at 6 p.m. at Berkeley City College Auditorium, 2050 Center St. www.AlamedaDeathPenalty.org  

“Trashed” A doumentary on the garbage business at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donation $5. www.Humanist Hall.org 

“Eat To Live, Don't Live To Eat!” at 6:30 p.m. at the Gertonson Institute, 828 San Pablo Ave, Suite 115, Albany. 

Simplicty Forum on permaculture and rabbit raising with Dawn Pillsbury, at 6:30 p.m. at Claremont Branch Library, 2940 Benvenue Ave. 

Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park General Management Plan discussion from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Richmond City Council Chambers, interim Richmond City Hall, 1401 Marina Way South. For information on the plan call 232-5050.  

Red Cross Blood Services Volunteer Orientation from 6 to 8 p.m. at 6230 Claremont Ave., Oakland. Registration required. 594-5165. 

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets every Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze Market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Everyone is welcome, wear comfortable shoes and a warm hat. 548-9840. 

Theraputic Recreation at the Berkeley Warm Pool, Wed. at 3:30 p.m. and Sat. at 10 a.m. at the Berkeley Warm Pool, 2245 Milvia St. Cost is $4-$5. Bring a towel. 632-9369. 

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 

Teen Chess Club from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the North Branch Library, 1170 The Alameda at Hopkins. 981-6133. 

Berkeley CopWatch Drop-in office hours from 6 to 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. 548-0425. 

Stitch ‘n Bitch at 6:30 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

THURSDAY, MARCH 19 

“Tracking South Bay Birds” a talk by Stephanie Ellies of the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory at 12:30 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak sts., Oakland. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

“Common Murre Breeding Ground Restoration” with Peter Kappes of the UC Fish and Wildilfe Service, at 7:30 p.m. at Northbrae Community Churhc, 941 The Alameda. Sponsored by Golden Gate Audubon Society. 843-2222. www.goldengateaudubon.org 

Tilden Nature Area Docent Training from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Fee. is $35. For an application or information call 544-3260. www.ebparks.org 

“Our Life in Gardens” with Joe Eck and Wayne Winterrowd at 2 p.m. at UC Botanical Gardens. Cost is $12-$15. Reservations required. 643-2755. botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

“Creating Affordable Homes: Challenges and Opportunities” a symposium at 7 p.m. at 112 Wurster Hall, UC campus. Sponsored by Resources for Community Development. 841-4410, ext. 10. 

Berkeley Entrepreneurs Forum “Surviving and Thriving during the Downturn” at 6:30 p.m. at Andersen Auditorium; Haas School of Business. UC campus. http://entrepreneurship.berkeley.edu 

Baby & Toddler Storytime at 10:15 and 11:15 a.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043.  

Circle of Concern Vigil meets on West Lawn of UC campus across from Addison and Oxford, Thurs. at noon and Sun. at 1 p.m. to oppose UC weapons labs contracts. 848-8055. 

Three Beats for Nothing South Mostly ancient part music for fun and practice meets every Thurs. at 10 a.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center, Ellis at Ashby. 655-8863. asiecker@sbcglobal 

Fitness Class for 55+ at 9:15 a.m. at Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237. 

Free Meditation Class at 7 p.m. every Tues. and Thurs. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarians, 2nd flr. , 1606 Bonita Ave. at Cedar. 931-7742. 

Buddhist Class on Shikan Meditation at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, Cedar at Bonita, through May 28. http://caltendai.org 

“Four Actions to Resolve Conflict Inside & Out” at 7:15 p.m. at Center for Transformative Change, 2584 Martin Luther King Jr Way. RSVP to register@transformativechange.org 

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, MARCH 20 

Tilden Tots Join a nature adventure program for 3 and 4 year olds, each accompanied by an adult (grandparents welcome)! We’ll learn about amphibians, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8. Registration required. 1-888-327-2757. 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Leigh Robinson on “Hiking to the Mount Everest Base Camp” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $15, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 524-7468. www.citycommonsclub.org 

Demonstrate for Peace! Bring your signs and determination, at 2 p.m. at Acton and University Ave. 

“Unleaded, Please!” Art auction to benefit West Oakland and the Environmental Movement for Clean Air, with art, documentary showing, live entertainment, and more, from 5 to 8:30 p.m. at Excel High School, 2607 Myrtle St., Oakland. Suggested donation $3-$20. RSVP to www.mobaganda.com/unleadedplease 

“Shutdown: The Rise and Fall of Direct Action to Stop the War” Film Screening at 7 p.m. at the AK Press Warehouse, 674-A 23rd St., Oakland. Free. 208-1700. akpress.org 

Free Yoga Classes with Sofia Diaz March 20-29 at Rudramandir, 830 Bancroft Way, at 6th. 486-8700. www.rudramandir.com 

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. 

