Daily Archives: March 30, 2012
The Berkeley Wire: 03.30.12
Berkeley police chief at center of free speech furor [NYT]
Malcolm X selected as a 2012 California Distinguished School [Dept of Ed]
UC Berkeley’s Ikhlaq Sidhu: bridging tech, business sense [The Deal]
Female founders to watch from UC Berkeley [Forbes]
Cary Grant in “I Was a Male War Bride” at BAM/PFA [SF Weekly]
Critics raise safety concerns about biotech labs [CCT]
Cal releases freshman admission decisions [Daily Cal]
Cal graduate student’s health issues spark national debate [Huff Post]
Berkeley rapper Lil B to give lecture at NYU [Baller Status]
Photo by Monica’s Dad/Berkeleyside Flickr pool.
Berkeleyside says thank you to our advertisers
Berkeleyside would like to express its gratitude to our current advertisers:
Amoeba Music, Berkwood Hedge School, Bernardo Lopez Garden Design & Installation, Cal Youth Camps, Carolyn Jones at The Grubb Company, Church Without Walls, Fantasy T-Shirts, Five Restaurant, Focal Point, Gourmet Ghetto, The Grubb Company, Ira & Carol Serkes: Pacific Union/Christie’s International Real Estate, Jewish Music Festival, LMi.net, Marsh Interiors, McKevitt Fiat, Mechanics Bank, Mrs. Dalloway’s Literary and Garden Arts Bookstore, Photo Laboratory, Psychotherapy Institute, Sutter East Bay Medical … Continue reading »
Longfellow holds Hoodie Day in honor of Trayvon Martin
Today was Hoodie Day at Longfellow School in Berkeley. Students and teachers at the middle school wore hoodies in memory of Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old who was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, a self-appointed neighborhood watch captain, in Sanford, Fla. on Feb. 26.
The class of teacher Erin Schweng also had skittles and Arizona Tea, both items Martin was carrying when he died.
“We talked about what happened, and how what we’re doing today is just a small thing but that it shows solidarity and support,” said Schweng. “Our middle school students are young people with heart, passion, and a budding activism all their own.” … Continue reading »
Southside residents contend with spate of shootings
It was a normal-seeming morning on Sacramento Street on Friday, 14 hours after a man had been murdered on nearby Oregon Street.
Mothers pushed children strapped in their strollers. A man bought two cans of frosty Colt 45 beer and a quarter pint of cognac at Bob’s Liquors. Two young men rapped on the metal gate leading to Perfect Plant Patient’s Group, a medical cannabis collective.
Seal Lolis, the owner of Bootstrapper, a southern style restaurant on Sacramento, lit up the charcoal in the two barbecues right outside his bright red gate. Fridays are barbecue days at the Bootstrapper, and Lolis was getting ready to cook the ribs, links and chicken his regular customers look forward to.
Lolis had been just yards away from the 7:34 pm shooting on Thursday. He was working in his restaurant and heard the shots, but stayed inside. He has been operating a business on Sacramento Street for three years, but cannot remember another time there have been so many gun battles. … Continue reading »
Community seeks life support for school edible programs
This week, Berkeley parents and community members rallied to find ways to secure funds to save the gardening and cooking programs at three local elementary schools.
The programs at Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, and Washington, whose combined budgets are $372,000, are threatened because, under existing guidelines, the schools no longer qualify for federal monies as they have fewer than 50% of their students enrolled in the free and reduced-lunch program.
At a meeting at Malcolm X on Monday night, about two dozen people representing the three schools and the South Berkeley community hashed out ideas to find money in the short-term — and discussed the bigger-picture concern of making these programs sustainable, as well as available to all BUSD students over the long haul. … Continue reading »
Allen Trachtenberg, social justice campaigner
Allen Trachtenberg died March 11 at the age of 84 at home surrounded by his wife Mitzi, his children, their spouses and his grandchildren in Berkeley.
Having been diagnosed with cancer Allen underwent treatments that gave him four more years, outliving all expectations, during which he traveled, tutored, campaigned and savored the company of his large family and rich circle of friends.
Born in Pittsburgh in 1927, Allen’s grandparents and parents immigrated there from Poland and Russia. His life was informed by his Socialist, Jewish Orthodox grandfather who instilled values of social justice on which he acted and agitated in the Civil Rights movement and the United Farmworkers’ boycotts. … Continue reading »
Sacramento Street shooting victim dies, arrest made
A man who was shot in the area of Sacramento and Oregon streets near Bob’s Liquor store on Thursday night at around 7:30 pm was pronounced dead at Highland Hospital last night. Berkeley police have made one arrest, but no specific details of the arrestee are being released. The case is being investigated as a homicide. Berkeley Police officers were still on the scene of the incident at 4.20 am Friday morning, and are continuing to investigate.
After 7:34 pm, Berkeley Police received multiple calls of loud reports in the area of the 2800 block of Sacramento Street. Responding officers found a single gunshot victim lying in the roadway on Oregon Street west of Sacramento Street. The Berkeley Fire Department transported the victim to Highland Hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to Berkeley Police Lt. Kevin Schofield, who was the watch commander on duty at the time of the crime. … Continue reading »
Police blotter: Recent crime in Berkeley
This is a partial list of recent crimes in Berkeley based on information from the Berkeley Police Department, followed by a snapshot of BPD activity this week. The BPD’s spreadsheet of calls for service is available on Google Docs. See also the San Francisco Chronicle’s regularly published list of arrests in Berkeley. For other sources of information on crime in Berkeley see Community CrimeView and Crimemapping.com.
March 25:
Drunk In Public Arrest – 1500 block of Oregon Street – #2012-16021
On Sunday, March 25, 2012 at about 9:32 p.m., a BPD patrol officer responded for a second time that night to an apartment building in the 1500 block of Oregon Street. The calls were regarding an unwanted person who was not welcome but had returned after being warned not to. During the second call for service, the BPD beat officer and a cover officer detained the man. The man displayed impairment and an inability to follow directions. The officers could smell a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath, his speech was slurred, his eyes were bloodshot and he had to lean on a pole to maintain his balance. The beat officer arrested the City of Oakland man for violation of 647 (f) PC – Drunk in Public. … Continue reading »
