A group of seniors are keeping alive the ancient Chinese art of Tai Chi in their weekly practice at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Under the instruction of Ben Levitan, 83, some 15 senior come together to achieve, what Levitan calls a state of “balance and relaxation”  

Levitan has taught Tai Chi for 18 years in Berkeley and El Cerrito. With simple yet powerfully precise instructions, he helps his students learn the basic movements while having an enjoyable time.  

With movements called Daughter in the Valley, Push and Pull, Pulling Taffy, Pulling Energy and Passing Cloud, Levitan helps students achieve a relaxed state. One becomes so relaxed that “she comes in and starts to yawn, and she yawns the whole hour,” said Levitan. 

During class Levitan asks his students to lead certain movements and always has a keen eye on beginners, whose minor mistakes he corrects.  

“You have to keep you hands apart,” Levitan often says. “You lose your energy when you hold your hands.” 

“It’s a nice way to gain peace. It’s very relaxing, extremely so, for your mind. At the end of class, I feel at peace,” said Alex Esparza, a member of Levitan’s class for 11 years. 

Although there are some very long timers, Levitan wants people to be aware that he has students of all levels and that everyone is welcomed. “These people who are doing Tai Chi, some of them have been doing Tai Chi for years, some are just beginners, “ he said. 

Besides having a positive mental effect on the students, there are real physical ones as well. “The tingling feeling in your fingers is the increased blood circulation,” said Esparza. “There isn’t anything better for, us seniors, than to increase blood circulation.” 

Levitan Tai Chi classes are every Monday from 1-2 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst, in Workshop “B.” For more information call 644-6107. 

Tuesday, July 18

Big Band/Show Tunes 

1:15 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst at MLK Jr. Way 

Come for live music with piano, trumpet and violin. 

644-6107 

Kitchen Kut-Ups in the Razzle Dazzle Review 

8:45 a.m.-5:30 p.m. 

Broadway variety show featuring songs, dance and comedy with seniors 64-82+. Annual sell-out show! 

No host lunch at Fresh Choice in Rohnert Park. 

BRJCC members $26.50; Public $28, Includes deluxe bus and show admission 

Call Frieda at (510) 649-6260 for info and reservations 

“What is nice?” 

7-9 p.m. 

Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut Ave. 

Come for a free discussion and social group, open to everyone regardless of age, religion or viewpoint. 

527-5332  

“A New Model of Learning”  

7:30 p.m. 

Café de la Paz Banquet Room 

1600 Shattuck at Cedar 

Dean Whitney, a physical therapist, will illuminate the world of brain integration, as it applies to both chronic health problems and cognition. Discussion and question will follow. Refreshments will be available. 

415-381-2488 

www.brainintegration.com/index67.html 

Fibromyalgia Support Group 

Noon-2 p.m. 

Alta Bates Medical Center, Maffly Auditorium-Herrick Campus, 2001 Dwight Way 

Rap Session 

601-0550 

Free Meditation Seminar 

2:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church 

941 The Alameda 

Experience the awakening of peace and love through meditation. 

845-9648 

A proposal that would trade billboards for toilets will be considered by the council tonight. 

The City Council may vote to open a dialogue with the Eller advertisement company for a package deal that would install public toilets in commercial districts and remove several billboards in the city. In return, the advertising company would get a billboard along I-80. 

Councilmember Kriss Worthington said he got the idea while attending an Oakland City Council meeting two months ago. 

“Berkeley has been talking for years about how to get billboards down in neighborhoods where people don’t like them,” he said. “And about putting public toilets in commercial areas. So the idea is to get this process started and to get some feedback.” 

The package originally involved the removal of four of Eller’s billboards and the installation of two Adshel toilets in exchange for a billboard in the I-80 corridor, but Councilmember Linda Maio said the numbers have yet to be worked out. 

Adshel, a French company, manufactures toilets much like the public toilets in San Francisco. They cost from $200,000 to $250,000 to install. Maio said the package would also include maintenance at no cost to the city. 

Both Maio and Worthington agree that the idea is worth discussing, but aren’t sure about the benefits of implementation. 

“I don’t know if this is a good idea,” Maio said. “I think it’s worth talking about. But we want the staff to research it first.” 

She said that she didn’t know how much a billboard on I-80 would cost. 

If the proposal is not pulled from the consent calendar at tonight’s council meeting, it will go the Office of Economic Development and the Office of the City Manager for closer study. 

“To get these benefits, you have to give something to the company,” Worthington said. “(The I-80 billboard) has to be highly visible so we can get the toilets and have the signs removed. It’s a trade and we need to weigh our options carefully.” 

cerned about the I-80 billboard’s impact in the community and in the environment. 

“Some people are going to resist” he said. “There has already been a strong objection to putting it in Aquatic Park, so we haven’t even thought about putting it there.” 

He said that some cities use floating billboards, but was worried about the environmental impact. 

“Ideally we would want to put it where it would have as little impact as possible.” 

Maio guessed one of the public toilets would go downtown and one could possibly go on Telegraph Avenue, but it would be a “whole community discussion,” she said.  

Among the items on the council plate tonight are: 

• A recommendation to approve a proclamation recognizing the 50th anniversary of the formation of the San Pablo Neighborhood Council. 

• A recommendation to reaffirm the opposition to the proposal of a fourth bore of the Caldecott tunnel. 

•A recommendation to conduct a public hearing and adopt a resolution to overturn the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s designation of the West Berkeley Shellmound as a city landmark. Also, to adopt an urgency ordinance to protect the archeological and cultural resources in the shellmound.  

• A progress report on Memorial Stadium Lighting Emergency Working Group. 

• An informational report on investigating alternative methods to eliminate the use of chalk by parking enforcement representatives to reduce time, error and to increase revenue. 

• A report on the status of the South Shattuck redevelopment study that concerns the redevelopment of the South Shattuck and South San Pablo Avenue areas. 

