Local News and Opinion from The Berkeley Daily Planet

News Updates

City Refuses to Weigh in on Tree-Sitter Safety Issue

By Judith Scherr

Wednesday June 25, 2008

The most notable event at the Tuesday night/Wednesday morning City Council meeting was what did not happen: The council scheduled the issue of the health and safety of the tree sitters as an emergency item, then refused to extend the meeting late enough to discuss and vote on the matter. -more-

Planning Commission Tackles Cell Towers, BRT; Eases Through Downtown Plan Chapters

By Richard Brenneman

Wednesday June 25, 2008

Planning commissioners who last week struggled through sections of the Downtown Area Plan will take up the Southside Plan, amendments to the city’s wireless ordinance and Bus Rapid Transit on Wednesday night. -more-

Black Oak Books Reopens Under New Ownership

By Judith Scherr

Tuesday June 24, 2008

Having shut its doors for only one day, Black Oak Books reopened today (Tuesday) under the new ownership of Gary Cornell, who hails from Connecticut. -more-

BUSD Recommends Curvy Derby Plan to School Board

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Tuesday June 24, 2008

The curvy Derby plan will be back at the Berkeley Board of Education meeting Wednesday, and this time Berkeley Unified School District officials are pressing for its approval. -more-

Sunday Confrontation at Stadium Leads to Arrests, Street Closure

By Richard Brenneman

Monday June 23, 2008

Tree-sit supporter Matthew Taylor struggles with campus police after he was wrestled to the ground and arrested during Sunday’s protest outside Memorial Stadium.

Tensions escalated outside UC Berkeley’s Memorial Stadium Sunday, following a confrontation between Berkeley City Councilmember Dona Spring and campus Assistant Police Chief Mitch Celaya. -more-

Ballot Measure Prioritizes End to Rotating Fire Station Closures

By Judith Scherr

Monday June 23, 2008

The Berkeley fire fighters union has not publicly supported the disaster and emergency preparedness ballot measure proposed for the November ballot. -more-

Dellums' Spokesperson Confirms Edgerly Investigation

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor

Monday June 23, 2008

A spokesperson for Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums today (Monday) confirmed that an ongoing investigation is being conducted into allegations that Oakland Administrator Deborah Edgerly interfered with a police operation, but refused to comment on published reports that the mayor has given Edgerly an ultimatum to resign or be fired. -more-

Cody's Books Closes After 52 Years in Berkeley

By Michael Howerton

Friday June 20, 2008

Cody’s Books, founded on Euclid Avenue in Berkeley in 1956, moved to Telegraph Avenue, expanded to Fourth Street in 1998 and San Francisco in 2005, closed on Telegraph in 2006, closed in San Francisco the following year, moved to Shattuck Avenue in March, and then, on June 19, 2008, went out of business. -more-

News Analysis: The Stadium Decision: An Initial Assessment

By Antonio Rossmann

Sunday June 22, 2008

Judge Barbara Miller has given cause for celebration in both the university proponents of the stadium-with-athletic-center project, and the litigants and other community members opposed to the present proposal. Each side could rightfully claim on release of the opinion that they were victorious. But neither side can rightfully deny the other side’s success. -more-

Down Home to Leave Fourth Street

By Judith Scherr

Friday June 20, 2008

After only 11 months in Berkeley, Down Home Music is moving out of its Fourth Street store. -more-

Safeway Unveils New Plans for College Avenue Store

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Friday June 20, 2008

Safeway had few supporters among the 300 people who turned up at the Peralta Elementary School Thursday to listen to the supermarket giant's new plans to remodel its College Avenue store. -more-

Stadium Ruling Triggers Various Interpretations, More Arrests at Grove

By Richard Brenneman

Friday June 20, 2008

No sooner had Judge Barbara J. Miller ruled on the California Memorial Stadium projects lawsuit than all sides were spinning her ruling faster than a pool hustler's cue ball. -more-

UC Police Remove Protester from Oak Grove

Thursday June 19, 2008

6 p.m. Thursday--UC police, using a cherry-picker, have removed one tree-sitter this evening, and have pushed back all supporters and the public from the area surrounding the Memorial Stadium oak grove. -more-

Moth Aerial Spraying Called Off in Urban Areas

By Judith Scherr

Thursday June 19, 2008

There will be no Bay Area aerial spraying for the light brown apple moth, A.J. Kawamura, California agriculture secretary, announced Thursday afternoon in a conference call to the media. -more-

South Berkeley Man Fatally Shot in Home

By Richard Brenneman

Thursday June 19, 2008

A man collapses after learning that the father of his niece and nephews had been slain Wednesday morning in his Emerson Street home.

