The street has been repaved, there’s a spanking new bike lane, new vintage-style street lighting and a wide sidewalk. A significant improvement is that all the street’s overhead power lines have been … Continue reading »]]>

All the power lines have been under-grounded at the newly reopened northbound lane of Piedmont Avenue. Photo: Tracey Taylor

Those of you who take Berkeley’s Piedmont Avenue regularly to get from A to B will be delighted to have seen that the northbound lane has reopened — and it’s much enhanced since it was closed off to enable the construction work being undertaken at Cal Memorial Stadium.

The street has been repaved, there’s a spanking new bike lane, new vintage-style street lighting and a wide sidewalk. A significant improvement is that all the street’s overhead power lines have been under-grounded. There is also a set of new bicycle racks.

Now, a sweeping set of shallow steps leads from Piedmont to Cal’s recently completed Student-Athlete High Performance Center. The center is tucked under the stadium, which is due to be ready to host a home game in September 2012.

Related:
Inside Berkeley’s newest, most discreet building [08.08.11]
UC Berkeley’s best work on renovating Memorial Stadium [09.09.11]

By Tracey Taylor. | Permalink | 8 comments |
Post tags: Berkeley news, Cal Memorial Stadium, Piedmont Avenue, Student-Athlete High Performance Center

As we head into the gray season (who said we don’t have seasons?), it is as true today in Berkeley as it was on that Irish hillside: A gray sky is the ultimate backdrop … Continue reading »]]>

Megan of north Berkeley at Monterey Market. All photos: Dana Smith

The first (and only) time I visited Ireland, I was 21 and in the middle of my art history studies. Upon stepping off the ferry from France I exclaimed, “I love the juxtaposition of green against the gray sky!” Spoken like a true art history major.

As we head into the gray season (who said we don’t have seasons?), it is as true today in Berkeley as it was on that Irish hillside: A gray sky is the ultimate backdrop for making a bold color statement. And aren’t we lucky to have so many gray-sky days to make the most of our yellows, turquoises, and, my personal favorite these days, royal blues? Could anything be more cheerful than a shock of color revealing itself through the mist?

I know how tempting it is, as the air reaches maximum saturation levels, to reach for our tried and true Gore-Tex gear in all its variations of drab (mine is a thoroughly uninspired forest green.) But I’m going to resist the urge to blend in this year and get more wear out of my turquoise Adidas logo trench. Or maybe troll eBay for one of the 1970’s foul weather jackets I used to wear on my family’s sailboat as a kid.

Let these pictures be your inspiration as the days turn dark and damp, knowing you’ll only look brighter the grayer it gets.

Vanessa on Fourth Street in Berkeley

(...)

Read the rest of Berkeley street style: Gray days indeed (113 words)

By guest. | Permalink | 4 comments |
Post tags: Acme Bread, Berkeley fashion, Berkeley news, Berkeley styloe, Dadascope, Dana Smith, Fourth Street, Monterey Market Berkeley, Solano Stroll

“We’re right by the Ashby BART,” said Firehouse Director Tom Franco. “The Ashby Flea Market is happening at the same time. It’s the old police station. So we kind of jokingly call this the police house.”

Franco, along with partner Julia Lazar and … Continue reading »]]>

The Firehouse Collective bazaar on Adeline opened its doors this summer. Photo: Robert Mills

This summer art began to thrive at the corner of Martin Luther King and Adeline. Every Saturday, members of Berkeley’s Firehouse Collective gather at the Firehouse Bazaar to share artwork, entertainment and food with the community.

“We’re right by the Ashby BART,” said Firehouse Director Tom Franco. “The Ashby Flea Market is happening at the same time. It’s the old police station. So we kind of jokingly call this the police house.”

Franco, along with partner Julia Lazar and members of the collective, opened the bazaar doors this summer. He said the old building is full up with painters, food artisans, ceramists, and every kind of Berkleyan.(...)

Read the rest of With open doors, Firehouse Bazaar creates community (221 words)

By robertmills. | Permalink | No comment |
Post tags: Adeline Street, art, bazaar, Berkeley news, community, firehouse, Firehouse Collective

Dinkelspiel also spoke about Berkeleyside, and in particular its diverse and engaged readership.

“One of the most interesting things as a journalist,” Dinkelspiel said, “is the back and forth on the Berkeleyside site. It’s definitely a two-way communication. For every article we … Continue reading »]]>

"People in Berkeley are very passionate about the issues": Photo: D.H. Parks

On Thursday, Berkeleyside’s Frances Dinkelspiel was interviewed by Jon Brooks, Editor of KQED’s News Fix, about Berkeley — the biggest issues facing the city, its financial health and business climate, food culture and outsize influence nationwide.

Dinkelspiel also spoke about Berkeleyside, and in particular its diverse and engaged readership.

“One of the most interesting things as a journalist,” Dinkelspiel said, “is the back and forth on the Berkeleyside site. It’s definitely a two-way communication. For every article we write we get lots of comments, sometimes hundreds… People in Berkeley are very passionate about the issues, and they love to argue about the issues.”

