Worth Noting:

It is not a mistake. The special Council meeting on the Ashby BART housing development is MONDAY, September 16 at 6 pm. The City Council September 24 meeting agenda is available for comment.

• Monday, September 16, 2024:
  • At 2:30 pm the Agenda and Rules Committee meets at 1231 Addison in the hybrid format.
  • At 4:30 pm City Council meets in closed session in the hybrid format.
  • At 6 pm the City Council meets in the hybrid format on Ashby BART housing project.
  • From 10 am – 3 pm the Civic Arts Commission meets in person
• Tuesday, September 17, 2024:
  • At 12 pm the Budget and Finance Committee meets in the hybrid format.
  • At 3 pm the Civic Arts Commission Public Art subcommittee meets on Zoom.
• Wednesday, September 18, 2024:
  • At 1:30 pm the Commission on Aging meets in person.
  • At 2 pm the Facilities, Infrastructure, Transportation, Environment, Sustainability Commission meets in the hybrid format.
  • At 6 pm the Human welfare and Community Action Commission meets in person.
  • At 7 pm the Commission on Labor meets in person.
  • At 7 pm the Commission on the Status of Women meets in person.
• Thursday, September 19, 2024:
  • At 5:30 pm the Zero Waste Commission meets in person.
  • At 6:15 pm the Transportation Commission meets in person.
  • At 6:30 pm the Design Review Committee meets in person.
  • At 6:30 pm the Fair Campaign Practices and Open Government Commissions meet in the hybrid format, however, the zoom link needs to be updated.
  • At 7 pm the Commission on Labor meets in person.
• Friday, September 20, 2024:
  • At 2:30 pm the 2 x 2 Committee meets in the hybrid format.
  • At 6 pm is the teen silent disco party
• Saturday, September 21, 2024:
  • At 9 am is the Coastal Cleanup.
  • At 10 am is Build Your Own Emergency Kit at Ace Hardware on Milvia.

Call it Payapal Pay-Pal

Progressive Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal is raising campaign funds with a September 25^th online event called "Virtual Build Our America." The invite promises the event will include "Special Guests" but if you want to know who these mysterious luminaries are going to be, you'll need to secure a ticket for the event. These ducats don't come cheap but they do come with some catchy sponsorship labels. "Early Bird" tickets begin at $175, followed by five larger categories—Bold Activist ($300), Ardent Organizer ($600), Committed Visionary ($1,000), Innovative Idealist ($2,500), and Resolute Dreamer ($3,000). -more-

I was in Tim Walz country (Minnesota) when I saw the book Gunflint Burning: Fire in the Boundary Waters by Cary J. Griffith sitting on top of the stack of books at my sister’s house. Gunflint burning is the story of the Ham Lake Fire, the largest fire in Minnesota history in almost a century. -more-

The Berkeley City Council is poised to take full advantage of the Trump Supreme Court’s anti-homeless decision in the Grants Pass case. -more-

Reich Versus the Rich: The Inflation Ploy
With the rising prices of food and goods, Republicans are hammering the Biden Administration for allowing the cost of living to skyrocket during these critical pre-election months. In response, Berkeley economics truth-teller and MoveOn money-maven Robert Reich recently posted an online essay exposing "The Truth About Inflation." -more-

The Berkeley City Council has not passed a resolution calling for a cease fire in Gaza, unlike most Bay Area city councils, and the city's Agenda Committee has not even considered a proposed draft of such a resolution. Members of Berkeley's Peace and Justice Commission, due to a bureaucratic snafu, have not been able to consider such a measure either. They held a rally last Tuesday on the steps of the South Berkeley Senior Center, where the commission was supposed to have met, which was attended by about 200 people and featured many speakers, including this one: -more-

Worth Noting:

City Council summer recess ends September 9, 2024. A full week of meetings ahead.

