Daily Archives: May 3, 2011
The Berkeley Wire: 05.03.11
The Edible Schoolyard’s Mother’s Day Plant Sale takes place Saturday May 7 [ES]
Public hearing on west and south branch libraries at May 17 City Council meeting [Berkeley]
Mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade to sing in Berkeley, May 17 [YPSO]
Photo: On the Look Out by Keoki Seu/Berkeleyside Flickr pool.
Layoffs, fee increases proposed for 2012 budget
In order to close a $12.2 million deficit next year – and a projected $13.3 million deficit in 2013 – the city of Berkeley will eliminate 79 positions, cut services, and may raise fees on garbage collection, marina rentals, senior center rentals, and permit inspection fees.
The city may even ask voters to approve a new parcel tax to pay for road and building improvements.
The suggestions are part of the two-year budget City Manager Phil Kamlarz will present to the City Council tonight. And, while the news is gloomy, it is a slightly better forecast than in March, when the city thought it was facing a $12.5 million deficit.
“This is the longest and deepest depression we have had in the last 25 to 30 years,” Kamlarz said at a press briefing on Tuesday.
The city has eliminated 130 positions in the last two years but must cut deeper to balance the $320 million budget for fiscal 2012 and the $311 million budget for fiscal 2013, said Kamlarz. Of the 79 positions that will be eliminated, 57 will be cut in 2012 and 22 will be cut in 2013. Because the city has not been filling vacant positions, 26 people will lose their jobs next year and 18 the year after. … Continue reading »
Join us at Berkeleyside’s first Open Office, May 11, 5-7pm
A virtual community can only go so far. Which is why Berkeleyside has decided to hold open office hours every month or so.
The idea is that Berkeleyside readers can meet the Berkeleyside team in the real world, perhaps over a coffee, to talk and share ideas. We will also be open to suggestions and constructive criticism. Bring story ideas, offers to write or take photographs — and tell us about the issues that matter to you in Berkeley.
Berkeleyside … Continue reading »
Impact’s new season: piquant premières, a bloody classic
Berkeley’s Impact Theatre doesn’t pull its punches when announcing its 2011-12 season. “It’s not so sweet,” reads the release, referring to a roster of plays that run the gamut from a piece focused on Dungeon & Dragons gamers, to a black comedy about a high schooler who disappears — and also includes the group’s interpretation of Shakespeare’s bloodiest tragedy, Titus Andronicus.
“I wanted a season of new plays that were truly unique, in addition to a challenging classic,” says Artistic Director Melissa Hillman. “Each play breaks new ground in its own way.”
The three premières in the line-up are all written by under 35-year-old playwrights.
Cameron McNary’s play about D&D gamers facing adulthood, Of Dice and Men, made its debut at the Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle. “I had the play in my hands ten minutes after I heard about it. Ten minutes after that, I knew we had to do it,” said Hillman who also directs. … Continue reading »
Big Screen Berkeley: Pom Wonderful Presents The Greatest Movie Ever Sold
My first reaction to Morgan Spurlock’s new film (currently playing at Landmark’s Shattuck Cinemas) was confusion: what was with its unwieldy title, and — perhaps more to the point — what was a ‘Pom Wonderful’? After seeing the film, of course, it all became clear: Spurlock had sold the naming rights for his film to a beverage company for a cool million dollars. With the acquisition of those naming rights, the fix was in and Pom Wonderful Presents The Greatest Movie Ever Sold was born.
Spurlock’s freshman feature, 2004’s Super Size Me, broke out of the art-house circuit and ultimately grossed over $11,500,000 — an impressive take for a low-budget, non-Michael Moore helmed documentary. Its message — quarter pounders and milk shakes are bad for you — was as chicken soup for the soul for folks more favorably inclined towards slow, organic food than to the fast, chemically enhanced variety served at the Golden Arches. … Continue reading »
Eighty feet of knitting added to downtown bike racks
Yet another yarn bombing action has taken place in Berkeley, this time on two looped bike racks in front of the downtown Berkeley Public Library.
The striped knitted pieces are an impressive 80 ft long and are the creation of Streetcolor, whose work can be spotted on a multitude of lamp-posts and racks around town. Streetcolor said it took her one month to knit the pieces and a crew of five people to sew it … Continue reading »
