News Updates

Helios Builder Sought, Public Meetings Set

By Richard Brenneman
Monday October 05, 2009
UC Berkeley wants bidders for its first major downtown construction project in the city center, the Helios Energy Research Facility, with the contract to be awarded Oct. 15. -more-

School District Plans Zone Changes to Address Overcrowding

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Saturday October 03, 2009
Berkeley public elementary schools are bursting at the seams and there is no quick fix for the problem. -more-

Student Protesters Gear Up for Oct. 24 Conference at UC Berkeley

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday October 01, 2009
Students gathered in Lower Sproul Plaza Wednesday evening to plan for an Oct. 24 conference at UC Berkeley regarding the university's budget cuts, furloughs and fee hikes.
About 200 students gathered in Lower Sproul Plaza Wednesday evening to discuss the upcoming Oct. 24 mobilizing conference at UC Berkeley, potentially the next big event planned in protest of the university’s budget cuts, furloughs and fee hikes. -more-

Two Stabbed in Downtown Berkeley, Suspect in Custody

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday October 01, 2009
Berkeley police have arrested a man in connection with two stabbings that took place in downtown Berkeley Wednesday. -more-


News

UC Protest Movement Continues to Unfold

By Richard Brenneman and Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday October 01, 2009
UC Berkeley students headed back to Sproul Plaza Wednesday evening to discuss possible actions to protest the university’s budget cuts and related topics. -more-

AC Transit to Request Use of BRT Funds to Stave Off Service Cuts

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Thursday October 01, 2009
The AC Transit Board of Directors took a step back from its signature Bus Rapid Transit project last week. But just how big a step back is yet to be determined. -more-

Downtown Association Adopts Three-Year Plan

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday October 01, 2009
The Downtown Berkeley Association (DBA) is moving in a new direction with the creation of a three-year strategic plan and a search for a new executive director in order to generate more revenue for the 20-year-old organization with hopes of making the downtown more attractive. DBA President Mark McLeod has revealed the organization’s intention to explore the creation of a property-based business improvement district (PBID) and a parking revenue district. The existing Business Improvement District is controlled by business owners, who are not necessarily property owners but can also be tenants. -more-

Shattuck Hotel Officially Opens in Downtown Berkeley

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday October 01, 2009
Josh Buckelew, Hotel Shattuck Plaza's welcome ambassador, greets guests outside the hotel last week.
The Shattuck Hotel has been born again. The 100-year-old six-story landmark, Berkeley’s oldest hotel, officially reopened Thursday, Sept. 24, with much fanfare after a two-year, multi-million-dollar remodeling effort. -more-

State, PG&E Pick Berkeley High for Green Energy Program

By Riya Bhattacharjee By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday October 01, 2009
State Superintendent Jack O'Connell, state Sen. Loni Hancock, California Public Utilities Commission President Michael R. Peevey and Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell was in Berkeley Wednesday to announce the names of five California public high schools—including Berkeley High—selected for a new “green energy” partnership academy pilot program that seeks to train students in clean energy technologies. -more-

Council Raises Parking Meter Rates, Adds Meters, Sets Affordable Housing Push

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Thursday October 01, 2009

‘People’s Park: Still Blooming’

By Lydia Gans, Special to the Planet
Thursday October 01, 2009

Charges Against Yoo Protesters Dropped

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday October 01, 2009

Firefighters Battle Blaze Near Fish Ranch Rd.

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday October 01, 2009

Clarification

Thursday October 01, 2009

Michael Moore and Cecil Brown with the latter's book.

First Person: Michael and Me

By Cecil Brown
Thursday October 01, 2009

Five thousand protesters filled Sproul Plaza Sept. 24 to demand reform of the state's education system.
Richard Brenneman
Five thousand protesters filled Sproul Plaza Sept. 24 to demand reform of the state's education system.

Editorials

The Corporate University Grinds On

By Becky O'Malley
Thursday October 01, 2009
With all due respect to those who have just noticed, the corporatization/privatization of universities public and private, in California and elsewhere, has been going on for a long time. Way back in the late 1970s I was the only journalist and the only intellectual property lawyer who participated in a semester-long seminar on the problem at Stanford sponsored by the National Science Foundation. We focused on the effect on scientific research of what were potentially high-profit new technologies then under development in university laboratories. Central to the discussion was the biotechnology industry, then just beginning its migration from labs at Stanford and UCSF into lucrative companies like Genentech. -more-

Reader Commentaries

Letters to the Editor

Thursday October 01, 2009

Commentary: Just What Happened to that Referendum Anyway?

By Dave Blake
Thursday October 01, 2009

Commentary: Proposals Regarding Afghan Narcotics

By Jerry Mandel
Thursday October 01, 2009


Commentary: The Political Economy of the ‘Illegal’ Immigrant

By Steve Martinot  
Thursday October 01, 2009

Commentary: The United States Must Withdraw from Afghanistan

By Kenneth J. Theisen
Thursday October 01, 2009

Commentary: The Plot to Steal KPFA and Pacifica

By Jim Weber
Thursday October 01, 2009

Commentary: On KPFA’s Concerned Listeners

By Virginia Jones
Thursday October 01, 2009

Commentary: Avoiding a Faustian Bargain at KPFA

By Akio Tanaka
Thursday October 01, 2009

Commentary: Hear the Facts About KPFA’s Unpaid Staff Organization 

By Anthony Fest, Lisa Dettmer, Nick Alexander, Bonnie Faulkner, Shahram Aghamir, Malihe Razazan
Thursday October 01, 2009

Commentary: Sister Rautenstrauch and the Unpaid Staff Organization

By Steve Zeltzer
Thursday October 01, 2009

Commentary: Why We Endorse Concerned Listeners

By Mitch Jeserich and Max Pringle
Thursday October 01, 2009


Commentary: KPFA: The “Raid”

By Daniel Borgström
Thursday October 01, 2009

Columnists

Dispatches from the Edge: Iran Nukes? Taliban’s Gauntlet

By Conn Hallinan
Thursday October 01, 2009

Undercurrents: Chron Writer Gets it Wrong on Oakland Parking Revolt

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Thursday October 01, 2009

Green Neighbors: Breakfast and a Book for Tree Huggers

By Ron Sullivan
Thursday October 01, 2009

James Tait’s small house at 2022 Delaware St. at right and the larger house later built by his widow at 2026 Delaware at left.

East Bay Then and Now: Campus Janitor Beats Professors in Popularity Race

By Daniella Thompson
Thursday October 01, 2009

About the House: The Foreman Problem

By Matt Cantor
Thursday October 01, 2009

Arts & Entertainment

Arts Calendar

Thursday October 01, 2009

Oakland East Bay Symphony Presents ‘Evening With Denyse Graves’

By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet
Thursday October 01, 2009

The Culture and Science of Pinball

By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet
Thursday October 01, 2009

Duykers, Frasconi at Bucci's Cafe

By Ken Bullock Special to the Planet
Thursday October 01, 2009

‘The Nerd’ at Altarena

By Ken Bullock, Special to The Planet
Thursday October 01, 2009

Stephen De Staebler at Richmond Art Center

By Peter Selz, Special to the Planet
Thursday October 01, 2009

Events Calendar

Community Calendar

Thursday October 01, 2009