Monthly Archives: October 2012
The Berkeley Wire: 10.31.12
Halloween on Webster St. Photo: Daryl Austern
Fraternity Halloween decoration prompts outcry (Daily Cal)
Halloween pumpkin treats in the Elmwood (Green Bungalows)
Campus, city expect increased traffic because of Friday night game (Daily Cal)
Dan Savage to speak at UC Berkeley (Chronicle)
Cal to close Strawberry Canyon pool over winter to save money (SF Biz Times)
Cal 2nd for Fulbright Scholars among research institutions (Daily Cal)
Window broken, shofar stolen at Afikomen store in Berkeley (J Weekly)
Shoemaker Campbell collaborates with Convert on 4th (Diablo)
“Three Michaels” sold out, last chance to snag tickets
As you may have heard, Berkeleyside is organizing what promises to be a hugely entertaining evening on Monday Dec. 10. The “three Michaels of Berkeley” — Michael Chabon, Michael Lewis and Michael Pollan, all Berkeley residents — will come together for the first time to talk place, politics, people and, no doubt, writing. The event is a benefit for 826 Oakland, a new youth writing program for the East Bay, inspired by Dave Eggers’ pioneering 826 Valencia. The event is sponsored by One PacificCoast Bank.
We are delighted to announce today that “The Three Michaels: A Berkeley Conversation” is sold out. Clearly many people are as eager as we are to support a great cause and to hear from three of the country’s best writers, all of whom do fascinating work in their fields.
There is one last chance to snag tickets, however. … Continue reading »
Measure S: Will it help or hurt the homeless?
On Nov. 6, Berkeley voters will decide whether to approve a controversial ordinance to ban, in most cases, sitting on sidewalks in the city’s business districts from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Measure S is Berkeley’s second attempt to pass a law limiting where and when people can sit on sidewalks. (A 1994 attempt, which included lying on the sidewalk as well, later was repealed by the City Council, after initial approval by voters. The ACLU challenged the law before it went into effect and, in 1997, “a newly elected Berkeley City Council voted to repeal the sit-and-lie ban.”)
Supporters of Measure S have poured more than $90,000 into the campaign, while those opposed have raised just under $16,000, according to campaign reports filed with the city clerk’s office. (See a breakdown of the contributions at Berkeley’s Voter’s Edge.)
The proposed ordinance counts among its proponents developers such as the Beacon Group (which owns 2150 Shattuck, the old Power Bar building) and Panoramic Interests (which sold its large property holdings to Sam Zell’s Equity Residential REIT and now is involved in infill development); opponents include the ACLU of Northern California and Patricia Wall of the Homeless Action Center.
Posts related to the measure have resulted in more than 1,000 reader comments on Berkeleyside. The proposed ban has spurred coverage in local, regional and national media outlets. … Continue reading »
Berkeley says “no” to federal immigration detainers
In a surprising twist, the Berkeley City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to decline requests from U.S. immigration officials to apply more stringent detention rules to arrested individuals depending on citizenship status.
Advocates in attendance said the council made a landmark policy decision believed to be the most comprehensive and definitive in the nation as far as refusing altogether to cooperate with a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) program to detain and potentially deport non-citizens who are arrested.
The decision will, at least initially, have a limited impact given that the vast majority of these individuals ultimately are turned over to county agencies that do cooperate with the feds. Advocates said they believe, however, that the decision will have a ripple effect throughout the state to convince other jurisdictions to take a similar stand. … Continue reading »
Where in Berkeley?
Know where this is? Take a guess and let us know in the Comments.
Update: 10:33 a.m.: Natedahl got it right. The photo was shot at the bottom of the Bancroft steps, at Bancroft and Warring, behind the I-House. Congratulations, Natedahl, on being both very observant and this week’s winner!
Photo: Daniel Bucher.
Santa Cruz is a model for Berkeley civil sidewalks
In the early 1990s, Pacific Avenue merchants were suffering in Santa Cruz. We had encampments of youth sitting on our sidewalks in front of businesses and in our public spaces, often with pit bulls and belongings. They engaged in unwelcoming aggressive panhandling and rowdy behavior, frequently fueled by drugs and alcohol. Many Santa Cruzans—particularly seniors and parents with children—felt uncomfortable in our Downtown, and so they stayed away, or would make their visits short, because they did not want to … Continue reading »
The Berkeley Wire: 10.30.12
Full moon. Photo: Ira Serkes
UC Berkeley’s youngest student unfazed by college rigor (Daily Cal)
Cal Bears try to stay focused after blowout losses (BANG)
Stanford, not Berkeley, alums get most venture money (SF Biz Times)
Berkeley couple’s sculptures to adorn San Pablo Ave. (Daily Cal)
Berkeley Playhouse’s “Sound of Music” features local kids (Mercury News)
UC Berkeley professor Randi Engle dies at 45 (Daily Cal)
Alta Bates nurses among many to strike Thursday (Mercury News)
UC Berkeley receives anonymous email bomb threat
He continued: “We always encourage the campus community to use the opportunities available to share tips and information and remember that if they ‘See Something, Say Something.’ Threats to our campus safety are taken very seriously, so caution should be exercised when making casual remarks.”