• A discussion of truck prohibition on Marin Avenue. 

The council meets at 7 p.m. at 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, broadcast on KPFB, 89.3-FM and telecast on TV-25. 

In what Mayor Shirley Dean called “unusual” circumstances, Councilmember Linda Maio placed an item on tonight’s City Council agenda, asking the council to promote Deputy City Manager Weldon Rucker to the acting-city manager post, replacing City Manager James Keene, who is leaving for a city manager position in Tucson Aug. 4.  

Maio’s item also asks for the council to work better with staff and with each other and to allow the interim manager to continue with the “neighborhood service initiative” Keene began. This is a reorganization of the city bureaucracy, aimed at better serving citizens. 

While Maio placed her recommendation on the consent calendar, Dean argued that was not appropriate because the discussion between employee and employer is a confidential matter that should take place in closed session. 

Putting the recommendation on tonight’s agenda is something that the mayor said “(Maio) has no right to do. These are supposed to be confidential matters. We can’t appoint anyone without a proper interview. Who’s to say (Rucker) will accept? There are a lot of things that need to be discussed.” 

Maio agreed that the salary discussion should take place behind closed doors.  

In her recommendation to her council colleagues, she asked them to “offer the position of interim city manager tonight to Weldon Rucker at the same salary as our departing city manager, for a period to be determined, but likely to be at least six months.” 

Rucker was acting city manager for much of the time between 1993 and 1996 and was paid less than the departing city manager. 

Maio said the part of her resolution that she hoped would be discussed publicly was finding a more civil and positive way of interaction between the city manager and the council.  

Changes “would include conducting business in a civil manner during meetings (minimize bickering) and working in a consultative manner, in general, with the manager and the staff,” Maio wrote. “It is also recommended that council continue support of organizational initiatives currently in development, that is customer services, neighborhood services, etc.” 

Four of the councilmembers – Maio, Dean, Vice Mayor Shirek and Councilmember Dona Spring – met with Rucker Monday afternoon to discuss the pending appointment. The discussion will continue among the entire council in a 5:30 p.m. closed-door session today. 

Dean said an announcement of the appointment will made in open session at the meeting. 

Dean added that she hopes this process will be smooth and orderly and respect the candidate. 

“After our meetings today and tomorrow, I hope everything will be fine,” she said Monday. “Everyone will just have to wait and see.”

$35,000 reward for arrest, $5,000 for info 

Police are keeping the memory of a two-year-old murder alive, by offering a large reward for information leading to the suspect’s arrest. 

In 1998, Rick De Vecchi was killed by a man whom witnesses said intentionally ran him over. There is already a $35,000 reward for the man’s arrest. Now they have added $5,000 for any information on the vehicle used to commit the murder, according to chief investigator Cary Kent.  

“Somebody knows where this car is located and once we find this car, we can start to put the puzzle together,” stated the victim’s younger brother Randy Vecchi. 

The vehicle is described as a late-model 1970s or 1980s light-colored two-door Cadillac with a dark, probably dark maroon, landau top. The license plate included letters similar to “CUS.”  

Anyone with information on the case should contact Investigator Cary Kent at 644-6807. The persons can remain anonymous if they wish. 

Accident turns assault 

On Sunday, two cars collided on the 1600 block of Bancroft Way. One of the people involved asked for the second driver’s identification. The driver refused and the first person decided to take the law into his own hands, said Police Captain Bobby Miller. 

“He tried to take (the other guy’s) keys,” Miller said. “Then he tried to take off the license plate.”  

That action caused the second driver to take a swing at the first one. The first driver then ran across the street and called the police. 

“The guy should have been memorizing the license plate number” instead of trying to force the man to give him his information, Miller said. 

While the first driver was on the phone across the street, the driver of the second vehicle left. His car is described as a two-door, 1997 burgundy Chrysler.

East Bay Regional Park District’s planning for the Eastshore State Park, renovations at Lake Temescal in Oakland, and other major parkland projects are included in the 2000-2001 state budget just signed on June 30th by Gov. Gray Davis. 

Altogether the state budget provides funding for a dozen specific key projects in which the Park District is either the lead agency or a partner. Obtained with the support of the East Bay’s entire state legislative delegation, the funds will enhance public outdoor recreation throughout the region. 

The funds are not usable for routine operations and maintenance. They are intended for park facility construction, land acquisition, and major rehabilitation projects. 

The allocation for the Eastshore State Park totals $2.8 million for planning, design and environmental review. 

“I would like to say kudos to the legislators,” said Park District Director John Sutter of Oakland. “Certainly Dion Aroner was involved in the Eastshore State Park efforts. This moves us ahead several years in the planning and development of the Eastshore State Park.”  

Sutter also thanked State Senator Don Perata for his support of the project at Lake Temescal. It is a $275,000 allocation for refurbishment of a building originally constructed in the late 1930s by CCC and WPA workers. It will become a facility for community meetings. 

The Eastshore State Park site extends for eight miles along the shore of San Francisco Bay between Emeryville and Richmond. Acting as agent for the State of California, East Bay Regional Park District has purchased some 1,800 acres that will comprise the park. The next step, now under way, is planning for parkland facilities, including shoreline trails and picnic areas.  

These are the other Park District or district-related projects approved in the state budget, for a total expense of $16,840,000. Many of these projects come from the Coastal Conservancy’s allocation from Prop. 12, the State Park Bond Act: 

Black Diamond Historical Mine development: $500,000. Funds will be used to develop a larger, permanent underground visitor center at Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve near Antioch, with an auditorium and restored coal mine. 

Historic Merry-Go-Round renovations: $200,000. The merry-go-round at Tilden Regional Park in Berkeley is on the National Register of Historic Places. Built in 1911, it has hand-carved carousel animals. 