That won’t be news for Berkeleyside’s regular readers.

The interview can be both read and listened to online at KQED News Fix.

By Tracey Taylor. | Permalink | 13 comments |
Post tags: Berkeley news, Frances Dinkelspiel, Jon Brooks, KQED, KQED News Fix

In the pickles section, Berkeley’s Cultured on Bancroft won for its spicy oregano purple carrots for which owner Alex Hozven sources ingredients from River Dog Farm in Yolo County. … Continue reading »]]>

Pickles from Berkeley's Cultured, a winner at the inaugural Good Food Awards.

Three Berkeley artisan food producers emerged victorious at the inaugural Good Food Awards which were presented at San Francisco’s Ferry Building on January 14. The awards celebrate food purveyors who marry great flavor with responsible food production and are divided into seven categories: beer, charcuterie, cheese, chocolate, coffee, pickles and preserves.

In the pickles section, Berkeley’s Cultured on Bancroft won for its spicy oregano purple carrots for which owner Alex Hozven sources ingredients from River Dog Farm in Yolo County. Cultured uses a natural fermentation process which slowly creates a sour flavor and a deeper, more complex final flavor. The product is also alive and therefore good for digestion. Read the story of how Cultured came to be by Berkeleyside food writer Sarah Henry in her July 2010 profile.

Organic gingerbread ale made by award-winner Bison Brewing.

Bison Brewing, a 22-year old brewery run by Daniel Del Grande and George Allen, was a winner in the beer category for its organic gingerbread ale which contains hops from Clearlake, malted barley from Vancouver, WA, and spices from Sonoma.

Bison has robust environmental credentials: it has conducted a carbon footprint analysis of its operations, practices on-site wastewater treatment, and has a standard operations cycle for his cleaning procedures. It is also very involved in its local community. Four years ago, the company moved its operations to Fifth Street from an architect-designed brewery on Telegraph Avenue after the city of Berkeley revoked its manufacturing permit there.(...)

Read the rest of Beer, tongue and pickles: food makers win awards (269 words)

By Tracey Taylor. | Permalink | One comment |
Post tags: Berkeley news, Bison Brewing, cafe rouge, Cultured, Good Food Awards

Berkeleyside contributing writer Kim Weisberg has been chronicling her search for a new home on Berkeleyside, reporting on lessons learned and listing scams, among other things. Recently she found a condo she and her partner loved in the Adam’s Point neighborhood of Lake Merritt and signed a rental agreement. Before they moved in, however, there was the little matter of settling a dispute with their Berkeley landlord.

Berkeley (like many university-oriented cities) has a reputation … Continue reading »]]>

A condo to rent near Lake Merritt. Photo: Kim Weisberg.

Berkeleyside contributing writer Kim Weisberg has been chronicling her search for a new home on Berkeleyside, reporting on lessons learned and listing scams, among other things. Recently she found a condo she and her partner loved in the Adam’s Point neighborhood of Lake Merritt and signed a rental agreement. Before they moved in, however, there was the little matter of settling a dispute with their Berkeley landlord.

Berkeley (like many university-oriented cities) has a reputation for an over-abundance of “slumlords”, but that doesn’t mean you have to suffer in silence. In our case, we were dealing with a landlord who was extremely negligent in making repairs. We had a leaky window that led to standing water and mold, burst pipes being held with duct tape (his “fix,” not ours), and broken tiles on the floor. After months of pleading for repairs and being ignored, we finally took the advice of a friend and called a pro bono renters’ advocacy agency, who filed the proper paperwork and liaised with both our landlord and the Berkeley Housing Board until we had a resolution.

I have been wanting to write about the experience, but until the dispute was resolved, I was unable to comment. Now that we have settled, and are on the other end looking back, I want to send a little message out there to all you Berkeley renters (and landlords): you have rights.

The Berkeley Housing Board is a fantastic resource for Berkeley residents, but they are particularly helpful when it comes to tenants’ rights (ed note: see note below). Like many other Berkeley renters, I used to consider myself lucky if I found an affordable apartment that wasn’t a total dump. I didn’t realize that I had a right to insist upon such things as timely repairs and proper notice before entry.

There are many resources, mostly free of charge, that I have learned about over the past few months, and because I know how helpful they were to me, I wanted to share them with you.  Please feel free to share any other resources you might have!

• The Berkeley Rent Stabilization Program Pretty much home-base for Berkeley housing. They have sections devoted to tenants and owners, copies of relevant forms (did you know that you can now file your own Rent Ceiling Stabilization Correction Notice online?), and information on city-wide programs. (ed note: see note below)
• Cal Tenant Law Legal advice by attorney Ken Carlson , specializing for more than 25 years in landlord-tenant law on California renters’ rights. I found this website very useful for providing easy-to-understand information on California State tenant/landlord law.  He provides simple explanations to the often complicated legalese.
• CA State Dept of Consumer Affairs Landlord/tenant-based publications, including the printable Cal Tenant Guide, an exhaustive and very useful resource that includes information on getting help from a third party (pages 91-99 contain a list of local agencies).  If you don’t want to print the 124-page guide, you can have up to five copies mailed to you free of charge.

