Local News and Opinion from The Berkeley Daily Planet

News Updates

Council Postpones Sunshine Hearing To October, Grants 90-day Extension to Citizens’ Group

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Thursday April 24, 2008

Posted Thurs., April 24—The Berkeley City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to postpone the public hearing on the Berkeley city attorney’s draft sunshine ordinance—which promises greater access to local government—to October and granted the citizens’ group working on an alternate draft a 90-day extension to complete their work. -more-

North Oakland Man Shoots Intruder

By Richard Brenneman

Tuesday April 22, 2008

Posted Tue., April 22—Oakland Police are investigating a Tuesday morning shooting in which neighbors say a North Oakland man shot an intruder breaking into his 59th Street home. -more-

News

CarShare Now Offering Wheelchair-Accessible Vans

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Tuesday April 22, 2008

Dona Spring dreams of visiting Point Reyes, something the 55-year-old Berkeley councilmember has never done before. After rheumatoid arthritis left Spring wheelchair bound in 1972, weekend getaways have been few and far between. -more-

Assembly Candidates Vie For Major

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor

Tuesday April 22, 2008

In a crowded field in which candidates are trying to distinguish themselves from one other—such as in the current four member June 3 Democratic primary to succeed Loni Hancock as California Assemblymember from the 14th Assembly District—individual and group endorsements can be a key factor in victory or defeat. -more-

Council Takes Up Sunshine, Density Bonus, Tax Survey

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Tuesday April 22, 2008

The Berkeley City Council will meet today (Tuesday) with a busy agenda, including putting tax measures on the ballot, the city’s proposed sunshine ordinance, competing density bonus provisions, its position on spraying to thwart the Light Brown Apple Moth and a proposal to charge for evening street parking downtown. -more-

Subprime Crisis Hits Berkeley, Exact Dimensions in Dispute

By Richard Brenneman

Tuesday April 22, 2008

Foreclosures nationwide soared 57 percent in March, and rates may be running even higher in Oakland as East Bay cities are caught in the turmoil of the subprime mortgage disaster. -more-

Berkeley Man Dies in Crash on The Alameda

Bay City News

Tuesday April 22, 2008

A Berkeley peace activist, thwarted in one suicide attempt, apparently succeeded in another, more dramatic bid to end his life Friday. -more-

Planning Commission Tackles Southside Plan EIR

By Richard Brenneman

Tuesday April 22, 2008

Pacific Steel Appeal of Court Decisions Begins

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Tuesday April 22, 2008

First Person: Show Me the Street Money

By Winston Burton

Thursday April 24, 2008

Earth Day Thoughts on Loss and Limits

By Joe Eaton, Special to the Planet

Thursday April 24, 2008

Food Riots Have Deeper Roots

By Christopher McCourt

Thursday April 24, 2008

Biofuels: Our Latest and Greatest Band-Aid

By Elizabeth Jean Dow

Thursday April 24, 2008

Riya Bhattacharjee

City Councilmember Dona Spring uses the AccessMobile’s manual fold ramp to exit the van during a test drive Friday evening. City CarShare will launch the nation’s first wheelchair-accessible CarShare van today (Tuesday) in partnership with the City of Berkeley at the Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center.

Editorials

Editorial: A Holiday, a Change, a Party—Let the Sun Shine

By Becky O'Malley

Tuesday April 22, 2008

Today is the 38th anniversary of the first Earth Day, a media event created in the United States with the sponsorship of a senator, Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin. In other countries around the world, Earth Days coincide with the vernal equinox, around March 20, but in this country it’s been April 22 since it started. (The DAR once spread the scurrilous rumor that the date was chosen because April 22, 1969, was the centennial of Lenin’s birth.) -more-