Three Beats for Nothing Mostly ancient part music for fun and practice meets every Fri. at 10 a.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, Hearst at MLK. 655-8863. asiecker@sbcglobal 

Berkeley Chess Club meets every Fri. at 7 p.m. at the Hillside School, 1581 Le Roy Ave. 843-0150. 

SATURDAY, MARCH 21 

Golden Gate Audubon Society Field Trip to Arrowhead Marsh, Martin Luther King Jr. Shoreline. Meet at 9:30 a.m. at the last parking lot. 316-8932. www.goldenagteaudubon.org 

Help Restore the Berkeley Meadow with Friends of Five Creeks by removing invasives and restoring habitat. Meet at 10 a.m. at the north side of University Ave., opposite Sea Breeze market. Tools, gloves and snacks provided. Dress for all weather, in clothes that can get dirty. 848-9358. www.fivecreeks.org 

Lakeshore Neighborhood Plant Exchange from noon to 4 p.m. at 3811 Lakeshore Ave., Oakland. Recycle and trade your cuttings and divided plants. Other gardening accessories also available. Open to all. For information see www.plantexchange.wordpress.com 

Green Thumb Workshop for ages 8 and up from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the James Kenney Recreation Center garden, 1720 Eighth St. Bring a sack lunch and gardening gloves. 981-6650. 

Youth Spirit Artwork’s Tile Painting and Mosaic Making Day from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the east side of the intersection at Fairview and California sts. We’ll paint tiles on the topic of health and pledge ways to take better care of ourselves in 2009. Free. Rain cancels. 282-0396. 

Spring Equinox Gathering, with a mini-workshop on the seasons, at 6:30 p.m. at Chavez Memorial Solar Calendar at Sesar Chavez Park. Dress warmly. www.ecologycenter.org/chavez 

St. Mary’s High School Panther Pride Night Fundraiser with “The Magic of Music” by J’ LaChic, and sports memorabilia auction, at 5:30 p.m. at the high school. Tickets are $65, includes buffet. 521-3256. www.saintmaryschs.org 

Rosie the Riveter Trust Annual Fundraising Dinner in the historic Machine Shop at Shipyard No. 3, a building not usually open to the public. Tickets are $150. 235-1315. www.rosietheriveter.org 

East Bay Baby Fair An event for new and expecting parents from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Albany Veterans Memorial Building, 1325 Portland Ave., Albany. www.eastbaybabyfair.com 

Bees and Backyard Beekeeping with the Kenyan Top Bar System Learn about the life cycles and biology of the honey bee, basic management strategies and equipment needed to get started as a backyard beekeeper from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at The Institute of Urban Homesteading.Cos tis $50-$75. 927-3252. 

Super Smash Brothers Video Game Legacy Tournament benefit for Berkeley High students’ trip to Washington DC. at 6:30 p.m. at Eudemonia at 2154 University Ave. Cost is $10. 705-3193. 

Princess Project East Bay Dress Giveaway for deserving high school students, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at 2201 Broadway, Oakland. CA school ID required. www.princessproject.org 

“How Not To Be Funny at Your Own Expense” with Charlotte Cook at the California Writers Club meeting at 10 a.m. at Barnes & Noble, Jack London Square, 98 Broadway, Oakland. 272-0120. www.berkeleywritersclub.org 

“Science Discovery Theatre: Brainiacs” An interactive neural anatomy lesson through performance at 1 p.m., followed by lecture at 2 p.m. at Hall of Health, 2230 Shattuck Ave. (lower level). www.hallofhealth.org 

Little Farm Rabbit Tales Enjoy some bunny-inspired stories, and learn what makes our fuzzy friends’ noses twitch, at 2:30 p.m. at the Little Farm, Tilden Park 525-2233. 

The Houdini Magic Weekend Mentalists, escape artists, sides show artists, ventriloquists and more perform Sat. and Sun. from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Playland-Not-at-the-Beach, 10979 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. Cost is $10-$15. 592-3002. www.playland-not-at-the-beach.org 

Arroyo Viejo Creek Work Day Help clean up the creek at the Oakland Zoo, from 9 a.m. to noon. All ages welcome. 632-9525, ext. 207. 

“Introduction to Greywater Systems” at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. 

Sustainable Gardening Class for Children ages 4-9 and their parents 3/21 and 4/4 from 10 a.m. to noon, rain or shine, at East Bay Waldorf School, 3800 Clark Rd., El Sobrante. Cost is $10 per family. Call to reserve a space, 223-3570, ext. 2101. 

