Daily Archives: March 24, 2011
The Berkeley Wire: 03.24.11
UC Botanical Garden in Berkeley: Fun with plants [SF Chronicle]
Locavores gone loco in Berkeley [Zester Daily]
Yellowjackets girls basketball star Culberson “on a mission” [CoCo Times]
BUSD superintendant Bill Huyett talks about gun incidents at BHS [KQED]
All about eVe: adventurous cuisine in Berkeley [SF Chronicle]
Berkeley artist leads national movement of art out of books [Kansas City Star]
“Rustic, simple, Florentine”: Berkeley’s Corso Trattoria [SF Chronicle]
High tech companies woo Berkeley, Stanford students [WSJ]
Photo: Spring rains, fall colors by sisterfish3/Berkeleyside Flickr pool
Willard School will not be site for REALM Charter School
Willard Middle School is no longer in the running as a possible location for the middle school part of the city’s new REALM Charter School — much to the relief of many Willard parents who were campaigning against the move.
After a closed meeting Wednesday, the BUSD Board announced it had decided against Willard as a home for Berkeley’s new Revolutionary Education and Learning Movement (REALM) middle school
Victor Diaz, REALM’s principal, told Berkeleyside on March 17 that he was opposed … Continue reading »
Berkeley High students weigh in on gun issues at school
Students at Berkeley High School do not necessarily agree with the views of their parents and the adult community at large when it comes to issues surrounding safety, security and guns on campus.
According to several students who have voiced their opinions on Berkeleyside, they believe guns are a fact of life at high schools, they nevertheless feel safe, and they are against measures such as metal detectors — which they say would make them feel as though they were all being treated as criminals.
Several defend the school’s principal, Pasquale Scuderi, who they believe is doing a good job in difficult circumstances, and they seem to think parents are over-reacting in their responses and need a “reality check” on what life at BHS is really like. … Continue reading »
Rain, rain go away?
With more torrential rain today, it seems like March has been an unending downpour. This morning’s rain supplemented already high creeks in Berkeley and if your street’s storm drain was clogged, you’re certain to have serious flooding problems. But we’re not out of the rain quite yet.
“There will be another system moving through in the next couple of days,” Bob Benjamin, a forecaster with the National Weather Service, told Berkeleyside. “It won’t be quite as windy or quite as stormy. By Sunday it should be better.” … Continue reading »
City takes first step towards adopting West Berkeley Plan
At its Tuesday evening session this week, the Berkeley City Council closed the public hearings on the West Berkeley Plan, and took the first of three steps towards adopting the plan in its entirety.
“The Council passed the least controversial measures on Tuesday,” said Dan Marks, Berkeley’s Director of Planning and Development. Councilmembers Kriss Worthington and Jesse Arreguín both voted against the three separate agenda items which made up this first part of the process.
About eight members of the public, including local architect Joe Decredico and acupuncturist Annie Wells, spoke of their concerns over parking, which was the main focus of the ordinances under consideration. … Continue reading »
Berkeley neighborhood reacts to violent crime in its midst
On February 10th, David Thornton was walking home from Ashby BART at around 11:30 p.m. after attending an event in San Francisco. Heading to his home, where he has lived for more than 10 years, he felt himself being followed. Thornton quickened his step, but then saw another man walking on the other side of the street. A few minutes later, the two men sped up their pace and Thornton was ambushed.
“David did not want to make as if he was coming to the house,” explained his wife, Catherine Huchting, “because he knew our dog would begin to bark and I would open the front door — and he feared one of us would end up dead.”
The two men began to beat Thornton violently with a gun on his chest and face. The pistol whipping was so severe it caused multiple facial fractures. The assailants fled without stealing anything. Thornton was left to crawl home bleeding profusely. He whispered to his wife to call 911. … Continue reading »
When it rains… a rainbow over Berkeley
Aaron Glimme used the Berkeleyside app to send us this photograph of a rainbow over Berkeley — an inevitable consequence, perhaps, of the profusion or rain interspersed with bursts of sun we have been having here recently.
