Daily Archives: May 31, 2011
The Berkeley Wire: 05.31.11
Berkeley’s San Pablo Park: rated for its kid-friendliness [510 Families]
Lorrain Midanik retires after 27 years on UC Berkeley faculty [UCB]
Birdland Jazz Club remakes itself as private club [Bay Citizen]
Berkeley activist Gina Sasso dies [Berkeley Daily Planet]
Patrol program leads to less loitering on Telegraph [Daily Cal]
Behind the scenes at the Farmers Market, by sisterfish3/Berkeleyside Flickr pool.
Last chance: Support local journalism, get free T-shirt!
Today is the last day of Berkeleyside’s special offer of a free T-shirt if you become a Berkeleyside supporter, which costs as little as $5.00 a month
So go on, champion independent local journalism and wear the T-shirt with pride (unlike the slouchy teenager in the photo). We defy you to resist!
Berkeleyside breaks news and provides unmatched investigative journalism on the issues that matter for Berkeley every day. Residents, both high- and low-profile, appreciate what we do. Here’s what Michael … Continue reading »
Verdict reached in murder trial with Berkeley High victim
By Brenda Kahn
Four and a half years after he was brutally murdered by gunfire in his family’s Oakland apartment, a jury today announced guilty verdicts in the case of former Berkeley High School student Yonas Mehari.
The complex, five-month murder trial concerned three victims — Yonas, age 17 at the time; his mother Regbe Bahrengasi, age 50 at the time; and Yonas’ sister, Winta Mehari, age 28 at the time — who were all gunned down on Thanksgiving Day 2006.
Yonas Mehari was a senior at Berkeley High at the time of his death, which occurred in his family’s Oakland apartment during the course of their Thanksgiving celebration. The jury found two brothers, Asmerom and Tewodros Gebreselassie, guilty of first-degree murder in the triple-murder case. They were also found guilty of associated charges, including kidnapping of Yonas’ nephew and Winta’s son Isaac, who was 2 years old at the time of the shootings.
The verdicts were reached last Thursday following several days of deliberation, but the announcement was delayed until this morning, leaving a sense of suspense over the three-day Memorial Day weekend. … Continue reading »
Berkeley students want better stores, fewer street people
While UC Berkeley students eat regularly downtown and on Telegraph Avenue, they generally go elsewhere to shop for clothes, get their hair cut, buy sundries, or go out on the town, according to a new survey of 1,800 graduate and undergraduate students.
While 40.3% of the respondents say they eat weekly on Telegraph Avenue, at least half said they visit the street less than once a month to shop, work, or get personal or professional services. Instead, they go to Emeryville or San Francisco. The numbers were similar for downtown.
But the students said they would frequent Berkeley’s shops more frequently if the selection was better, the streets were cleaner, and they felt safer walking around. … Continue reading »
More local food trucks join Berkeley’s first Off The Grid
A total of eight food trucks will be working Berkeley’s inaugural Off The Grid street-food event tomorrow night in the Gourmet Ghetto, and four of them are East Bay based vendors.
Joining the four who signed up early — Cupkates, Liba Falafel, Hapa SF and The Taco Guys – will be Skylite Snowballs, 510 Burger, Fins on the Hoof and Brass Knuckle.
Berkeley’s Skylite Snowballs launched in September last year, the brainchild of Katie Baum who pined for the Baltimore-style snowballs of her childhood. Her powder-blue truck can often be seen around the East Bay, including in front of Star Grocery on Claremont Avenue.
As its name implies, Oakland-based 510 Burger turns out artisan burgers and sandwiches, and, like most Off The Grid vendors, favors locally sourced ingredients. … Continue reading »
Road closure adds more woes for UC Berkeley neighbors
By Niclas Ericsson
The east side of Piedmont Avenue – one of the main routes across the top of the UC Berkeley campus – was shut down May 23 for the summer, leading some nearby residents to complain about the continuing disruption caused by construction projects in the area.
James McClury, an architecture student, said getting around the east side of campus has been difficult this year with all the construction vehicles clogging the roads, and he expected the traffic situation to grow worse with the closure of Piedmont Avenue.
“But it’s impossible to stop it,” said McClury. “The university is like the guerrilla gorilla of Berkeley, they can do whatever they want.”
Jack Chang, who was packing up to leave for his summer holidays, said he not happy about the closing down of one lane of Piedmont Avenue.
“That’s going to be a mess,” he said. … Continue reading »
Big Screen Berkeley: Blank City
I’ve spent the past quarter century being vaguely embarrassed about my brief but passionate interest in the films of Richard Kern and Nick Zedd. Friends still tease me about it. Now, however, my predilection has been validated: the new documentary Blank City, opening this Friday June 3rd at the Landmark Shattuck Cinemas, shines the spotlight on Kern, Zedd, and their fellow late 20th-century New York-based indie filmmakers, and suggests their work actually might have some artistic merit.
Late 70s New York City was a mess. Parts of the near-bankrupt city were decaying and lawless no-go zones, including notorious Alphabet City, the Lower East Side neighborhood best known for its burned out apartment buildings, vacant lots, and shooting galleries. Rents were low, but paying rent wasn’t always necessary: there were plenty of abandoned buildings in which to squat. … Continue reading »