Homebuyers Education Workshop from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at The HomeOwnership Center, 3301 East 12th Street, Suite 201, Oakland. To register call 535-6943. homeownership@unitycouncil.org. 

“Is Anybody Out There? Searching for ET with Help from 8 Million Volunteers” Lecture on the possibility of life in the universe, the search for radio and optical signals from other civilizations, and how you can help in the search for ET at 11 a.m. at Genetics and Plant Biology Building Rm 100, UC campus. Free. http://astro.berkeley.edu/~scroft/iya/  

Graphic Design for Middle School Students, six Sat. from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Ex'pression College for Digital Arts, 6601 Shellmound St., Emeryville. Free, but registration required. 289-1295. www.inneractproject.org 

ZooKids Art: Foil Embossing Explore different art techniques with inspiration from animals, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at the Oakland Zoo. For ages 9-11. Cost is $20-$25. To register call 632-9525, ext. 200. 

Small Critter Adoption Fair with mice, rats, hamsters, guinea pigs and rabbits from 1 to 4 p.m. at Rabbit Ears, 377 Colusa Ave, Kensington. 525-6155. 

Persian New Year with painting “tokhme-morgh” eggs and planting “sabzeh” wheatgrass, and story-telling, from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Habitot at 2065 Kittredge St. Cost is $7-$8. www.habitot.org 

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. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

Lawn Bowling on the green at the corner of Acton St. and Bancroft Way every Wed. and Sat. at 10 a.m. for ages 12 and up. Wear flat soled shoes, no heels. Free lessons. 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, MARCH 22 

Eco-House Tour A tour of the Ecology Center’s environmental demonstration site to learn about simple improvements you can make to green your home, from 10 a.m. or 1 p.m. Cost is $10-$15. Registration required. 548-2220, ext. 242.  

Golden Gate Audubon Society Field Trip to Berkeley Waterfront to see the last of winter ducks and shorebirds. Meet at 9 a.m. in the last parking lot on the right before University Ave. 549-2839. www.goldenagteaudubon.org 

“Pond, James Pond” Hear aquatic tales of intrigue and use nets to spy on this dymanic habitat, from 10:30 a.m. to noon at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Gone Trackin’ Study tracks, scat and other signs left behind by critters to learn who is doing what, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

“Black Passenger, Yellow Cabs” Jamaican author Stefhen Bryan will read from his memoir of life in Japan at 3 p.m. at Jamaican Soul Café, 2057 San Pablo Ave., at Addison. 260-4647. www.blackpassenger.com 

“People’s Park Then and Now” A film by Claire Burch in a benefit for Food Not Bombs at 6 p.m. at Unitarian fellowship, 1924 Cedar St. 841-4824. 

“Total Denial” A documentary about Burmese jungle villagers suing an oil company for human rights abuses at 7 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12-$25. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Super Smash Brothers Video Game Legacy Tournament benefit for Berkeley High students’ trip to Washington DC. at 3:30 p.m. at Eudemonia at 2154 University Ave. Cost is $10. 705-3193. 

Citizen Tribunal: The Murder of Oscar Grant and the Epidemic of Police Brutality from 2 to 6 p.m. at Calvin Simmons Middle School Cafeteria, 2101 35th Ave, Oakland. 725-8754. bayarearevolutionclub@gmail.com 

Tour of the Berkeley City Club, designed by Julia Morgan, from 1 to 4 p.m. at 2315 Durant Ave. 848-7800. 

Michael Harris of San Francisco Voice for Israel at a Temple Beth Hillel Bagel Brunch at 10:15 a.m. at Temple Beth Hillel, 801 Park Central, located off Hilltop Drive at I-80, Richmond. 223-2560. www.templebethhillelrichmond.org 

Free Hands-on Bicycle Clinic Learn how to do a safety inspection, from 10 to 11 a.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. Bring your bike and tools. 527-4140. 

Seminar on Estate Jewelry with Elizabeth D’Mitrova from 1 to 3 p.m. at Christensen Heller Gallery, 5829 College Ave., Oakland. 655-5952. 

Personal Theology Seminars with Lynn Gardner on “Transformation Thoughts from a Seminarian: When in doubt, laugh, love and eat chocolate” at 10 a.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302, ext. 306. 

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 

Tibetan Buddhism with Sylvia Gretchen on “Teachings on Death and Change” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 809-1000. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

Sew Your Own Open Studio Come learn to use our industrial and domestic machines, or work on your own projects, from 2 to 6 p.m. at 84 Bolivar Dr., Aquatic Park. Also on Thurs. from 2 to 6 p.m. Cost is $5 per hour. 644-2577. www.watersideworkshops.org 

CITY MEETINGS 

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