Ferry Point Renovations: $500,000. The allocation is for rehabilitation and extension of the ferry slip, located at Miller-Knox Regional Shoreline in Richmond. The slip once was the terminus of the transcontinental railroad. Benefits will include deep water access for fishing, historic interpretation, and other enhancements. ‘I’m particularly grateful to Dion for her support on this project,” said Park Director Jean Siri, who represents the area, “because I think it will be one of the best fishing piers around.” 

Rose Hill Cemetery renovations: $30,000. The historic cemetery contains the graves of many miners who worked the Black Diamond coalfields. The allocation will fund tombstone restoration, vandalism repair and general refurbishing. 

Camp Ohlone: $330,000. The camp is a disabled accessible overnight facility in Sunol Regional Wilderness. The allocation will help to fund conversion of a barn into a shelter and interpretive facility, expansion of the trail system, and remodeling of a site manager residence. 

Completion of bike trail in Concord: $945,000. This will enable extension of the Iron Horse Regional Trail in the Concord area, with links to other regional trails. 

Completion of Iron Horse Regional Trail: $260,000. Extension of the Iron Horse Regional Trail farther south in Alameda County. 

Delta Science Center: $2 million. The proposed Delta Science Center in Brentwood will be a major facility for hands-on educational programs about the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The Park District is one of several partners in the project. 

Clayton Ranch acquisition: $250,000. The Park District is partnering with Save Mt. Diablo in the purchase of this 1,000-acre wildlife corridor between Mt. Diablo and Black Diamond Mines. 

Purchase of conservation easement for Save Mt. Diablo: $250,000. This allocation to the Park District is for purchase of a conservation easement at Diablo Foothills Regional Park. 

Per capita allocation: $8.5 million. Gov. Davis also used the budget surplus to fund the entire per capita allocation to all local and regional agencies that was authorized by passage of Prop. 12. The Park District’s share, $8.5 million, is based on the District’s population. It is expected that the State Department of Parks and Recreation will administer the program, receiving applications from agencies for funding of specific individual projects. 

In addition to the allocations just mentioned, totaling $16,840,000, the city of Oakland is receiving $850,000 from the budget for development of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Freedom Center at King Regional Shoreline in Oakland. The Park District is a partner in this project. The center will emphasize the teachings of Dr. King, with programs on non-violence, conflict resolution, services for inner-city youth and environmental education.

People’s park was the scene of a small “emergency rally” Sunday, called to discuss the park’s future. 

Community activist Michael Delacour called for the rally on the 123rd anniversary of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 in Martinsburg, W. Va., which he considers one of the most important, though little-known, strikes in American history. 

Delacour told the 30 or so people present that he wanted to hold the rally on this anniversary because of the similarities he sees between the railroad workers’ strike to protest their wage cuts and the ongoing struggle the people of Berkeley have been having with the University of California over People’s Park. Both are fights against power, he said. 

“You have to have a plan,” said Delacour, who was involved in rallies for the park in the 1960s and 70s. “We have to deal with this university wanting to bring in their police and eventually wanting to put up a fence or whatever, and do it militarily. We have to deal with that.” 

One topic of discussion that came up at the rally was the university’s recent decision to end its maintenance arrangement with the city. Many of those who spoke agreed that the university has maintained too tight a hold on the park and that Cal should leave People’s Park to the people. 

Carol Denney, another Berkeley resident, said she attended the event to celebrate the recent end of the university’s lease agreement with the city for People’s Park. 

“I’m glad to see the end of the lease agreement,” Denney said. “The city never should have participated in the war that was declared on the traditional participants of the park.” 

Speakers talked about instances where the university has tried to intervene in the park’s operations, such as the construction of volleyball courts in 1991 and a recent situation when UC police are alleged to have thrown away homeless people’s possessions that were left in the park. The 1991 construction brought protests and eventually riots, killing one person. 

“People’s blood is in the ground here,” Berkeley resident Joe Cadora said. “The university tries to pave over it, which they try to do every 10 years; it’s ridiculous.” 

Delacour said he wants people to come up with a collective solution for keeping the park a part of the community. 

People said that what needs to happen at People’s Park is continuing the outreach services that the park already offers. One of these services is the free box, a community arrangement that allows people to take and leave clothing for anyone who needs them.

Monday, July 17

Tai Chi Chih 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst at MLK Jr. Way 

Come for Tai Chi Chih with Ben Levitan 

510-644-6107 

Tuesday, July 18

Big Band/Show Tunes 

1:15 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst at MLK Jr. Way 

Come for live music with piano, trumpet and violin. 

510-644-6107 

“What is nice?” 

7-9 p.m. 

Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut Ave. 

Come for a free discussion and social group, open to everyone regardless of age, religion or view point. 

510-527-5332  

Fibromyalgia Support Group 

12:00-2:00 p.m. 

RAP Session 

Alta Bates Medical Center, Maffly Auditorium-Herrick Campus, 2001 Dwight Way 

510-601-0550 

Free Meditation Seminar 

2:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church 

941 The Alameda 

Experience the Awaking of peace and love through meditation 

510-845-9648 

Wednesday, July 19

“Women Who Run With Words” 

7:30 p.m. 

Diesil Bookstore 

5433 College Ave, Oakland 

A writing workshop created by local poet Ruth Wynkoop, will present a group reading of poetry and short prose.  

510-848-1069 

Ballroom Dance 

10 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst at MLK Jr. Way 

Come for a practice session of ballroom dance. 

510-644-6107 

Chinese Calligraphy 

1:00 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst at MLK Jr. Way 

510-644-6107 

Thursday, July 20 

“La Ciudad” 

7:00 p.m. 

Revolution Books 

2425 Channing Way 

“La Ciudad,” beautifully filmed in black and white, presents four stories about people from Latin America who have come to work and survive in New York City. A garment worker in a sweatshop, a homeless puppeteer and his daughter, a young man newly arrived from Puebla, Mexico who crashed a quincenera (sweet fifteen) party, and a group of day laborers hired to clean huge stacks of bricks for pennies. The actors in this film are immigrant workers who had a special stake in bringing these stories to light. 

