The City of Berkeley has purchased and registered with the State, at a cost of nearly $88,000, a bookmobile to bring limited Berkeley Public Library services to Berkeley neighborhoods when their branch libraries are closed down for renovation or demolition, starting this year.

To buy and register the temporary-use van the City dipped into bond money Berkeley voters approved for the permanent physical renovation of the branches. -more-

On January 25, the council will twice consider sweeping changes to West Berkeley zoning will be that would open the district up to high-rise, high-density, Emeryville-style development. In the works for three years, the proposed changes will come to the council for the first time at a 5:30 worksession. Then they are the subject of a public hearing at the council’s regular meeting, which starts at 7 pm. Both meetings will take place at Old City Hall, 2134 Martin Luther King, Jr., Way. -more-

On Tuesday, January 18, 2011 at approximately 11:30 p.m. an armed robbery occurred at “Vista Point” located at sign post 15 on Grizzly Peak. The male and female victims, both non-affiliates, were sitting in their parked car when four men exited a large pickup truck and approached their car. One suspect stood in the back of the vehicle to prevent it from leaving while another suspect approached the passenger side and pointed an automatic handgun at the victim. The other two suspects, wearing black ski masks, were standing next to the driver’s side window. The suspect with the gun spoke in both Spanish and English and demanded the victims’ property. The victims complied and the four suspects were last seen fleeing the scene in their pickup truck northbound on Grizzly Peak. UCPD searched the area but was unable to locate the suspects or the pickup truck. The victims were not injured during this incident. -more-

Firefighters battled a residential blaze that broke out near downtown Berkeley this morning, the city's fire chief said.

Bruce Larkin, owner of Wilbooks, Inc and author of over 900 children’s books, has pledged that his company will donate 2,000 local interest books to Alameda County elementary schools in 2011. Wilbooks is a donor to the East Bay Children’s Book Project, and Larkin has even written a book about the literacy charity called “A Book For Every Child.” -more-

Guns; Anagram; Gun Violence; The Violence and the Rhetoric; Darfur; Another Predictably Inane Editorial; Re: banning guns and/or high-capacity magazines; A short allegory in reference to current events; Living Independently; People's Park does not want a tree sit -more-

The people taking the arthritis water classes at the Berkeley "Y" have been unpleasantly surprised by an error made in restoring the "Shallow Pool". All 3 pools are being given new water purification systems, and new tiling, etc. The pool we were using was out of commission for 3 months., so although were using Grace's Pool for our classes, we were glad on Jan.3, 2011 to get back to the pool we had been using before. Our classes are three times/week, and many of us had been attending these classes for 2 or more years. -more-

Timothy J. Moellering , 53, of Berkeley, passed away on January 18, 2011. Tim was born in Chicago on September 7, 1957, but lived in Berkeley since the age of 2. -more-

In spite of a White House declaration that “progress” is being made in Afghanistan, by virtually any measure the war has deteriorated significantly since the Obama Administration surged troops into Kandahar and Helmand provinces. This past year has been the deadliest on record for U.S. and coalition troops. Civilian casualties are on the rise, and, according to the Red Cross, security has worsened throughout the country. U.S. allies are falling away, and the central government in Kabul has never been so isolated. Polls in Afghanistan, the U.S. and Europe reflect growing opposition to the nine-year conflict. -more-

While there is little doubt about the facts of the Tucson tragedy, that one man pulled the trigger on the automatic revolver that shot Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, killed six others, and wounded 12 more, the open question is whether it is a teachable moment. -more-

I am deeply saddened and shocked at the shooting in Tucson, and my heart goes out to the families of the victims of it, and to the survivors. In order for a person to commit such a crime, in addition to suffering from Schizophrenia, (which I also suffer from), the perpetrator must have a complete disregard for human life, and must completely lack any shred of conscience, (unlike me).

Identity theft is a serious crime. It occurs when your personal information is stolen and used without your knowledge to commit fraud or other crimes. Identity theft can cost you time and money. It can destroy your credit rating and ruin your good name. By taking a few cautionary steps, you can deter, detect, and defend against identity theft. -more-

I fell down recently, in downtown Berkeley, California – blood, paramedics and firefighters from Fire House #5, police, cervical collar, ambulance – the whole megillah. And there was a woman who heard the 155-pound thud, called 911, and came out of her store and stayed with me. My thanks to all of these people. They did a great job. Guys and gal: you were great. -more-

The American roots of film noir begin with the crime fiction that emerged during the 1930s from the pens of writers like Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, James M. Cain, and multitudes of lesser-known talents. In the wake of the Great Depression, these pulp authors reshaped the literary landscape with dark, cynical, morally ambivalent tales of crime, sex and vice — stories steeped in shadowy imagery, tough talk, and a hardscrabble hyper-realism that portrayed a brutal, hostile world. There were no heroes, only anti-heroes — self-preserving pragmatists whose cynicism was born of dashed hopes and faded ideals.

It was only a matter of time before these stories infiltrated Hollywood, merging with the stark, shadowy imagery of German Expressionism, which crossed the Atlantic along with the refugees who left Germany just ahead of Hitler's advancing stormtroopers. And thus a bold and distinctly downbeat genre was born, a German-American hybrid that introduced a stock of melodramatic characters: the dangerous and brooding urban gangster-villain; the tormented innocent caught up in nefarious circumstances beyond his control or comprehension; the icy, diabolical femme fatale; and an array of edgy protagonists ranging from the introspective, tormented, world-weary anti-hero to the twitchy, slippery, would-be hero, the third-rate, small-time hood looking to get ahead in a hostile world for which he is ill-equipped.

Noir City, the annual film festival that celebrates these dark cinematic gems and presents them on the big screen in all their tawdry glory, returns to San Francisco's Castro Theater this Friday with another 10-day program of dames, destruction and depravity. The festival is full of rarities; in fact, most of films in this year's program are not available on DVD. -more-

--Berkeley Symphony produces Landscapes of Sound, this Thursday's concert at 8, Zellerbach Hall on the UC campus, featuring the world premiere of Du Yu's orchestral piece Mantichora, celebrating the Manticore, fabulous beast with the body of a red lion and a very toothy human head, as well as Olivier Messaien's Oiseaux exotiques, featuring pianist Natasha Paremski (Berkeley Symphony has a long relationship with Messaien's groundbreaking music, Kent Nagano having worked with the composer decades ago) and Beethoven'sSymphony no. 6 in F major, The Pastoral Symphony, all under the baton of musical director Joana Carneiro. Pre-concert talk at 7. Tickets: $20-$60. 841-2800; berkeleysymphony.org -more-

The wordless French comic, Jacques Tati (“Mr. Hulot’s Holiday,” “Mon Oncle”), lives again, thanks to the magic of a well-drawn line and the vision of Sylvain Chomet (director of the Oscar-winning animated feature, “The Triplets of Belleville”). -more-

I never went to TEATRO ZINZANNI before because it seemed so expensive. But I now recommend starting to squirrel away a dollar a day in your special occasion piggy bank, because THIS IS THE PLACE TO GO. -more-