Daily Archives: February 5, 2013
The Berkeley Wire: 02.05.13
Columba Livia commute. Photo: 2812 photography
UC Berkeley launches campus climate survey (Daily Cal)
The decline of Berkeley’s Telegraph Avenue (Beyond Chron)
Photo gallery: Berkeley’s Belli Osteria (Mercury News)
Eating your way around Berkeley (eTravelBlackboard)
A tale of love letters and poison pens (Inter Press Service)
End-of-year Berkeley rental rates stagnate (Daily Cal)
Girlfriend grieves for man shot on Berkeley street (Tribune)
Shop Talk: The ins and outs of Berkeley businesses
SAN PABLO & UNIVERSITY The area around San Pablo and University Avenues is buzzing with new tenants moving in to vacant retail spaces. As previously noted, eco-friendly mattresses and sleep products store Keetsa is moving into the building at 2117 San Pablo, having relocated from the 811 University. Keetsa, which also has stores in New York and San Francisco, is in the process of building out the space and will open in a few months. And a furniture company has taken the lease at the beautifully restored 2001 San Pablo Ave. The identity of the furniture company has not yet been released. Expected move-in date is around April. And the intersection may soon see the arrival of a convenience store if an application by 7-Eleven to take over 2000 San Pablo is approved. … Continue reading »
Authorities say Berkeley stabbing was hate crime
Update, Feb. 6, 5:40 p.m. Police said Wednesday that the victim and his partner were walking in the 2100 block of Haste when Hogue approached them and asked the victim about his sexual orientation. According to police, Hogue then stabbed the victim. It doesn’t appear that they knew each other; police described it as “a random attack.” No information was available as to the victim’s medical condition.
Update, 7:30 p.m. Police said this incident was classified as a hate crime because there was a comment or question prior to the attack that was related to sexual orientation.
Original story, Feb. 5, 2 p.m. The Berkeley Police Department has identified the man arrested in Friday’s stabbing in downtown Berkeley as Ayo Hogue.
Hogue, 33, of Oakland was arrested after a report that a man had been stabbed while walking with a friend on Haste Street near Shattuck Avenue at about 4:40 p.m. Friday.
Hogue was arrested on suspicion of attempted homicide and assault with a deadly weapon. He was also arrested on suspicion of committing a hate crime, according to the Alameda County sheriff’s department. A hate crime designation carries an additional penalty of one, two or three years in state prison, at the court’s discretion.
(Berkeleyside has requested additional information from police about why this crime was classified as a hate crime.) … Continue reading »
Pets dumped in Tilden cause problems, become dinner
The abandoned chickens appeared one afternoon in December, in the parking lot near Tilden Park’s Little Farm. Nine of them, right next to the bus stop. Whoever dumped them had sprinkled feed on the ground, and apparently hoped the Little Farm would adopt them. Not so.
“It’s as much as I can do to keep these animals clean, alive and fed,” said the man known as Farmer Stanley, gesturing to the chickens, cows, sheep and pigs he has taken care of at the farm for more than a decade.
At least two of those abandoned chickens became dinner for the local wildlife, judging by the piles of feathers found on the ground, said park staff. They think – or at least hope – that some of the chickens were adopted, in response to an ad posted, because a bunch disappeared all at once.
The month before the chicken-drop, it was a white bunny, left in a cage at the same spot. Last summer there were five kittens. … Continue reading »
Two arrested after Berkeley Police foil robbery attempt
A police officer on patrol interrupted a robbery attempt late last week in south Berkeley, which led to the arrest of two men, authorities said Monday.
A reader emailed the above-featured photograph to Berkeleyside on Thursday, and asked us to find out what happened.
Officer Jennifer Coats of the Berkeley Police Department said Monday that the incident shown in the photograph involved a robbery attempt Thursday. … Continue reading »
In Oakland, two Italians craft pasta with a U.S. twist
Almost a year ago this week, Renato Sardo and Dario Barbone, compatriots from northwestern Italy, set up shop in Oakland’s burgeoning Jack London Square to make pasta. Not just any old pasta. Each of the twelve shapes produced by Baia Pasta — from the charming conchiglioni (“spinners”) to the traditional maccheroni — are made from organic American flours.
“The idea for the business started when I learned that many high quality dried pastas in Italy are made from American wheat,”said Renato Sardo as he stood in the Baia Pasta retail space that doubles as the production facility.
Hard durum wheat (as opposed to soft wheat, which has a lower protein content and is used for pie crusts and cakes) contributes that desirable toothiness in dried pasta cooked to al dente. Ground hard durum, also called semolina, remains their best seller. But Sardo and Barbone also experiment with other flours, such as spelt and kamut, grown organically in the areas surrounding the Rocky Mountain Range. They even make a rice-based noodle that appeals to the gluten-free crowd. … Continue reading »
‘Our Practical Heaven’ exposes family undercurrents
Our Practical Heaven is a personality study about three generations of women who gather over several holiday seasons.
They meet at the beach house owned by widowed grandmother Vera (wonderfully acted by Joy Carlin). Vera’s daughter, the insecure and fragile Sasha (top performance by Anne Darragh), and Sasha’s two teenage daughters, Leez and Suze (Adrienne Walters and Blythe Foster, both skilled at their roles). Vera’s “honorary daughter,” the loving yet ambitious Willa (excellent Julia Brothers) and her mysteriously ill daughter, Magz (Lauren Spencer captures a difficult role), are an integral element in the familial group.
Our Practical Heaven explores the ever-shifting connections and bonds among the women. While they swim in the pond, bird watch and clean the house, we observe the changing undercurrents of family allegiance, loyalty, and jealousy. … Continue reading »