510-848-1169 

Free/opinional donations go to Revolution Books Video Library 

“Movie: Civil Action” 

1:00 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst at MLK Jr. Way 

510-644-6107 

“Meeting Life Changes” with John Hammerman 

10:00 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst at MLK Jr. Way 

510-644-6107 

Memorial Stadium Permanent Lighting Project 

7-9 p.m. 

Lower Conference Room, Unit One Residence Hall 

2650 Durant Ave.  

This is a community meeting to present supplemental documents to the initial study that describes the project and identifies its potential environmental effects. 

For more Information: 510-642-7720. 

Friday, July 21

“Does Winning by Intimidation Count?” with Betty Goren 

1:00 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst at MLK Jr. Way 

510-644-6107 

“Schubert Songs” with Baker Lake 

1:15 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst at MLK Jr. Way 

510-644-6107 

Sunday, July 23

“The Wind and the Willows” 

3:00 p.m. 

Pacific Film Archive 

2575 Bancroft Way @ Bowditch 

Recommended for ages 7+. Monty Python fans and kids of all ages will revel in this witty and imaginative live-action adaptation of Kenneth Grahame’s 1908 tale in which Rat, Badger and Mole team up to save their wealthy, reckless friend Toad from losing his estate. 

Tickets $4.00 

510-642-5249 

Monday, July 24

“Pros and Cons of Measure B” with Marike Baan, Unites Seniors 

1:15 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst at MLK Jr. Way 

510-644-6107 

Tuesday, July 25

“Commitment Ceremonies” 

6 p.m.-7:30 p.m. 

Judah L. Magnes Museum 

2911 Russell St. 

Rabbi Allen B. Bennett of Temple Israel in Alameda and Muchal Friedlander, Blumenthal Curator of Judaica at the Judah L. Magnes Museum will pose the question of-and whether-new concepts of commitment can be integrated with more traditional Jewish and general perspectives on marriage. 

$5 donation suggested for non-members. Reservations are appreciated, but not required. 

510-549-6950 

“Chinese Macrame: Ornaments” 

10 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst at MLK Jr. Way 

510-644-6107 

“The History and Mystery of the Universe” is a fascinating, mind-expanding one-man play based on the life, work and writings of 20th century American spiritual and technological guru R. Buckminster Fuller.  

An import which originated at the San Diego Repertory Theater, written and directed by D.W. Jacobs, and performed by Ron Campbell, the play opened Wednesday at the Lorraine Hansberry Theater in San Francisco, produced by Foghouse.com, an offshoot of Z Space arts collective. 

“The History and Mystery of the Universe” takes the form of a two-and-a-half hour lecture in which the eccentric, inspired and ingenious R. Buckminster Fuller talks about his life, and explains his work directly to the audience. 

Though the show runs too long, and bogs down in overly familiar and repetitious political analysis near the end, it is a very important play and will be of interest to any person who gives thought to the big problems that human beings face moving into the new millennium on a planet filled with both beauty and conflict. 

A fascinating and inspired mix of science, technology, philosophy, history, politics, and economics, in this play Fuller basically asks the question, “Why are we here?” and then proceeds to find the answer. Along the way he hits many other big questions. 

Fuller shares his ideas with the audience in the context of his own life, his own growth, and his own personal discoveries. 

Born in New England in the late nineteenth century, Fuller was kicked out of Harvard as a young man for cutting classes. After several failed attempts at business, and the death of a young daughter, the 32-year-old Fuller contemplated suicide. 

In losing his way in life, Fuller had an epiphany. Admission of failure, he says, is the point at which humans begin to understand the mysteries of the universe. He then spent two years in near silence rethinking everything he had been taught. 

An interdisciplinary creative thinker in the areas of physics, cosmology, engineering technology, philosophy, architecture, automotive design, history, politics and economics, Fuller set out explicitly to bridge the chasm between humanity and science, and find the unifying structure that unites physical and metaphysical reality. 

It is hard to communicate the impact of his work and thinking in a short review. One of the ways this play is successful is in bringing the richness and ingeniousness of Fuller's thought to life in a simulation of one of his lectures. 

Fuller's discovery of the triangle as a fundamental structure of the universe, for example, and his demonstration that one plus one equals four (meaning that two triangles comprise a tetrahedron), is fascinating. 

This leads to Fuller's discovery of the geodesic dome, and his perception that pulsing transformations among the tetrahedron, octahedron and icosahedron describe the phenomenology of the universe. 

Got that? Well, he makes it clear in the play. 

The polarities between tension and compression, convexity and concavity, and protons and neutrons, lead Fuller to further key understandings. You will also understand that if you go see the play. 

In addition to the geodesic dome, Fuller invented a very energy-and-human-friendly house and car. A central theme to Fuller's thinking is synergy. 

Fuller also has fascinating takes on human history, and the stages of evolution that humans have passed through historically. 

The weakest part of this play, however, is the final section dealing with politics. Counterculture political analysis is well-known by now, and after the substance that has gone before, Fuller's political pep talk at the play's end is anti-climactic. 

The evening, running about two and a half hours including an intermission, is long. Shortening the play by a half hour would increase its impact.  

Jumping from armchair to blackboard to overhead projector to illustrate his ideas, actor Ron Campbell turns in an eccentric, energetic, hyperactive, angular performance as Fuller. 

In Annie Smart's set design, there are six or seven distinct spaces on the lecture stage. Transitions in thinking are effectively punctuated by designer David Lee Cuthbert's effective blue and green lighting. 

Composer Luis Perez's electronic music helps create emotional depth at key moments when the physical and the metaphysical become one. 

Buckminster Fuller was one of America's leading spiritual and social visionaries. If you enjoy pondering the meaning of human existence, and the mysteries of the universe, you will enjoy this play. 

