Daily Archives: February 1, 2012
The Berkeley Wire: 02.01.12
UC Berkeley lecturer, former governor hosts political talk show [Daily Cal]
Pappy’s sports bar and grill opens in old Blake’s space on Telegraph [BANG]
Berkeley man found guilty of making criminal threats [Oakland Tribune]
Cal pledge sues UC sorority over hazing [SF Weekly]
Berkeley moves toward tougher plastic bag ban [Daily Cal]
Defections take toll on UC’s incoming football team [Mercury News]
Friends and family saying goodbye to skateboarder De Martini [Patch]
Photo: Mossy, by cdsessums/Berkeleyside Flickr pool.
Berkeley to reassess Wells Fargo, open account to bids
Last night Berkeley’s City Council voted unanimously to review its banking arrangements with Wells Fargo when the current contract expires at the end of 2012.
This followed a recommendation by councilmembers Jesse Arreguín and Darryl Moore to consider alternatives to the 160-year-old San Francisco bank which, they said, “was a key part of the subprime lending crisis which led to our overall economic collapse”. (View the responsible banking policy Council item.)
Berkeley’s FY11 city budget is about $324 million, and bank deposits are around $10 million, according to a local banking executive. Berkeley has banked with Wells Fargo since 2004 and the contract was last renewed in 2009. … Continue reading »
Thousands expected at Tedx conference on Saturday
More than 1,500 people are expected to go to Zellerbach Auditorium on the UC campus on Saturday for the third annual Tedx/Berkeley.
“Inspiring innovation,” is the theme for the daylong conference, which is organized independently from the main TED conference (Technology, Entertainment, Design) held every year around the world.
Speakers include Carl Bass, the CEO of Autodesk, Charles Holt, an actor and singer who has appeared in numerous Broadway musicals, Connie K. Duckworth, the founder of ARZU, a nonprofit … Continue reading »
Skateboarder hit by car dies of injuries
Update 6:20 p.m. According to the Berkeley Police Department, Tyler De Martini died today at 4:10 p.m.
Berkeley police have determined that De Martini was in the wrong in the collision with a Prius at 7:05 pm on Monday. De Martini was skateboarding in the street in violation of the California Vehicle Code, which requires skateboarders to use sidewalks if they are available. The CVC reads: “No pedestrian may walk upon any roadway outside of a business or residence district otherwise than close to his or her left-hand edge of the roadway.”
Original story: The 18-year old skateboarder who was hit by a car Monday evening while traveling on Marin Avenue is still in grave condition, according to Berkeley police.
The youth, who lived in Berkeley but attended El Cerrito High School, was hit by a 54-year old man driving a Prius around 7:05 pm on Jan. 30. The driver was heading eastbound on Marin negotiating a left hand/northbound turn onto Tulare when the two collided, according to Berkeley police. There was no alcohol involved in the collision and the driver was not charged. … Continue reading »
Big Screen Berkeley: Red Tails
War may be Hell, but it’s hard to imagine anything more hellish than watching Cuba Gooding Jr. girn his way through his embarrassing performance in Red Tails, a WWII blockbuster currently on wide release and screening at United Artists Berkeley 7.
As he chomps maniacally on a pipe, Cuba seems to be channeling the spirit of Popeye through his character: fictional Tuskegee Airman Emanuelle Stance. Happily, the rest of Red Tails’ cast does a better job — but the film itself is closer in spirit to a cartoon than it is to a serious portrayal of the wartime accomplishments of the Army Air Corps’ 332nd Fighter Group.
Produced by George Lucas, apparently still doing penance for bringing Jar Jar Binks into the world, Red Tails begins where it probably should have ended — over the skies of Italy in 1944. There’s little effort to put the story of the Tuskegee Airmen into context: they appear as a fully formed military unit and (bar one stereotypical brass hat) little is seen of the War Department’s efforts to sidetrack the Congressionally mandated Tuskegee program. The film forgoes this rich vein of backstory and suffers as a result. … Continue reading »
Where in Berkeley?
Know where this is? Take a guess and let us know in the Comments.
9:04 am: Meredith Maran is our winner, correctly identifying this as being on Shasta near the intersection with Tamalpais. Several other readers also got it. Congratulations, Meredith, on being this week’s winner!
Photo: Tracey Taylor.
