Daily Archives: February 28, 2013
The Berkeley Wire: 02.28.13
First Church of Christ Scientist [1910] Bernard Maybeck, arch. Photo: postpanglossian
Berkeley groups raise concerns about death of mentally ill man (KTVU)
Berkeley ponders Telegraph Avenue upgrades (SF Chronicle)
Snapp Shots: Berkeley High’s second annual JazzGirls’ Day (Coco Times)
“The Secret Garden” opera to premiere in Berkeley (Mercury News)
Flashback: Berkeley at 100 (Rolling Stone)
Berkeley’s brains brings down city’s unemployment rate (Tribune)
The It List: Five things to do in Berkeley this weekend
COLLEGE BOUND Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates and others want to create a “college-going” culture in the city. To that end, the mayor’s office, in conjunction with the Berkeley Alliance and UC Berkeley’s Center for Educational Partnerships is organizing the first city-wide College and Career Day on Friday. The idea is to help all students “visualize and prepare for a full range of post-secondary options through structural, motivational, and experiential college preparatory experiences.” More than 5,000 students will participate in city-wide events on College and Career Day. They will be encouraged to wear T-shirts with their favorite college logos, listen to their teachers describe their own paths to college, and various fun projects, such as a dorm room door decorating exercise. Mayor Bates will visit the King Child Development Center along with Oski the Bear, a school-wide assembly at Berkeley Technological Academy and a lunchtime rally at Berkeley High School. Details here.
After robbery, police arrest youths with gun near school
Berkeley police have arrested three juveniles who reportedly used a gun in a robbery near Washington Elementary School on Tuesday evening, according to authorities.
Berkeley Police spokeswoman officer Jennifer Coats said police received a call at about 5:40 p.m. on Feb. 26 reporting a person with a gun in the 1800 block of University Avenue, between Grant Street and Martin Luther King. (Washington school is located at 2300 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, opposite the Berkeley High School campus.) Coats said police received additional information that three people had been involved in a robbery, and that they had stolen a cell phone from a male victim then fled.
“A description was broadcast and officers immediately responded to the area to attempt to locate the described subjects,” she said, via email. … Continue reading »
The Nosh Wire: 02.28.13
Our daily round-up of all the East Bay food news out there — brought to you fresh every day in one convenient place. Continue reading »
At UC Berkeley, the musicians are making it up
Cal is a bustling world unto itself peopled by an extraordinary array of scholars, scientists and artists, which can make keeping track of campus events an overwhelming undertaking. But the creative ferment taking place in the Department of Music’s Jazz and Improvised Music (JIM) Initiative shouldn’t go unnoticed.
On Saturday March 2, JIM presents a benefit concert at Hertz Concert Hall featuring pianist Dan Tepfer, who often collaborates with alto sax master Lee Konitz, and woodwind player Ben Wendel, a founding member of the influential band Kneebody (a Q&A with the artists precedes the concert, and a reception follows). The Berkeley Nu Jazz Collective, an impressive group of JIM graduate students, opens the concert.
Pianist/composer Myra Melford, an associate professor of improvisation and jazz, connected with Wendel while performing with Berkeley bassist Todd Sickafoose several years ago, and knew that he would be a hit in the program. … Continue reading »
USPS hears vocal opposition to sale of downtown building
On Tuesday, the US Post Office listened to around 50 Berkeley residents tell them why they did not want the historic downtown Berkeley post office building to be put up for sale. They witnessed a 200-strong rally with singing and chanting, and were subjected to not a litte heckling and jibes.
Benjamin Franklin made an appearance in the guise of local actor Josh Kornbluth. (“Welcome to Berkeley,” he said. “I think you’ll find Berkeley will work with you and the founding fathers will be behind you.”) Mayor Tom Bates received a rousing round of applause when he said he and the Council — who, in a rare show of unanimity, are agreed on this issue — would fight to prevent a sale. And the two Post Office staffers who had called the public meeting as per protocol outlined, with stark numbers, just how dire the financial situation is for USPS nationally, and why the public organization believes it makes sense to divest itself of a building only a fraction of which is now used for postal services.
Speaking for USPS, Augustine Ruiz and Diana Alvarado said the organization’s ideal scenario would be to stay at the current location, renting space from new owners. … Continue reading »
Sunhui Chang’s Korean cooking makes sparks fly
Sunhui Chang “fell in love” when he first tasted green mango pickles. At FuseBOX, his pickles and new take on Korean cooking are drawing rave notices. Continue reading »
Berkeley Police release statement on in-custody death
The Berkeley Police Department released the following statement Wednesday night regarding the death in custody earlier this month of 41-year-old Xavier Christopher Moore. Three community groups have planned a press conference for Thursday, Feb. 28, at 10 a.m. to express concerns about the death and ask for more information. (Scroll down for details.) Moore’s stepmother, Elysse Paige-Moore, told Berkeleyside that “it’s been a horrible, horrible time for the family, really quite devastating. My husband and daughter have gone through an extraordinary level of grief. This has been a 40-year battle to protect my child who has serious biologic mental health problems.” She also expressed remorse that “the laws didn’t allow us to do more to care for and protect him.” … Continue reading »
Sitting on the dock of the bay: Birds throng Berkeley pier
On Wednesday, author and photographer Elaine Miller Bond captured this shot of an amazing spectacle down at the Berkeley Marina.
“There were many hundreds, probably thousands, of seabirds (mostly cormorants) flocked together, feeding on the water,” she said. “Within minutes, the entire flock had taken flight and landed here, on the old pilings at the far end of the Berkeley Pier. Though we humans no longer use these derelict planks, birds can certainly be seen, ‘sitting on the dock of the bay.’” … Continue reading »