“R. Buckminster Fuller: The History (and Mystery) of the Universe,” runs Wednesday through Sunday, through August 13, at Lorraine Hansberry Theater, 620 Sutter Street (at Mason), San Francisco. For information or tickets, call (415) 392-4400, or visit the website (www.foghouse.com). 

The zoning department is biased 

Dear Berkeley City Councilmembers, 

On July 25, you will decide an appeal on the Landmarks Commission’s designation of 1525-29 Shattuck Ave. as a Structure of Merit. 

You will no doubt receive information from the Zoning Department about this matter, but you should be sure to regard their information with great skepticism. 

This is because from the outset, the Zoning Department has sought to mislead, frustrate and lose important documents of longtime Berkeley resident, Harvey Sherbeck who filed this action. 

The latest document to be lost is a letter in support of Mr. Sherbeck is landmark application from Alice Waters of Chez Panisse. This letter was submitted to the Landmarks Commission along with 700 signatures from North Berkeley residents and merchants in favor of landmarking. But somehow, it has been “lost.” 

Previously, on June 26, seeking information for his July submission to the Council, Mr. Sherbeck found that the entire file on this matter was “lost.”  

Ten days later, after my phone calls to the Mayor’s and City Manager’s offices, the files were “found” in four hours, with the exception of the Alice Waters letter. 

Prior to that, the Zoning Dept. gave Mr. Sherbeck the wrong information about when his 

application had to be heard by the Landmarks Commission. If he had followed the staff advice his application would have been beyond the purview of the Commission. Fortunately, he was able to get accurate information from the Berkeley Architectural and Historical Society. 

When Mr. Sherbeck first began the process, zoning staff members basically told him he had no right to request landmark status.  

When BAHA enlightened him about the process, he somehow managed to find one helpful staff member. 

This conduct by the Zoning Department is outrageous! They are supposedly being paid by Berkeley citizens to act in our interests. Instead, we find them sneaking in 100-foot towers, and Starbuck’s coffee shops, while local citizens are given the run-around and misinformation. 

Clearly, the Zoning staff is not to be trusted in this matter. 

Art Goldberg 

Berkeley

MUSIC VENUES 

ASHKENAZ 

Billy Dunn, July 12, 9 p.m. $8. 

Babatunde Olatunji, July 13, 9 p.m. $11. 

Tamazgha, July 14, 9:30 p.m. $11. 

Kotoja, Akimbo, July 15, 9:30 p.m. $11. 

Resin, Caesar Myles and Dreaded Truth, Rebecca Riots, Famous Last Words, Erika Luckett, Liz Anah, July 16, 4 p.m. $8 to $25. 

1317 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley. (510) 525-5099 or www.ashkenaz.com 

FREIGHT AND SALVAGE 

Dan Crary and Beppe Gambetta, July 12. $15.50 to $16.50. 

Bill Evans, Avram Siegel, Marty Cutler, July 13. $14.50 to $15.50. 

Juan-Carlos Formell, July 14. $14.50 to $15.50. 

The Laura Love Band, July 15. $17.50 to $18.50. 

Pat Donohue, July 16. $14.50 to $15.50. 

Music at 8 p.m. 1111 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 548-1761 or (510) 762-BASS. 

LA PEÑA CULTURAL CENTER 

War!, July 12, 7 p.m. $10. 

Jon Fromer and Friends, July 14, 8 p.m. $8 to $15. 

Ray Cepeda, July 15, 9:30 p.m. $10. 

Dya Singh, July 16, 8 p.m. $18. 

3105 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 849-2568 or www.lapena.org 

924 GILMAN ST. 

Attitude Adjustment, Wolfpack, Men's Recovery Project, Axiom, July 14. 

MU330, Alkaline Trio, Link 80, Venice Shoreline Chris, Blue Meanies, Lawrence Arms, Honor System, Dan Potthast, Mike Park, July 16, 4 p.m.  

$5. Music at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 924 Gilman St., Berkeley. (510) 525-9926. 

THE STARRY PLOUGH PUB 

Cadillac Angels, Rip Carson and the Twilight Trio, July 13. $5. 

Tempest, Azigza, July 14. $8. 

Plus Ones, The Cables, Luminar, The Fitsners, July 15.  

For age 21 and over. Wednesday, 8 p.m.; Thursday, 9:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 9:45 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 3101 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 841-2082. 

MUSEUMS 

UC BERKELEY 

ART MUSEUM 

“Doug Aitken/MATRIX 185: Into the Sun,” July 9 through Sept. 3. An exhibit of works primarily in video and film, using the interplay of art and media to evoke deserted landscapes. Artist’s Talk, July 9, 3 p.m. Doug Aitken discusses his installation. In Gallery 1. 

Rodin and His Contemporaries,” through August. An exhibit of 11 bronze maquettes on loan from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation in Los Angeles. $6 general; $4 seniors and students ages 12 to 18; free children age 12 and under; free Thursday, 1 1 a.m. to noon and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. 2626 Bancroft Way, Berkeley. (510) 642-0808. 

HALL OF HEALTH  

2230 Shattuck Ave. (lower level), Berkeley 

A hands-on community health education museum and science center sponsored by Children's Hospital Oakland and Alta Bates Medical Center. 

“This is Your Heart!” ongoing. An in teractive exhibit on heart health. 

“Good Nutrition,” ongoing. This exhibit includes models for making balance. 

“Draw Your Own Insides,” ongoing. Human-shaped chalkboards and models with removable organs. 

“Your Cellular Self and Cancer Prevention,” ongoing. An exhibit on understanding how cells become cancerous. 

(510) 549-1564 

LAWRENCE HALL 

OF SCIENCE 

“Experiment Gallery,” through Sept. 10. Step inside a giant laboratory and experiment with concepts surrounding sound, light, mechanics, electricity, and weather. 