Original story, Oct. 30, 2012
University of California Police Capt. Margo Bennett sent the following alert to UC Berkeley community members Tuesday just after 3:15 p.m. The notice appears below in full.
Dear Campus,
The University has received a non-specific, anonymous bomb threat. It came via an anonymous email sent to “Caltips” reporting on an overheard conversation. NO SPECIFIC LOCATION OR TIME was given. In fact, no verifiable information was provided. … Continue reading »
Berkeley lawn bowling prodigy, 18, is national champ
By Jim Corr
Jon Burnoski, a member of the Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club, triumphed against top bowlers from across the nation at the US Lawn Bowling Association’s National Championships in San Diego on Sunday. In doing so, Jon, who is 18 years old and a freshman at Skyline College in San Bruno, became the youngest lawn bowls singles champion in US history and the first from Northern California to take the US crown in 14 years.
The four-day tournament pitted representatives from the USLBA’s eight regions against each other in a round robin format in which each bowler played one game against each of the other contenders. Jon represented the Pacific Inter-Mountain Division, which includes Northern California, and won six of his seven games. His final points differential of 39 edged out former national champion, Bob Schneider of the Central Division, by five points, a razor-thin margin in this tournament. … Continue reading »
‘Einstein on the Beach’: Much more than sum of its parts
Like the birth of a child, Robert Wilson’s Einstein on the Beach: An Opera in Four Acts, co-written with Philip Glass, featuring choreography by Lucinda Childs and brought to Berkeley at October’s end by Cal Performances, presented a conundrum of experience.
The nearly five-hour opera can drive a person mad, or into ecstasy, or both. The only certainty is that after witnessing it, sight, sound, movement, and especially time, can never be the same.
The 1976 original, hailed by critics as revolutionary and largely credited with establishing Wilson, Glass and Childs as leaders in (respectively) contemporary theater, music and dance, today bears some resemblance to an old home movie made by an eccentric uncle. But, while madness in the hands of a family relative may result in silly entertainment, in the hands of three masters, it makes for brilliant, universe-shifting theater. … Continue reading »
Vote no on Measure T: let’s not lose local talent, treasures
My husband and I have an architecture and design firm in West Berkeley. On any given day, I am searching for plumbing fixtures, light fixtures, hardware, windows, doors, cabinets, tile, flooring, decking and furniture, to name a few. I have the unique privilege of looking at and specifying all of those products, and many more, all found or made in West Berkeley. Things look different on the computer, the colors aren’t accurate or the scale is hard to picture, so … Continue reading »
Bates outraises opponents by 70%; Yes on S gets $90k
Incumbent mayor Tom Bates has raised nearly 70% more than his two most prominent challengers combined, according to the latest campaign filings available through the City Clerk’s election portal. In the first three weeks of October, Bates raised $28,913 taking his total to $84,339. Councilman Kriss Worthington raised $8,459 in the period, bringing his total to $27,489. Jacquelyn McCormick garnered $5,970, for a total this year of $22,480.
In the heated District 5 race between incumbent Laurie Capitelli and Sophie Hahn, the two candidates are closely matched in fundraising, with less than $2,000 separating their totals. Capitelli has dramatically outspent Hahn in the three-week period, $8,356 to $3,492, nearly catching up with Hahn’s earlier spending.
In other races, incumbent Darryl Moore has vastly outraised his challengers, Denisha DeLane and Adolfo Cabral, in District 2, and incumbent Max Anderson has raised nearly double the amount challenger Dmitri Belser has raised in District 3, although Belser has stepped up both fundraising and spending in the first three weeks of October. … Continue reading »
Big Screen Berkeley: La Bête Humaine
French director Jean Renoir is rightfully considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. He’s responsible, after all, for both 1937’s La Grande Illusion and 1939’s La Règle du Jeu (The Rules of the Game) – two films that have featured prominently on countless ‘best of’ lists for decades.
In between churning out those classics, Renoir also found time to direct two films in 1938: La Marseillaise, a re-enactment of the French Revolution that I’ve never seen, and La Bête Humaine. The latter feature, every bit the equal of Renoir’s acknowledged classics, screens at 2:00 PM on Sunday, November 4th at Pacific Film Archive as part of the series ‘Grand Illusions: French Cinema Classics, 1928–1960’.
Adapted from Emile Zola’s 1890 novel of the same name, La Bête Humaine stars French matinee idol Jean Gabin as Jacques Lantier, an engineer on the Paris-Le Havre railway. Stricken by a mysterious chronic illness and burdened by a family history of alcoholism, Lantier prefers the reliable company of his engine, La Lison, to that of fickle humans. … Continue reading »