Whether you are a tenant who feels mistreated by a negligent landlord, or a landlord seeking protection from an unruly tenant, there are people out there whose job it is to help. Do yourself a favor and take advantage of their services.

Oh, and needless to say, this will be the last in my house-hunting series. Our new place has nearly everything from our crazy wish list, and even a few things we hadn’t admitted to wanting (wood-burning fireplace, garbage disposal, dishwasher).  I’m glad we could afford to be patient and wait for the right place to come along — moving will be well worth the wait.

Best of luck to all you renters out there!

Ed Note: I have just received some clarification from a representative at the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board regarding some links above. “The Berkeley Rent Stabilization Program is the agency that provides rent regulation and eviction protections for landlords and tenants in non-subsidized units. Incidentally, the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Program is not a pro-bono advocacy agency; it is a city government agency that assists all tenants/landlords whose rental units come under the jurisdiction of the Berkeley Rent Ordinance. The Berkeley Housing Authority…assists only tenants who are receiving a voucher through the Section 8 program run through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban and Development. ” I apologize for any confusion or miscommunication on my part. For now, I have removed links to their websites, and will update this post with more information as it becomes available to me.

Ed Note part 2:   Allison from the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Program has provided the following information – please accept my apologies for the misunderstanding.  The great thing about reader and community feedback is being able to quickly provide updates and clarification!

“Thanks for your message.  The Berkeley Rent Stabilization Program is a totally separate agency from the Berkeley Housing Authority.  Their names are similar (which I am sure leads to some confusion!), but their aims are distinct:

1)       The Berkeley Rent Stabilization Program is the agency that helped [Kim].    We provide rent regulation/eviction protections/mediation services for all tenants covered by the Ordinance.  These tenants are generally “just your average renters” like [Kim], as you say.  The link should direct readers to the Berkeley Rent Board’s home page at www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/rent/ (note from Kim: the link has been updated)

2)      The Berkeley Housing Authority – again, totally separate from us – helps only tenants with Section 8 vouchers.  This agency did not assist [Kim].

Again, I apologize for the confusion, and I’m very thankful to Allison for clearing up the misconception!  Many thanks!

By kim. | Permalink | 22 comments |
Post tags: Berkeley news

Titan Arum draws crowds (see photo above) [Oakland Tribune]
Aurora partners with Denver, Dallas theaters [D Magazine]
You can vote for Berkeley’s Rookie Moms [Rookie Moms]
Want another World Cup prediction? Ask Cal’s coach [UC Berkeley]

Photo by parksdh2/Berkeleyside Flickr pool

By lance. | Permalink | No comment | Post tags: Berkeley news

UC Berkeley freshmen who entered in 2009 had average 4.10 GPA [New York Times]
“Education Matters” is theme of Cal’s summer reading list [UC Berkeley]
Group sues East Bay Regional Parks over Eucalyptus tree removal [Coco Times]
Scientists challenge UC Berkeley team’s claim of “Ardi” as new human [New York Times]
Berkeley entrepreneur sells conversation starting game [Oakland Tribune]

Photo: Steps by Claudie C-G/Berkeleyside Flickr pool.

By … Continue reading »]]>

UC Berkeley freshmen who entered in 2009 had average 4.10 GPA [New York Times]
“Education Matters” is theme of Cal’s summer reading list [UC Berkeley]
Group sues East Bay Regional Parks over Eucalyptus tree removal [Coco Times]
Scientists challenge UC Berkeley team’s claim of “Ardi” as new human [New York Times]
Berkeley entrepreneur sells conversation starting game [Oakland Tribune]

Photo: Steps by Claudie C-G/Berkeleyside Flickr pool.

By Tracey Taylor. | Permalink | One comment |
Post tags: Berkeley news, Berkeley small business owners, Preservation in Berkeley, UC Berkeley

Happy Birthday Golden Gate Bridge: 73 today [Janson Media]
UC system reveals 2009 compensation [University of California]
Berkeley quake trial shows bridge safety ideas [SF Chronicle]
Berkeley music venue 924 Gilman Street getting punked [KALW]
AC Transit to decide on further cuts to services [Daily Cal]
School Board turns down charter school idea, for now [Oakland Tribune]
UC Berkeley summer classes bring in much needed … Continue reading »]]>

Happy Birthday Golden Gate Bridge: 73 today [Janson Media]
UC system reveals 2009 compensation [University of California]
Berkeley quake trial shows bridge safety ideas [SF Chronicle]
Berkeley music venue 924 Gilman Street getting punked [KALW]
AC Transit to decide on further cuts to services [Daily Cal]
School Board turns down charter school idea, for now [Oakland Tribune]
UC Berkeley summer classes bring in much needed cash [Coco Times]
Berkeley Rep’s “In the Wake” grapples with social tensions [Daily Cal]
Editorial: This is not the time for Measure C [Oakland Tribune]

Photo: mischiru/Flickr Creative Commons.

By Tracey Taylor. | Permalink | One comment |
Post tags: Berkeley news