“Math Rules!” ongoing exhibit. A math exhibit of hands-on problem-solving stations, each with a different mathematical challenge. Make mathematical ice-cream cones, use blocks to build three dimensional structures, make dodecagon pies from a variety of mathematical shapes and stretch mathematical thinking. 

“Within the Human Brain,” ongoing installation. Visitors test their cranial nerves inside a simulated “rat cage” of learning experiments. 

$6 general; $4 seniors, students and children ages 7 to 18; $2 children ages 3 to 6; free children under age 3. Daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Centennial Drive, University of California, Berkeley. (510) 642-5132 or www.lhs.berkeley.edu 

PHOEBE HEARST MUSEUM 

Kroeber Hall, UC Berkeley 

“Modern Treasures from Ancient Iran,” through Oct. 29. This exhibit explores nomadic and town life in ancient and modern Iran. 

“Pana O’ahu: Sacred Stones – Sacred Places,” through July 16. An exhibit of photographs by Jan Becket and Joseph Singer. 

“Phoebe Hearst Museum-Approaching a Century of Anthropology,” a sampling of the vast collections of the museum, its mission, history, and current research, with selections from ancient Egypt, ancient Peru, California Indians, Asia (India), and Africa. 

“Ishi and the Invention of Yahi Culture,” Ishi, the last Yahi Indian of California, spent the final years of his life, 1911 to 1916, living at the museum, working with anthropologists to record his culture, demonstrating technological skills, and retelling Yahi myths, tales, and songs. 

Wednesday through Sunday 10 am -4:30 pm; Thursday until 9 pm (Sept-May) 

(510) 643-7648 

HABITOT CHILDREN’S MUSEUM 

Kittredge Street and Shattuck Avenue 

A museum especially for children age 7 and younger. Highlights include “WaterWorks,” an area with some unusual water toys. The museum also features a toy lending library. 

Exhibit: “Back to the Farm,” open-ended. This interactive exhibit gives children the chance to wiggle through tunnels like an earthworm, look into a mirrored fish pond, don farm animal costumes, ride on a John Deere tractor and much more.  

Admission is $4 for adults; $6 child age 7 and under; $3 for each additional child.  

Hours: Monday and Wednesday, 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Tuesday and Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

(510) 647-1111 

JUDAH L. MAGNES 

MUSEUM 

2911 Russell St., Berkeley 

“Telling Time: To Everything There Is A Season,” through May 2002.  

An exhibit structured around the seasons of the year and the seasons of life with objects ranging from the sacred and the secular, to the provocative and the whimsical. Highlights include treasures from Jewish ceremonial and folk art, rare books and manuscripts, contemporary and traditional fine art, video, photography and cultural kitsch. Through Nov. 4: “Spring and Summer.” 

Free. Sunday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

(510) 549-6950. 

GALLERIES  

KALA INSTITUTE 

“Markings/Imprints,” through July 28. The 2000 Kala Art Institute Fellowship Awards Exhibitions, Part I, featuring works by Susan Belau, Liliana Lobo Ferreira, and Jamie Morgan. 

Free. Tuesday through Friday, noon to 5 p.m. Workshop Media Center Gallery, 1060 Heinz Ave., Berkeley. (510) 549-2977. 

TRAYWICK GALLERY 

Rachel Davis, Samantha Fisher, Benicia Gantner, Cherith Rose, June 21 through July 22. An exhibit of new work by the four artists. 

Free. Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. 1316 10th St., Berkeley. (510) 527-1214. 

ADDISON STREET WINDOWS 

“Yangtze River: in the Dragon’s Teeth” 

Carol Brighton's poured paper paintings of the Yangtze River gorges, through July 31. Six-foot paper pieces in the long format of a Chinese scroll. 

Addison Street Windows Gallery, 2018 Addison St., Berkeley 

To publicize an upcoming event, please submit information to the Daily Planet via fax (841-5695), e-mail (calendar@berkeleydailyplanet.com) or traditional mail (2076 University Avenue, 94704). Calendar items should be submitted at least one week before the opening of a new exhibit or performance. Please include a daytime telephone number in case we need to clarify any information.

The final three seats on a Rent Board slate were filled Sunday afternoon at a convention held by a coalition of progressive organizations at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 

Judy Ann Alberti, incumbent Maxwell Anderson and Matthew Siegel will join Paul Hogarth, who was nominated at a special student convention in May, on a progressive Rent Board slate in the November election. 

The nominees beat out Chris Kavanaugh and Larry Buckhalter on the first ballot, which is “unusual,” Hogarth said, in the method used in the selection. Alberti received 66. 7 percent, Anderson received 62.5 percent and Seigel 68.1 percent on a ballot where three nominees were to be chosen from the five. In order to be nominated on the first ballot a nominee had to receive at least 60 percent. 

Kavanaugh and Buckhalter received 47.2 and 11.1 percent respectively. 

Hogarth said he was excited about the results and noted that all the nominees were qualified candidates. 

“The thing about today is that they are all excellent candidates,” he said. “I was torn when I cast my votes.” 

The Rent Board has nine members, each with four-year terms staggered every two years. Four seats are open this year. 

Hogarth said he was excited to get to work with the other nominees. 

“I look forward to working with them,” he said. “And introducing them to the student community and having them introduce me to the rest of Berkeley.” 

Hogarth went on to say that one out of three students can’t live in Berkeley because they can’t find affordable housing. 

Maxwell Anderson echoed Hogarth’s excitement and readiness. 

“I’m very happy,” he said. “This is a good balanced slate with the backgrounds to help serve the city well.” 

“We have to protect renters right now in terms of evictions and controlling the rent,” he said. 

He added that he and City Councilmember Linda Maio have been working together to have a housing conference next spring to “take a real good look at the conditions” of renters in Berkeley, he said. 

Among the organizations that called the meeting are the Berkeley Citizens Action, the Green Party of Berkeley, NAACP, the Service Employees International Unions.

