Tag Archives: West Berkeley
Pedestrian in critical condition after auto accident
A Berkeley man is in critical condition after being struck by a car while walking on University Avenue just west of San Pablo Avenue on Tuesday night, authorities said.
“We received multiple 911 calls at approximately 8:23 p.m.,” said Berkeley Police spokeswoman officer Jennifer Coats, via email at about 11:20 p.m. The man was taken by the Berkeley Fire Department to a local hospital, where he was listed in critical condition. … Continue reading »
Cruise ship visits Berkeley waterfront
By Paul Kamen
In a proof-of-concept demonstration early Monday morning, an 800-foot cruise ship berthed briefly in the North Sailing Basin, the body of water east of Cesar Chavez Park in the Berkeley Marina.
“This had to be done at high tide, naturally,” explained Capt. Fidley Grating in a press conference Monday. “But it does demonstrate that it’s feasible. We will be able to bring the ships into Berkeley’s Aquatic Park without any major dredging operations.”
The demonstration, conducted on the north side of the marina, is part of a plan that has been taking shape over the last year to bring new commercial, residential and technology-oriented lab and office space to West Berkeley, but without the cumbersome and time-consuming zoning and use permit process. … Continue reading »
City approves sour-beer brewery for ‘beer geeks’
A new West Berkeley craft brewery, with a focus on ‘sour beer,’ was approved last week by a city zoning panel.
Business reps for The Rare Barrel, at 937 Carleton St., said they’ve already “started brewing and barrel aging,” and expect their first sour beers to be ready towards the end of the year. (The public entrance to the facility, which is not yet open, will be located at 932 Parker St.) The 14,000 square-foot beer production facility will offer beer and food on site — with 42 seats in a 1,380-square-foot sales area — as well as beer for sale to-go.
According to The Rare Barrel’s application to the city, sour beer goes through a different aging process than traditional beer. It’s produced in smaller volumes and, rather than a three-day fermentation process in a large tank, it’s left for a week in a smaller tank, then aged for a year in oak wine barrels. … Continue reading »
Defendant in 2012 murder found mentally unfit for trial
A man charged with shooting a Berkeley man to death in 2012, and later getting into a shootout with Berkeley Police officers, has been deemed mentally incompetent to stand trial at this time by a Superior Court judge in Oakland, according to court documents.
Calvester Houston Stewart, 20, of Berkeley was arrested in April 2012 after he reportedly exchanged gunfire with police following a routine traffic stop in West Berkeley. Police said Stewart opened fire on multiple officers after he ran into a Delaware Street apartment building when police tried to stop him. Stewart was shot multiple times during the incident. … Continue reading »
West Berkeley neighbors ask for answers after homicide
About 25 neighbors came together at Good Shepherd Episcopal Church over the weekend to share concerns and ideas about safety in west Berkeley following the shooting death earlier this month of Zontee Jones.
Councilwoman Linda Maio organized the meeting with members of the Berkeley Police Department to make sure residents in her district could connect with authorities and share their worries and suggestions.
Berkeley Police Lt. Dave Frankel told those in attendance, who sat in a circle in a community room belonging to Good Shepherd, that Jones’ death, which represented the city’s first homicide of the year, was not random.
“Somebody had something against somebody else, and they dealt with their issue directly,” he said. … Continue reading »
Zoning Board approves new 7-Eleven, but not 24-hours
Berkeley’s Zoning Adjustments Board on Thursday approved 7-Eleven’s application to open a store at 2000 San Pablo Ave. (at University) with an ATM machine and some design changes, but said it did not want the store to be open 24 hours.
Before the motion was passed, 7-Eleven representatives at the ZAB meeting had emphasized that operating 24-hours is at the core of their business model. The convenience store chain now has the right to appeal ZAB’s decision to the Berkeley City Council.
The ZAB Board listened to comments from around 25 residents and merchants of the west Berkeley neighborhood whose nexus is the intersection of San Pablo and University where the store would be located. The majority were opposed to a 7-Eleven coming into the area. Their concerns, which were also raised at a community meeting at the proposed 7-Eleven site on Jan. 8, centered on the negative impact such a store might have on local crime and safety, in particular if it was open all night. … Continue reading »
740 Heinz project moves forward, sans historic walls
On Tuesday night, a Berkeley City Council majority upheld a 2012 zoning panel decision to allow the construction of a new 100,000-square-foot lab building in west Berkeley.
Thirty neighbors had signed a petition to appeal the Zoning Adjustments Board’s decision in September, taking issue with the project’s environmental review, parking plans and changes in design since an earlier approval in 2009. The petitioners asked for an additional public hearing to ensure that the community knew about the changes and had time to comment on them. … Continue reading »
Wareham: Preservation of historic factory too expensive
Four years after Wareham Development proposed transforming a historic West Berkeley warehouse into a laboratory building, the company is seeking to tear down the entire structure instead of preserving two brick walls.
