Daily Archives: November 18, 2011
The Berkeley Wire: 11.18.11
Buy books this weekend and benefit local schools [Mrs Dalloway's]
Berkeley crackdown raises fears of backward move [NYT]
What should next Berkeley Journalism School dean do? [Brad DeLong]
Cal student escapes attempted sexual assault on campus [Daily Cal]
Occupy Cal makes Occupy History at Berkeley [The Atlantic]
Photo: Doe Library leading up to the Big Game, by D.H. Parks/Berkeleyside Flickr pool.
Berkeleyside says thank you to our advertisers
Berkeleyside would like to express its gratitude to our current advertisers:
Actors Ensemble of Berkeley, Amoeba Music, Berkwood Hedge School, Berkeley Lab, Bernardo Lopez Garden Design & Installation, Buy Local Berkeley, Carolyn Jones at The Grubb Company, Claremont Hotel, Club & Spa, College Preparatory School, Ecology Center, Focal Point, Gather, The Grubb Company, Hotel Shattuck Plaza/Five Restaurant, Mechanics Bank, Moe’s Books, Occupy Oakland, Orinda Academy, Park Day School, Pasta Bene, Photo Laboratory, Saint Mary’s College of California, St … Continue reading »
In Berkeley, the sellers’ market just keeps on truckin’
Latest figures on home sales suggest many buyers are still having to work hard to get their hands on a new home in Berkeley. Sellers, it appears, have the advantage, and, according to research compiled by Redfin, have done so for the past 12 months.
Everything in Berkeley points to the continuation of a sellers’ market. The data (presented in the Redfin graphs below) shows that the total number of homes for sale is down 26.8% from October last year, and down 15.2% over last month.
Meanwhile, prices are up 0.4% year-on-year, and up 8.6% from last month. Sale-to-list price is 101% for single-family homes and 106% for condos in Berkeley (a 12-month high), which means buyers are often having to pay over the listing price to ensure it is them not someone else closing escrow on their dream house. … Continue reading »
Mayor’s chief of staff leaves City Hall for UC Berkeley post
Julie Sinai, chief of staff to Mayor Tom Bates for the last nine years, will be the new Director of Local Government and Community Relations at UC Berkeley starting in January.
“The areas I’m really hoping to be engaged in are developing the innovation, economic and educative pathways for the East Bay,” Sinai said. “There’s a momentum around those issues that wasn’t there a few years ago,”. Sinai cited projects like the East Bay Green Corridor and the recently opened Skydeck from the Berkeley Startup Cluster.
From the start of his first term in 2002, Bates passed up the mayor’s salary (he receives a pension from his two decades as a state assemblyman representing Berkeley) and used the funds to hire Sinai. Sinai was the mayor’s policy advisor on youth, education, jobs, health, social service issues, and inter-government relations. She had previously worked for the Berkeley Unified School District. … Continue reading »
Baker’s dozen: To Berkeley from a brick oven in Marin
As commutes go, Eduardo Morell knows he’s onto a good thing. The south-west Berkeley dweller spends 35 minutes behind the wheel before he reaches the bucolic setting that is home to the Headlands Center for the Arts near Sausalito, in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. He’s greeted by fresh air, windswept hills, blue (or fog-filled) skies, the sound and smell of the ocean, and the seasons on display.
It is, without doubt, a special spot. That Morell gets to call it his workplace only makes it more magical.
The baker behind Morell’s Bread spends two 14- to 16-hour days at this artists’ enclave in a collection of former army barracks in the Marin Headlands, where he bakes naturally leavened bread in a wood-burning brick oven designed by master-builder Alan Scott. His loaves are served up to the artists-in-residence and sold at the Thursday and Saturday farmers’ markets in Berkeley. … Continue reading »
Snapshot: Jessica Williams, owner, Brushstrokes Studio
By Pete Rosos
The daughter of an engineer who worked for the US government, Jessica Williams grew up in Bangkok, Vienna, the East Coast, and the West Coast. Her ability to speak five languages (English, French, Spanish, Dutch, and German) landed her a job at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City. After ten years of working in politics, Jessica decided to follow her passion, move to the Bay Area, and study ceramics at the California College of the Arts. She became the owner of Brushstrokes Studio, a pottery painting and ceramics studio on Page Street, 15 years ago.
When did you arrive in Berkeley?
I arrived from New York City 17 years ago.
What’s your ‘hood?
Berkeley Hills, up by Tilden Park.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Pretty much exactly what I’m doing right now. I loved art, and I wanted to do my own thing. … Continue reading »