OPERA 

THE BERKELEY OPERA 

“Beatrice and Benedick” by Hector Berlioz, July 14 through July 23. A joyous evening of wit, deception and romance based on William Shakespeare’s comedy “Much Ado About Nothing.” Jonathan Khuner conducting. Sung in English. 

$16 to $30 general; $24 senio rs; $15 youths age 17 and under. Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave., Berkeley. (925) 798-1300 THEATER 

ACTORS ENSEMBLE OF BERKELEY 

“Murder At The Vicarage” by Agatha Christie, July 14 through Aug. 12. Performance of the classic whodunnit. $10. Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Aug. 10, 8 p.m. Live Oak Theatre, 1301 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 528-5620. 

CALIFORNIA SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL 

“Hamlet” by William Shakespeare, July 1 through July 22. Shakespeare probes the shadowy corners of the human psyche in this dark, compelling tragedy of vengeance, madness and murder most foul. 

$21 to $38 general; $19 to $38 seniors; $10 to $38 children. Wednesday and Thursday, 7 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 4 p.m.; July 11 and July 18, 7 p.m.; July 22, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Bruns Memorial Amphitheatre, Shakespeare Festival Way/Gateway Exit on state Highway 24.  

Call (510) 548-9666 or visit www.calshakes.org.

I am not the editor of a newspaper and shall always try to do right and be good, so that God will not make me one. 

- Mark Twain 

Dear Reader, 

Many years ago, the day before the editor of my high school newspaper was to be named, my journalism teacher took me aside. 

“You understand, we need to pick someone who can set type,” she said.  

These were the days when boys took print or auto shop and girls baked cookies in home “ec.” 

“So Richard Schmorleitz will be editor. Don’t worry, you’ll be his assistant,” the teacher concluded.  

So here I am with a second chance. Though I’m minimally conversant with the digital tools to put the Planet together – we are completely computerized and, in fact, looking for someone who wants to design pages and copy edit – I’ve accepted the task. 

The job is likely to equal some of the daunting challenges I’ve faced – hitchhiking through west Africa by myself, teaching horseback riding when I knew nothing about horses, singing in nightclubs, teaching disabled children in a culture that cherishes bodily perfection…. 

After facing the greatest challenge (and joy) of my life – raising a child without a partner or a village and often on less than half a shoestring – I figure I can do anything, even master page design. 

“Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” a friend just completing a book e-mailed me, congratulating me, sort of, on the new post. 

And I know you, dear readers, will help me – pointing out every headline you hate, noting that pedaling is not peddling, that stationery isn’t stationary… 

On a more serious note, your support for our no-longer-fledgling community paper has been overwhelming and has sustained me over the 14 months I’ve been with the Planet. 

In addition to your support, another unique and exciting part of being at the planet, is the commitment of the paper’s founders and, in particular, publisher Arnold Lee, who insists upon recognizing and honoring that sacred wall that divides the advertising functions of the paper from the editorial side. You won’t find our advertisers boring their way into our stories, unless they are newsmakers in their own right, or making decisions about stories to be spiked or moderated. 

Looking ahead, as we add staff – and, again, we’re looking for experienced reporters -- we will be going deeper into neighborhoods, delving further into our diverse social, religious and cultural institutions; we’ll look at business and employment trends in our city, do more interviews with local writers and reviews of local authors’ books.  

We plan to get more of your voices onto our editorial pages. 

There’s another way I’d like you hear from you. I plan to run well-written first-person stories, 750-1,000-word slices of Berkeley life written by those you know and love (or hate or whatever) this city. This will begin as soon as I get viable submissions. 

As for city government, the “buzz” won’t die. While making every effort to fairly portray all the varied facets of our debates, and, generally, not taking an editorial position on them, the Planet will take a stand and shine a strong bright light on city government, relentlessly calling on our city mothers and fathers to conduct business where the public can see it and participate in it. And the Planet will play a role, providing as much information as we can, enabling your involvement with the city, schools and more. 

So, I hope, dear readers, you will embark on this second-chance adventure with me, continuing your supportive missives, your thoughtful critiques and, perhaps my favorite, your powerful insider tips. 

See you around the Planet, 

Judith

Hal Kirshbaum has multiple sclerosis. But that never stopped him or his wife Megan from parenting. 

Being disabled and parenting, however, is not easy. The couple faced and learned to surmount barriers as they parented their two children. And they decided that they shouldn’t keep to themselves what they had learned. 

In 1982, when the Kirshbaums’ children were 9 and 3, they founded the Berkeley-based non-profit, Through the Looking Glass, which pioneered clinical services, training and research serving families in which a parent or child has a disability.  

Through the Looking Glass has emerged as the main resource in the country for disabled parents. 

Megan Kirshbaum, who now directs the nonprofit agency with Paul Preston at a crowded first-floor office at Allston Way and 6th Street, proudly says the staff at the organization has grown to 33 strong. Most of the staff members – some 80 percent, are disabled or have family members who are. 

“The point is to provide more appropriate, and less discriminatory, practices for families,” she said. “And to help other places start services based on what we’ve learned.” 

Indeed, research and its implementation is a big part of what the TLG does. The agency recently published an “Adaptive Parenting Equipment” handbook detailing useful products, such as a wheelchair climbing step so a child can easily climb into a parent’s lap, to simplify and de-stress an already daunting task. 

“None of this stuff existed before, so people were struggling,” she said. “This equipment can make a really big difference for mothers and fathers with disabilities.” 

She said that 19 members of the staff, all of whom have significant training or are social workers, go into the field to assist around 200, primarily low-income, families in Alameda and Contra Costa county. The endeavor to send assistants out into the field has been helped by funds from the Regional Center, which is part of the California State Department of Developmental Services, and a grant they received as a result of Proposition 10, the tobacco settlement. But she added that there is still a “critical lack of services for a growing group of people all over.” 

“We never have enough funding to accommodate all the referrals we get,” she said. “And it’s hard to get public systems to realize the needs of parents with disabilities.” 