Construction costs have gone up and rents have declined since the city approved Wareham’s 2009 design for 740 Heinz and it is now too expensive to build around the rickety walls, according to Chris Barlow, a partner in Wareham, which is headquartered in San Rafael. It will be much easier – and cheaper – to build a new 100,000 square foot structure, Barlow told the Zoning Adjustments Board in late September. … Continue reading »
Locals oppose 7-Eleven coming into ‘fragile’ neighborhood
Update, 01.22.13: The 7-Eleven hearing has been postponed and will not be heard at the Jan. 24 Zoning Adjustments Board meeting. We will report on the new date when it is set.
Original story: A group of west Berkeley neighbors is mounting a vocal opposition to 7-Eleven opening a 24-hour convenience store at 2000 San Pablo Ave. on the corner of University Avenue. Residents fear that a store open throughout the night would be a magnet for crime and anti-social behavior, and would threaten to reverse what many see as significant improvements to the neighborhood’s quality of life over the past few years.
Around 60 local residents and merchants gathered on the evening of Tuesday, Jan. 8, at the vacant corner store for which 7-Eleven submitted a use permit application to the city Planning Department in September. … Continue reading »
City of Berkeley offers reward to find ‘Cowboy’ killer
Authorities have announced Berkeley’s fifth homicide of the year, a longtime homeless community member who lived in northwest Berkeley and went by the name “Cowboy.”
On Thursday morning, the Berkeley Police Department reported the death of Mark Stannard, 64. His body was found in early October, but the case was not immediately determined to be a homicide.
Stannard was a familiar face around the neighborhood, said officer Jennifer Coats, police spokeswoman. Coats recalled seeing him on the streets of northwest Berkeley since the 90s, always walking with a white pitbull dog.
“He was homeless but he has been in Berkeley for years,” she said.
The city of Berkeley is offering a $15,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person who killed Stannard. Another $2,000 may also be available to tipsters, via Bay Area Crime Stoppers. (Scroll down for details.) … Continue reading »
Sacramento Street neighbors reel from latest shooting
Update, 6:44 p.m.: The Berkeley Police Department has confirmed the identity of shooting victim Pamela Mullins, 50, of Berkeley. Mullins was killed in the 2700 block of Sacramento Street. According to a written statement released at 6:28 p.m.: “BPD detectives are continuing to work hard to gather information and determine a motive for this incident.”
Update, 5 p.m.: The Oakland Tribune is reporting that the shooting victim was 50-year-old Pam Mullins and that she died about 100 feet from her home. Cathy White of Oakland, who told the Tribune she was Mullins’ sister, said Mullins often rode her bike to and from her job as a caregiver, that she lived alone and had recently moved into the apartment.
Original story: The only signs Wednesday morning that a woman was gunned down Tuesday night as she rode her bicycle near Longfellow Middle School was a piece of yellow caution tape flapping in the wind, and three television news vans.
Otherwise it seemed like an average, if rainy, morning. Trucks delivered food to the school cafeteria, parents dropped off students, and stragglers rushed through the rain to make their early classes.
A woman who lives near the corner of Derby and Sacramento streets said she had heard what sounded like a shot Tuesday night but did not know a murder had occurred until she bundled her young son off to school in the morning. … Continue reading »
Female bicyclist shot and killed on Derby Street
This story was updated at 10:42 a.m. See the updated post here. The original story appears below.
A woman was shot and killed Tuesday night while riding her bike in the 1500 block of Derby Street, according to Berkeley police.
Police received a 911 call at 11:36 p.m. that a bicyclist was on the ground near Longfellow Middle School, possibly because of a traffic accident, said Officer Jennifer Coats. When police arrived, they found a woman in her late 40s or early 50s on the ground. She had been shot and was unresponsive, said Coats. Berkeley Fire Department paramedics arrived and pronounced her dead at the scene.
Police are not releasing the victim’s name at this time. … Continue reading »
Final election count shows no change in Berkeley tallies
Alameda County is the first populous county in California to complete its election count, according to Registrar of Voters Dave Macdonald (“If I can brag a little,” he said). The countywide turnout of 74.3% was slightly down on 2008, when it reached 78.3%. The registrar published the final, uncertified count last night.
Detailed precinct by precinct votes will be available shortly after the results are certified, which Macdonald expects to do next Wednesday. Today and Monday, his staff are doing the required 1% tally before certification: a random 1% of precincts is checked manually to see whether there are any discrepancies between the voter machine-reported tally and the manual tally.
In Berkeley, the final count revealed no changes since election day. The close count on Measure T, which would have changed zoning in West Berkeley, finished with the opponents ahead by 512 votes. The narrow margin Alejandro Soto-Vigil had for the fourth seat on the Rent Stabilization Board also held up: Soto-Vigil finished 210 votes ahead of incumbent Igor Tregub. Yesterday, Councilmember Jesse Arreguín appointed Tregub to the Zoning Adjustments Board. … Continue reading »
