Daily Archives: November 28, 2011
The Berkeley Wire: 11.28.11
Man killed while running across freeway near Berkeley [Oakland Tribune]
The other student loan problem: too little debt [AP]
Cal and Stanford march together to protest UC police [Stanford Daily]
November has been a dramatic month for this Cal freshman [Daily Breeze]
Berkeley man helped shape form of Occupy Wall Street [New Yorker]
Protesters shut down UC Regents’ meeting [Daily Cal]
Photo by dyannaanfang/Berkeleyside Flickr pool.
Sequoia: Demolition imminent, tenants meet to complain
As demolition crews prepared to partially demolish the fire-ravaged building at 2441 Haste Street Monday afternoon, a group of former tenants of the building were planning to meet this evening to discuss securing settlements from the building’s owners and fixing damage from a fire which, they say, could have been prevented.
The demolition work will likely begin in earnest Tuesday. On Monday crews were doing the groundwork in advance of tearing parts of the structure down, including shoring up nearby retail spaces, putting protective matting on the sidewalks and removing parking meters.
Vehicle and pedestrian traffic is still restricted around the Telegraph-Haste intersection because of the danger posed by the unstable building, although cars can now take a left turn onto Telegraph if driving west on Haste. … Continue reading »
UC Police hit back on protest violence with open letter
The UC Berkeley Police Officers’ Association says it was not their decision to engage campus protesters on November 9th, claim some of their tactics, which have been widely criticized, were responses to violent protesters, and call out the Cal administration for not standing by the police after asking them to enforce its policies.
The UCB Police Officers’ Association, which represents approximately 64 campus police officers — the full complement in the UCPD — made these statements in an open letter released today. Part of the letter, which is addressed to students, faculty and UC Regents, reads: … Continue reading »
Occupy Berkeley remains, experiment is proving fragile
While Occupy encampments across the nation are being forcibly disbanded, be it in Oakland, Manhattan or right here on the Cal campus, the tent-city in Berkeley’s Civic Center Park, which was established in early October after gravitating from the Bank of America on Shattuck Avenue, remains. Its presence has been marked not by clashes with the police or loud demonstrations, but rather by its inherent low profile.
Over the past few weeks, it has quietly grown in size and, while showing no sign of leaving, it is nevertheless struggling with the consequences of its policy of radical inclusivity. Occupy Berkeley campers and supporters are engaging in loud and long disagreements and debates as they try to figure out the best approach to a world which opens its doors to all who walk in: decent people, as well as thieves and assailants. … Continue reading »
LeRoy Steps: Source of pride and local controversy
Five years ago the steps leading from Hilgard Avenue down to LeRoy were a tangled mess, ill lit, broken in spots, and dotted with graffiti. Scraggly trees and brambles grew unrestrained along the steps’ borders.
Then a group of neighbors got together, and, with hard work and the assistance of funding from the city and UC Berkeley, transformed the steps into an inviting path. New lights now illuminate the walkway, and every March hundreds of daffodils push their way to the surface, creating a yellow burst of color.
“Several years ago it was just a dump,” said City Councilmember Susan Wengraf. “It was overgrown, strewn with garbage, basically abandoned by the city. Over time it really became transformed from a very unattractive place to quite a beautiful place.” … Continue reading »