The September 16, 2024 City Council Special Meeting at 6 pm is available for review and comment. Agenda item 1. The Ashby BART Transit Oriented Development (housing project and flea market) (packet is 124 pages) and 2. The Berkeley-El Cerrito Corridor Access Plan (packet 171 pages). https://berkeleyca.gov/city-council-special-meeting-eagenda-september-16-2024

• Sunday, September 8, 2024: From 10 am – 5 pm is the Solano Stroll with Solano closed to traffic.
• Monday, September 9, 2024:
  • At 2:30 pm the Agenda and Rules Committee meets in the hybrid format.
  • At 4:30 pm City Council meets in closed session in the hybrid format.
  • At 6:30 pm the Police Accountability Board has a community input meeting on the Berkeley Police Use of Force Policy.
  • At 6:30 pm the Youth Commission meets in person.
  • At 7 pm the Personnel Board meets in person.
• Tuesday, September 10, 2024: At 7 pm City Council meets in the hybrid format with the Encampment Ordinance as item 37 in the agenda.
• Wednesday, September 11, 2024:
  • At 3 pm the City/UC/Student Relations Committee meets in the hybrid format.
  • At 5 pm the Disability Commission provides virtual conferencing to commissioners and presenters, however, the public including public members with disabilities are required to attend in person.
  • At 6:30 pm the Police Accountability board meets in the hybrid format.
  • At 7 pm the Parks, Recreation and Waterfront Commission meets in person.
• Thursday, September 12, 2024: At 7 pm the Zoning adjustment Board meets in the hybrid format with agenda item 4 the 26-story mixed use project with 456 units at Oxford and Center.
• Friday, September 13, 2024: At 7:30 pm is the movie A Million Miles Away at Grove Park.
• Saturday, September 14, 2024:
  • From 10 am – 12 pm the Berkeley Neighborhoods Council meets online on Berkeley Waterfront Development Plans and Middle Housing Ordinance with City of Berkeley Planning staff presenting and available for questions.
  • From 11:30 to 3 pm is the city sponsored skate jam for all ages.

IDF-Settler terrorism in the West Bank escalates. -more-

"Some Gazans Say Polio Drive Is Futile While Israel Keeps Bombing," which highlights the challenges faced by the polio vaccination campaign in Gaza amidst ongoing violence. While the campaign has made significant strides in coverage, it is crucial to understand it within the broader context of the severe humanitarian crisis in the region. Children require 2 doses which they are unlikely to receive. -more-

A recent Chronicle article featuring Richard Lyons (class of '79), the university’s 12th chancellor depicts the university as a study in juxtapositions, or maybe, better, to use that antiquarian notion, contradictions.

On the one hand we have the former "chief innovation officer in 2020" at UCB, who banks almost a million dollar paycheck for his services, who, before his academic career with the Haas Business School is 1993, was the “chief learning officer” at Goldman Sachs for a few years. And in contrast to this pedigreed innovator, we have an institution that "faces an extraordinary $79 million budget deficit that threatens to exhaust its central reserves by spring" according to the Chron article.

What we have here, I believe, is the replication on UCB's campus of the general society with its collapsing bridges and utility failures, and, in contrast to this decay, high rise luxury residences, super yachts, and Michelin star restaurants. A polarization of private wealth and public poverty. Nothing better symbolizes this UCB polarization, what, in fact, is a total failure of the vision of a public serving university, than the transfer students leaving their luxury Anchor House apartments to sit on the steps of a lecture hall filled to beyond capacity, or venturing into a filthy restroom, or an understaffed library, or confronting a prof office hours wait list? -more-

The recent polio outbreak in Gaza is a stark reminder of the dire consequences of the ongoing conflict and the humanitarian crisis it has created. Relentless bombing in Gaza has forced Palestinian civilians to be constantly on the move, often without access to adequate vaccination, food, or clean water. These conditions have directly contributed to a resurgence of polio, with a 10-month-old baby now paralyzed in one leg due to the virus. This is Gaza's first confirmed polio case in 25 years, and it poses a threat of further spread. -more-

Non-disabled (some would term them "neuro-typical") people often make erroneous presumptions about mentally disabled (sometimes termed "neuro-atypical") people. Many affluent people believe that can't do anything that entails brains. -more-

