Painting with pinot: Berkeley artist Juniper Harrower’s tannic palette [Coco Times]
Bartavalle inspired by “little places” in France and Italy [Inside Scoop]
Architecture critic predicts North Branch Library will win awards [Chronicle]
Berkeley alum is contestant on “The Bachelorette.” [Daily Cal]

Photo: Lots of Books Above Me, by cycomachead/Berkeleyside Flickr pool.

By Tracey Taylor. | Permalink | No comment | Post tags:

Written and directed by Maïwenn (born … Continue reading »]]>

Jérémie Elkaïm, Nicolas Duvauchelle, Arnaud Henriet and Joey Starr, among others, in "Polisse"

The stories depicted in the French drama Polisse are, the film’s prologue assures us, based on real-life cases handled by the Paris Sûreté’s Child Protection Unit. I’ve no reason to doubt that claim, but, despite its factual provenance and shelf load of awards (including the Grand Jury Prize at last year’s Cannes Film Festival), Polisse (opening at Landmark’s Shattuck Cinemas on Friday, May 25) is more grindhouse exploitation flick than hard-hitting arthouse exposé.

Written and directed by Maïwenn (born Maïwenn Le Besco) , the film is an episodic ensemble piece in which a group of morally compromised, manipulative, and incredibly grumpy police officers humiliate people, abuse suspects, and generally get on each other’s nerves. This is probably not surprising, as their job basically consists of separating parents from their children.

Among the officers working the child protection beat are Fred (Joeystarr), whose marriage is on the rocks; Nadine (Karin Viard), whose marriage is on the rocks; and Iris (Marina Fois), who wisely is not in a relationship due to her profound disdain for the male sex. The film’s characters are, however, incidental to the proceedings. You won’t care about their petty problems, and you won’t like them because of their complete disregard for everyone around them. They don’t even seem to like kids that much.(...)

Read the rest of Big Screen Berkeley: Polisse, a gritty focus on abuse (384 words)

By John Seal. | Permalink | No comment |
Post tags: Maiwenn, Polisse, Shattuck Cinemas

Three detectives and a sergeant from the property crimes unit put in two hours of overtime each when they scoured a north Oakland neighborhood for the stolen phone on January 11, according to Sgt. Mary Kusmiss, the BPD’s public information officer. Detectives get paid $90.26 an hour in overtime pay and sergeants get $98.63 … Continue reading »]]>

Berkeley Police Chief Michael Meehan: at center of new storm

It cost the city of Berkeley about $740 in overtime pay to have 10 detectives search for Berkeley Police Chief Michael Meehan’s son’s missing iPhone.

Three detectives and a sergeant from the property crimes unit put in two hours of overtime each when they scoured a north Oakland neighborhood for the stolen phone on January 11, according to Sgt. Mary Kusmiss, the BPD’s public information officer. Detectives get paid $90.26 an hour in overtime pay and sergeants get $98.63 an hour. The figure does not include the regular pay for those investigating, which included members of the Drug Task Force. All together, Berkeley police officers spent about 10 hours collectively investigating this crime, said Kusmiss.(...)

Read the rest of Hunt for police chief’s son’s iPhone cost $740 in overtime (534 words)

By Berkeleyside Editors. | Permalink | 25 comments |
Post tags: Berkeley Police Chief Michael Meehan

Four of the officers worked overtime on the investigation, for which a report was never filed. The iPhone was not recovered, and the Oakland Police Department was … Continue reading »]]>

BPD Chief Michael Meehan: was part of a 10-officer strong search for his son's iPhone on Wednesday January 11

Late on the afternoon of January 11, an estimated ten Berkeley police officers, several of them from the department’s Drugs Task Force, knocked on front doors in a residential block in north Oakland. They were not looking for drugs. They were hunting for the missing iPhone of Berkeley Police Chief Michael Meehan’s teenage son.

Four of the officers worked overtime on the investigation, for which a report was never filed. The iPhone was not recovered, and the Oakland Police Department was not alerted about the search, which Meehan participated in.

Chief Meehan is currently at the center of an independent investigation into his decision to send an officer to the home of a reporter in the early hours of March 9 with a request to correct a story. That review will cost the city up to $25,000. In addition, Berkeley is spending $24,000 on an audit of the police department’s media relations policies.

On January 11 this year, Chief Meehan’s son, who attends Berkeley High School, came to the police station to say that that his iPhone had gone missing. He was upset, according to a witness.(...)

