Daily Archives: September 30, 2011
The Berkeley Wire: 09.30.11
Berkeley prepares for influx of electric cars [Berkeley Voice]
3% of Berkeley high- and middle-schoolers unvaccinated [Daily Cal]
Berkeley Lab finalist sites push for deal [SF Business Times]
Relocating tenants for repairs may soon cost more for landlords [Patch]
Cal-Berkeley, Harvard favorites in rowing regatta [NewsOK]
City considers retrofits for seismically unsafe buildings [Daily Cal]
Jazz quartet pitches in for Berkeley Jazzschool [Berkeley Voice]
Habitot recognizes pre-school teachers with awards [Habitot]
Photo by Tracey Taylor.
Berkeleyside says thank you to our wonderful advertisers
Berkeleyside would like to take a minute to express its gratitude to our current advertisers:
Amoeba Music, Aurora Theater, Berkeley Public Library, Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Institute, Berkwood Hedge School, Bernardo Lopez Garden Design & Installation, Buy Local Berkeley, Carolyn Jones at The Grubb Company, Focal Point, Gather, The Grubb Company, Hotel Shattuck Plaza/Five Restaurant, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Moe’s Books, Park Day School, Pasta Bene, Photo Laboratory, Telegraph Avenue Business District, Tom Miller & Friends Lawyers, Continue reading »
Cal students file redistricting proposal with the city
The campaign to create at least one student-majority district in Berkeley reached a milestone today when a group of student leaders submitted their detailed redistricting proposal to the city clerk.
“We need the city to know that the student community is a legitimate community of interest,” said Joey Freeman, external affairs vice president for the Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC), the student government. “Student issues are community issues.”
“We haven’t had adequate representation of students in Berkeley for over 25 years,” said Vishalli Loomba, President of ASUC.
Freeman acknowledged that today’s proposal is non-compliant with the city charter. The 1986 measure that created Berkeley’s districts — and the amended city charter that resulted — has three requirements: no boundary changes can unseat an existing councilmember, the boundaries need to adhere as closely as possible to the 1986 boundaries, and the districts should be equal in population. Today’s proposal fails on the first two criteria.
The Bread Project: Cooking up a future for people in need
Pat Van Valkenburgh is the kind of person that The Bread Project hopes to help. A stay-at-home mom who home-schooled her two children until they attended Berkeley High School, Van Valkenburgh desperately needed a job when her construction worker husband became unemployed. Since she enjoyed cooking, she thought the nonprofit’s nine-week café training program, which focuses on basic kitchen, food service, and barista skills, was a good fit and would help her find a job in the restaurant industry.
Van Valkenburgh didn’t have to look far for work: she was snapped up by the organization to manage the café it runs out of the Berkeley Adult School, where the program for low-income job seekers, started by Susan Phillips and Lucie Buchbinder in 2000, has been housed since 2003.
The part-time gig has made all the difference during tough economic times; Van Valkenburgh’s family has held on to their home and health insurance. (Both her kids, who attended the Academic Choice School at BHS, currently study at local community colleges and intend to transfer to UC.) … Continue reading »
Berkeley offers free bike helmets to all residents — really
The City of Berkeley is giving free bicycle/multi-use helmets to any Berkeley resident who wants one. No catch.
All you need to do to claim a helmet is turn up at the City of Berkeley Public Health Division at 1947 Center Street, on the 2nd Floor. Office hours are from 9am-5pm. No appointment necessary. The initiative to give out helmets is sponsored by the City of Berkeley Injury Prevention and Chronic Disease Prevention Program and the California Office of Traffic Safety, … Continue reading »
