Daily Archives: February 21, 2011
The Berkeley Wire: 02.21.11
UC Berkeley chemistry head Michael Marletta moves to Scripps [San Diego Union-Tribune]
Second annual Berkeley Wine Festival to open Friday at Claremont [East Bay Express]
Bears rugby preserves perfect record with win over Canadian rival [Daily Cal]
Three Berkeley boys reinvent the novelty song [NY Times Magazine]
Photo of sun-dappled raindrops by sisterfish3/Berkeleyside Flickr pool.
Large tree down on Piedmont Avenue and Channing
A large tree came down this weekend on Piedmont Avenue at the corner of Channing.
Police closed off access to Piedmont from the roundabout as tree crews worked under persistent rain to cut down and remove the tree debris, including the trunk and a significant number of branches, from the street.
Eight Berkeley firefighters promoted at pinning ceremony
A row of parked fire engines made an impressive sight on a rainy Friday afternoon on Addison Street as, inside the Berkeley Repertory Thrust Theatre, eight Berkeley firefighers were promoted in a badge-pinning ceremony which also served to remind the audience what an honorable group of men and women serve and protect the Berkeley community.
Led by Fire Chief Debra Pryor, the February 18 ceremony saw close friends and family members — wives, children, mothers — proudly pinning new badges onto the lapels of the newly promoted firefighters.
Several of the firefighters being honored spoke of the sacrifices being made by their families, but the camaraderie of the force, and its ability to act as a second family to many of those who serve, was also in evidence.
Out of control car causes wrecks, injuries on Solano
A seemingly out-of-control BMW careened careered down Solano Avenue Sunday morning, sending at least two people to hospital and damaging seven other cars. Shahram Farshchi, the driver of the car, told Albany Patch, “I believe I had a seizure, or something like a seizure, because I don’t remember anything.”
Farshchi, a 56-year old biochemist who lives in Berkeley, was arrested by the Berkeley police and released with a misdemeanor citation.
Farshchi was driving west on Solano when he first … Continue reading »
Mr Mopps’ new owners cut ribbon on reopened toy store
Mr Mopps’, which has been selling toys in Berkeley since 1962, reopened for business last week after being bought by new owners in October just before the venerable store looked like it might be going out of business for good.
On Friday February 18, the new owners, Devin McDonald and Jenny Stevenson, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the store, which was attended by Mayor Tom Bates, councilmember Laurie Capitelli, and the Chamber of Commerce’s newly elected joint CEOs, Polly Armstrong and John DeClercq, among others.
Sumo Grub’s outrageous food captures TV attention
Jason Sum specializes in fried Twinkies. And fried Oreos. And fried pizza. And fried macaroni and cheese.
Sum, the owner of Sumo Grub, a tiny restaurant squeezed into a squat blue building right across from Berkeley High, has become so well known for his tempura-battered novelties that the Food Network came to film them on February 15. Sum and his creations will be featured on a show called “Outrageous Food,” hosted by Tom Pizzica.
The show is billed … Continue reading »