Read the rest of Police chief sent 10 officers on hunt for his son’s iPhone (588 words)

By Tracey Taylor. | Permalink | 103 comments |
Post tags: Berkeley Police Chief Michael Meehan, Berkeley Police Department

Grilled cheese chain The Melt to open on Telegraph [Grubb St SF]
Berkeley citizens’ group, Council try to curb debt [Chronicle]
Berkeley Rep announces summer classes [Broadway World]
All I wanted was for Alice Waters to feed me [New York Times]
Bears prepare for Italy tour [Cal Bears]
More than 16,000 expected to take Cal summer courses [UCB]
Berkeley crash victim a Cal grad, son in … Continue reading »]]>

Grilled cheese chain The Melt to open on Telegraph [Grubb St SF]
Berkeley citizens’ group, Council try to curb debt [Chronicle]
Berkeley Rep announces summer classes [Broadway World]
All I wanted was for Alice Waters to feed me [New York Times]
Bears prepare for Italy tour [Cal Bears]
More than 16,000 expected to take Cal summer courses [UCB]
Berkeley crash victim a Cal grad, son in critical condition [Coco Times]

Photo: Graduation Follies, by dogenfrost/Berkeleyside Flickr pool.

By Tracey Taylor. | Permalink | No comment |
Post tags:

On April 19, 2012, the winners of the 2012 Art, Poetry & Essay Contest were honored at an evening awards ceremony at John Muir Elementary School in Berkeley. Thirty winners, selected from 416 entries by volunteer judges, were recognized at the annual ceremony.

Joining in … Continue reading »]]>

The awards ceremony featured a special dance performance by John Muir third graders.Photo: Mark Coplan

For 29 years, fourth and fifth graders from throughout the Berkeley Unified School District have expressed themselves through the annual Art, Poetry & Essay Contest sponsored by the Berkeley-based educational foundation In Dulci Jubilo, Inc.

On April 19, 2012, the winners of the 2012 Art, Poetry & Essay Contest were honored at an evening awards ceremony at John Muir Elementary School in Berkeley. Thirty winners, selected from 416 entries by volunteer judges, were recognized at the annual ceremony.

Joining in the celebration were families, teachers, principals and local dignitaries, including Senator Loni Hancock; Mayor Tom Bates; Sheila Jordan, Superintendent, Alameda County Office of Education; John Selawsky, President, Berkeley Board of Education; and William Huyett, Superintendent, Berkeley Unified School District.(...)

Read the rest of In Dulci Jubilo honors artists, poets, writers (235 words)

By Tracey Taylor. | Permalink | No comment |
Post tags: Berkeley Unified School District, In Dulci Jubilo

Berkeleyside welcomes submissions of op-ed articles of 500 to 800 words. We ask that … Continue reading »]]> Is the West Berkeley Plan principally designed as a way to get more revenue to support a bloated City structure and remunerate developers? Barbara Gilbert, a self-described “chronic Council observer,” believes so, and argues in an Opionator column published today that the city is strong-arming a drastic up-zoning of West Berkeley that will destroy a thriving and unique residential/artisan/artist district, as well as Aquatic Park.

Berkeleyside welcomes submissions of op-ed articles of 500 to 800 words. We ask that we are given first refusal to publish. Topics should be Berkeley-related and local authors are preferred. Please email submissions to us. Berkeleyside will publish op-ed pieces at its discretion.

By Berkeleyside Editors. | Permalink | No comment |
Post tags: West Berkeley plan

Berkeley resident and scientist Arlene Blum founded the Fair in 1984 after she spent an inspirational year in the Himalayas: “I trekked across the Himalayan mountain ranges and saw incredible festivals everywhere,” she said, speaking at the booth she was running at the fair. “I even saw the Dalai Lama giving … Continue reading »]]>

The Himalayan Fair at Live Oak Park has been a Berkeley fixture since 1984. Photo: Hannah Long

This weekend, Live Oak Park came alive with the Himalayan Fair, a two-day celebration of the art, food, and culture of Tibet, Nepal, Pakistan, Burma, and India, among other countries.

Berkeley resident and scientist Arlene Blum founded the Fair in 1984 after she spent an inspirational year in the Himalayas: “I trekked across the Himalayan mountain ranges and saw incredible festivals everywhere,” she said, speaking at the booth she was running at the fair. “I even saw the Dalai Lama giving a speech. After this year of festivals, I came back and wanted to share them with the people of Berkeley.”(...)

Read the rest of Berkeley’s Himalayan Fair: Still a big draw in its 28th year (234 words)

By Hannah Long. | Permalink | One comment |
Post tags: Arlene Blum, Berkeley events, Himalayan Fair, Live Oak Park

(...)Read the rest of Preparing for the Big One: Berkeley neighbors do the drills (184 words)

By Tracey Taylor. | Permalink | One comment | Post tags: Big One, Continue reading »]]>

Members of the Vermont Avenue North Neighborhood Association confer as part of emergency drill on Saturday. Photo: Nancy Rubin

Did you get a little more ready for the Big One on Saturday? Did you join in Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) across Berkeley in disaster preparedness exercises? The Vermont Avenue North Neighborhood Association did. Here they are in action, photographed by Nancy Rubin.

The medical team checks on a man in distress. Photo: Nancy Rubin

(...)

Read the rest of Preparing for the Big One: Berkeley neighbors do the drills (184 words)

By Tracey Taylor. | Permalink | One comment |
Post tags: Big One, Community Emergency Response Teams, Earthquake preparedness