News Updates

Web Update: Council Softens Language, Supports Protesters

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday February 12, 2008
Posted Wed., Feb. 13—After being called “idiots,” thanked profusely, had their manners upbraided, told, during a three-hour public hearing they were unpatriotic and true patriots, the Berkeley City Council softened rhetoric of a Jan. 29 council item that would have had staff write the Marines, telling them their recruiters are “uninvited and unwelcome” in Berkeley. -more-

News

Native Americans Protest Grove Plans

By RICHARD BRENNEMAN
Tuesday February 12, 2008
As many as 300 Native Americans and their supporters marched on Sproul Plaza Monday morning after a gathering at the Memorial Stadium Grove. -more-

Council Action Fallout: Protests and Revisions

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday February 12, 2008
Since voting Jan. 29 to support protests at the downtown Marine Recruiting Center and asking staff to write a letter telling the Marines they are “unwelcome intruders,” the Berkeley City Council has been skewered on-line and in print, excoriated in thousands of e-mails, and threatened by Republicans in Congress and state legislature with the loss of government funds. -more-

City Council Considers Public Commons Services

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday February 12, 2008
While most eyes on tonight’s (Tuesday) City Council meeting will be on the council item that would rescind the Jan. 29 directive to staff to write the Marines and tell them they are unwelcome in Berkeley, the council has a full plate of other tasks before it. -more-

Police Official Says City Must Attack North Oakland Crime Problem

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Tuesday February 12, 2008
The captain of the newly formed Oakland Police Department Area One told North Oakland residents on Saturday that the rash of recent shootings in their community is the result of a turf war between the Ghost Town gang and the Acorn Gang of the Lower Bottom, and he intends to “plant the flag” in the Ghost Town section as an immediate step to abate the problem. -more-

Illegal Demolition Leads Preservationists to Question Ordinance

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday February 12, 2008
An illegal demolition of a building on University Avenue has made local preservationists question Berkeley’s demolition ordinance yet again. -more-

Neighbors Sue Over South Berkeley Cell Phone Towers

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday February 12, 2008
The Berkeley Neighborhood Antenna-Free Union (BNAFU) filed a lawsuit in the Alameda County Superior Court last week to stop the installation of 11 cell phone antennas on top of UC Storage at 2721 Shattuck Ave. -more-

Density Bonus, Law School, Southside on Planning Agenda

Tuesday February 12, 2008
Planning Commissioners will weigh in Wednesday on building size rules and get their first look at a three-story building UC Berkeley plans for the courtyard adjacent to its law school. -more-

Opportunities to Engage With Israel-Palestine

Tuesday February 12, 2008
There are several opportunities in Berkeley this week to engage with the peace process in Israel-Palestine. -more-

Two Challengers to Face Off in OUSD Board Race

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Tuesday February 12, 2008
With at least two incumbent Oakland Unified School District board members choosing not to run for re-election this year, the OUSD board is guaranteed new faces just at the time it is regaining a measure of local control. -more-

Housing Commission Weighs in on Bonus Rules

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday February 12, 2008
Housing Advisory Commissioners are weighing in on one of Berkeley’s hottest political potatoes, laws that grant developers bigger buildings in exchange for including affordable units. -more-

Kavanagh Resigns from Rent Stabilization Board

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday February 12, 2008

Council Considers Whether Pacific Steel Constitutes a ‘Nuisance’

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday February 12, 2008

Editorials

Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places

By Becky O’Malley
Tuesday February 12, 2008
Message to would-be politicians: watch out for e-mail. The time-hallowed practice of pitching part of your message to Interest Group A and another part to Interest Group B becomes very risky when just one Group A recipient who doesn’t like what your pitch letter promises can quickly forward it to all sorts of others who really don’t like it. -more-

Reader Commentaries

Letters to the Editor

Tuesday February 12, 2008

Bank Busts Began in Berkeley

By Steven Finacom
Tuesday February 12, 2008

Children’s Hospital Campaign Was Deceitful

By Tony Paap
Tuesday February 12, 2008

Readers Weigh In On City Council vs. Marines Controversy

Tuesday February 12, 2008

Why Protesters Resisted Marine Recruiters

By Kenneth Thiesen
Tuesday February 12, 2008

More Letters About the City-Marines Controversy

Tuesday February 12, 2008

Make Sure Your Valentine’s Roses Are Green

By Gar Smith
Tuesday February 12, 2008

Columnists

No Hiatus from the Hospital

By Susan Parker
Tuesday February 12, 2008

The Theater of Gentrification

By Zelda Bronstein
Tuesday February 12, 2008

Hummingbird Mysteries: How They Make That Dive Noise

By Joe Eaton
Tuesday February 12, 2008

Arts & Entertainment

Arts Calendar

Tuesday February 12, 2008

Project Opera Stages Leoncavallo’s ‘Pagliacci’

By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet
Tuesday February 12, 2008

Historical Society Opens GAR Vet Group Records

By John Aronovici
Tuesday February 12, 2008

Events Calendar

Berkeley This Week

Tuesday February 12, 2008