Charles Faison, 39, described by neighbors as a private security guard and a father, was fatally gunned down in his home Thursday morning. -more-

Bates Declares Lawsuit Victory; Wozniak Says Not So

By Judith Scherr

Thursday June 19, 2008

While Mayor Tom Bates declared victory Thursday morning after a judge’s ruling on Berkeley’s lawsuit over UC Berkeley’s proposed construction of a sports facility adjacent to Memorial Stadium, City Councilmember Gordon Wozniak called the ruling a loss for the city. -more-

News

Judge’s Ruling Blocks UC Berkeley Gym Project

By Richard Brenneman

Thursday June 19, 2008

An Alameda County Superior Court judge’s ruling has forced a halt to the planned construction of a gymnasium complex next to UC Berkeley’s California Memorial Stadium. -more-

Council Halts New Development On Panoramic Hill

By Judith Scherr

Thursday June 19, 2008

The day before a judge was to rule on the university’s right to build a sports training facility adjacent to Memorial Stadium, the City Council voted 8-1 to temporarily halt all new development in the Panoramic Hill neighborhood, just south of the stadium. -more-

Safeway Unveils Expansion Plans for Solano Avenue Store

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Thursday June 19, 2008

Safeway representatives unveiled plans to upgrade their Solano Avenue store at the Northbrae Community Church Tuesday, and they got an earful from Berkeley and Albany neighbors, who voiced concerns about aesthetics, parking and the size of the proposed project. -more-

Flexibility Out, New Numbers Needed as West Berkeley Project Continues

By Richard Brenneman

Thursday June 19, 2008

Forget flexibility: It’s now the “West Berkeley Project.” -more-

Commissioners Hear BRT Fears, Praise

By Richard Brenneman

Thursday June 19, 2008

The ongoing battle over bus rapid transit (BRT) smoldered anew when Berkeley’s planning and transportation commissions took their second joint look at the concept last week. -more-

Transit Board President Surprised More Oaklanders Aren’t Weighing In on BRT

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor

Thursday June 19, 2008

AC Transit Postpones Fare Hike, Considers Parcel Tax Ballot Measure Instead

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor

Thursday June 19, 2008

Berkeley Police Exonerate Officer in Shooting Death

By Judith Scherr

Thursday June 19, 2008

Protesters Call for Justice in Police Killings

By Judith Scherr

Thursday June 19, 2008

Berkeley Plans Search for New City Attorney

By Judith Scherr

Thursday June 19, 2008

Berkeley High graduates celebrate at the Greek Theatre on friday

Class of 2008 Says Good-Bye to Berkeley High

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Thursday June 19, 2008

BUSD Rescinds Teacher Lay-Off Notices

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Thursday June 19, 2008

BUSD Aims for Education Equity with ‘2020 Vision’

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Thursday June 19, 2008

Bared Breast Provokes Arrest at Marine Recruiting Station

By Judith Scherr

Thursday June 19, 2008

No Plea from Hoeft-Edenfield in UC Stabbing Case

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Thursday June 19, 2008

Berkeley Police Looking for Sex Offender

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Thursday June 19, 2008

Missing Rice University Student’s Car Found in West Berkeley

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Thursday June 19, 2008

Anti-Spray Resolution Goes to Full State Senate

By Judith Scherr

Thursday June 19, 2008

MediaNews East Bay Newsrooms Go Union in Narrow Vote

By Richard Brenneman

Thursday June 19, 2008

A helicopter drops water scooped from Lake Temescal onto the smouldering embers of a fire that consumed two acres of a hillside Thursday near the site of the disastrous 1991 Oakland Hills Fire.

Berkeley Firefighters Defeat Two Blazes, Tackle a Third

By Richard Brenneman

Thursday June 19, 2008

New UC Vice Chancellor Worked for Carlyle Group

By Richard Brenneman

Thursday June 19, 2008

Hancock’s Primary Victory Powered by Fundraising

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor

Thursday June 19, 2008

New Candidates Collecting Signatures for Local Elections

By Judith Scherr

Thursday June 19, 2008

By Richard Brenneman

UC Berkeley Assistant Police Chief Mitch Celaya struggles Sunday to close the breach between two barriers opened by tree-sit supporters who wanted to resupply the nine remaining protesters at the Memorial Stadium grove slated for destruction to make way for a new gym complex.

Editorials

Editorial: Another Opening, Another Show

By Becky O'Malley

Thursday June 19, 2008

OK, political junkies. Now that the Democratic primaries are over, in the lull before the presidential election really picks up steam, it’s time to turn your fervent attention to the last remnants of decision-making which are left for the local voters, at least in Berkeley. Oakland has just about settled its council races, though the at-large councilmember’s slot is still open. But in Berkeley, at least in theory, you might still be able to influence what happens on the home front. -more-

The Editor's Back Fence

UC Berkeley Continues to Embarrass Its Graduates

By Becky O'Malley

Thursday June 19, 2008

Thanks to Judge Barbara Miller's decision in the Oaks v. UC case, Wednesday lasted longer than it should have. The weekly Planet was all ready to send off to the printer at 6, when Redwood Mary called me on my cell phone, saying, "we won, we won!'" Reporter Richard Brenneman had already left, because we all believed that Judge Barbara Miller wasn't going to issue her long-delayed ruling, promised for yesterday, after all. -more-