As Chris Krohn reported, the Uncommitted Democratic delegates are very unhappy because they didn't get a chance to address the DNC to advocate for a cease fire in Gaza. I also support a ceasing of all violent hostilities, and I believe that President Biden and Vice President Harris are working diligently to achieve a cease fire - as the first step toward a viable two-state peaceful solution. Nevertheless, it was appropriate that the Uncommitteds were not given the DNC stage. -more-

A GOP Voice Against Washington's Wars?
In his speech at the RNC convention Silicon Valley Republican donor David Sacks caused some jaws to drop when he uttered a seldom-spoken truth—that President Biden provoked the Russian invasion of Ukraine as part of "his talk about NATO expansion." -more-

In the distant past, and I'm talking about the nineteen eighties, it wasn't really a big deal if you had a psychotic disorder and had a relapse. Often, it was anticipated. The mental health treatment systems were good enough toward ill people that we could get some care when this happened. I recall a nurse, as I walked past her in a hallway of a psych ward said, "So Jack, have you written any Pulitzer Prize winning novels lately?" At the time it was a good rib, since back then I had not even been published. That's the sort of thing you got. The nurse was quite nice and she was just joshing with me. -more-

The recent political maneuvers by Prime Minister Netanyahu, including his alliance with far-right extremists, are deeply troubling. His refusal to consider a cease-fire in Gaza or to engage in meaningful negotiations for peace is not about Israel's security; it's about his own political survival. By prioritizing military control over the Philadelphi Corridor at the expense of Israeli hostages, Netanyahu shows a disregard for human life and a willingness to sacrifice the future of Israel for his personal ambitions. -more-

This month I have six mystery/thriller novels to recommend and one to avoid. -more-

The Berkeley Historical Society will be having two premiers of Linda Rosen's new documentary, “Inside the Free Speech Movement,” on Sept. 5 and Sept. 12 at 7 pm. -more-

Please consider spending an afternoon being entertained by Actors Ensemble of Berkeley's production of Moliere's "The Imaginary Invalid" playing in the John Hinkle Park Amphitheatre. The amphitheatre is surrounded by a grove of Redwood Trees that serve to provide shade for the audience members by the 4pm curtain time. The play is quite funny and filled with double entendres including for the word 'intercourse', and the theme of the pompous doctors unwillingness to accept modern scientific theories is relevant today. Automobile parking is limited along the road leading to the park but the AC Transit bus number 7 stops on Arlington Avenue nearby. The play is free of charge but audience members are encouraged to leave a tip and a cash tip might be safer because the theater troupe is having difficulty with the electronic payment system. "The Imaginary Invalid" plays Monday 2 September and Saturday and Sunday 7, 8 September at 4pm at John Hinkle Park in Berkeley. -more-

A common complaint when one of those yellow signs appears announcing some horrible project next door or down the street, is followed with the question, how did this happen? -more-

UPDATE: The Tuesday Sept. 3 meeting of the Peace and Justice Commission has been indefinitely postponed because the City of Berkeley originally mis-scheduled it for Wednesday. People with an interest in a resolution on a Gaza ceasefire will meet informally outside the South Berkeley Senior Center at 7 p.m. on Tuesday anyway to discuss.

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Worth Noting:

Summer is over. City Council summer recess ends September 9, 2024. Board and commission meetings return.

• Tuesday, September 3, 2024: At 7 pm the Peace and Justice Commission meets in person with a listening session followed by consideration of Resolution on Israel-Gaza
• Wednesday, September 4, 2024:
  • At 6 pm the Planning Commission meets in person with a public hearing on development agreements.
  • At 6:30 pm BOLT meets in person.
  • At 7 pm the Homeless Panel of Experts meets in person on the proposed encampment ordinance.
• Thursday, September 5, 2024:
  • At 6:30 pm the Landmarks Preservation Commission meets in person.
  • At 7 pm the Housing Advisory Commission meets in person.
• Saturday, September 7, 2024: From 12 noon to 5 pm there are activities on Solano for children with Solano Avenue open to traffic.
• Sunday, September 8, 2024: From 10 am – 5 pm is the Solano Stroll with Solano closed to traffic.