A project TLG started called “Every Child Counts,” funded by Proposition 10, did more to identify parents and children with disabilities, but “is relatively small compared to the extent of need,” she said. “We still have to seek other solutions.” 

The TLG’s reach is not just local. The National Resource Center, part of the services the TLG offers, gives families and professionals a national clearinghouse of resources, articles and books related to parenting with a disability, toll-free technical assistance, a national parent-to-parent network, workshops and program consultation, and it publishes the international newsletter “Parenting with a Disability.” Many of the organization’s literature and supplements can be found on its website: www.lookingglass.org., including “Mother Father Deaf: Living between Sound and Silence,” authored by TLG co-director Paul Preston. 

The organization also leaves its mark around the country by training thousands of professionals from around the world in disability and medical issues.  

Back in 1997, the TLG hosted the first International Conference on Parents and their Families in Oakland. It was the first of its kind to focus on parents with disabilities and their families. The conference drew people from 22 states and 14 countries, Kirshbaum said.  

“And we expect even more people at our next meeting because our network has increased,” she said. The next conference is planned for October 2001 and will again be held in Oakland. 

Another task the organization is undertaking is a three-year project aimed at learning more about the experiences of families in which a parent with a disability is raising a teen. From 1985 to 1988, the TLG documented how mothers with disabilities and their babies – with no services or special equipment – worked around obstacles over time, and channeled that knowledge to helping families that are particularly stressed. 

Kirshbaum said that the TLG recently received its first grant from the city of Berkeley, and she hopes that they can work more with the city. 

“It’s silly for us not to be working more with people in our own town,” she said, adding that Berkeley is the place where the independent living movement began. 

Kirshbaum said the TLG plans to team with eight other organizations to create the Ed Roberts campus, which will group services for disabled people at the Ashby BART station in south Berkeley. The campus is named after the leader and educator in the disability rights movement and UC Berkeley’s first student with significant disabilities. 

Together the organizations will offer an even broader range of services for the disabled. 

Through the Looking Glass can be reached at 800-644-2666, voice, or 800-804-1616, TDD/TTY. It is located at 2198 Sixth Street. 

John Fisher’s “Cleopatra: The Musical” 

Berkeley July 2000-UC Berkeley Department of Dramatic Art/Center for Theater Arts had added a preview performance and two Thursday performances to its run of “Cleopatra: The Musical.” The play will be performed at the Zellerbach Playhouse from July 27 through August 13, 2000. Written and directed by award-winning playwright and direct John Fisher, “Cleopatra: The Musical” is a gender-bending, musical parody of the Caesar/Clropatra/Anthony love triangle, chock-full of flamboyant production numbers that satirize scheming politicos, theatrical ambition, and epic romance. In this hilarious burlesque of musical comedy aesthetics, Fisher brings us camp comedy at its most outrageous. Women play men, men play women, and Caesar is reincarnated as the obnoxious nine-year-old child, Caesarian, of Caesar and Cleopatra. The production is rife with exaggerated battle scenes, bawdy lyrics, and salacious. 

John Fisher is the recipient to two Will Gilckman Playwright Awards (for “Combat” and “Medea: the Musical”), four Bay Area Theater Critics Awards, the Bay Guardian Goldie Award (“The Joy of Gay Sex”), the Eisner Prize, The Phyllis Wattis Fellowship (“Titus!”), and two Cable Car Awards for Best Theatrical Production ( “Medea: The Musical” and “The Joy of Gay Sex”). He has written and directed “Titus!” (Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco), :Combat!” (UC Berkeley, San Francisco), :Medea: The Musical” (UC Berkeley, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sonoma County), “The Joy of Gay Sex” (UC Berkeley, San Francisco), and “Napoleon: The Musical” as the Mainstage Production for the HBO Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen Colorado. In Los Angeles, the play garnered four LA Weekly Awards, a Garland Award from Backstage West, and the 2000 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding L.A. Theater. His newest play “Barebacking,” premiered at Theater Rhinoceros in April and “Partisans” premiered at UC Berkeley in October, 1999. John makes his Seattle debut this summer with “Medea: The Musical” at the ArtsWest Theater. He is the recipient of the Townsend, Regents, and Wheeler Fellowships and is a member of the Advisory Board at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. 

“Cleopatra: The Musical” opens Friday, July 28 at the Zellerbach Play house on the UC Berkeley campus. The play previews on Thursday, July 27 and runs through Sunday, August 13. Evening performances are July 27, 28, 29 and August 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12 at 8:00 PM. Matinee performances are July 30 and August 6, 13 at 2:00 PM. Tickets are $12.00 general admission; $8.00 for faculty/staff; and $6.00 for students/seniors. 

Tickets are available through Ticketweb at www.ticketweb.com or by calling 510-601-8932. For more information on Department of Dramatic Art and Center for Theater Art events, check out their web site at http://ls.berkeley.edy/dept/theater/index.html or contact Genevieve Turcotte at 510-642-8262. 

School Vouchers 2000: Giving parents and kids a choice 

Redwood City – the California Secretary of State’s office announced that the School Vouchers 2000 initiative will be Proposition number 38 on the November ballot. 

“Proposition 28 will offer every parent the chance to choose the best education for their child, guarantee a higher public school per pupil spending than the current system, and do it all without a tax increase,” said parent and Proposition 38 proponent Tim Draper. 

“The vouchers provided by Proposition 38 will mean parents can rescue their kids that are trapped in failing school,” continued Draper. “Proposition 38 means a chance at success for kids who are trapped in a system that is ranked 49th in the country in math and reading and where a third of California’s ninth-graders will never receive a high school diploma.” 

For more information on School Vouchers 2000, visit the web site at www.schoolvouchers2000.com. 

College Ave. construction 

The City of Berkeley will be starting street reconstruction of College Ave. beginning July 18. Construction will last throughout the summer and extend from Dwight way to the southern city limits. All northbound traffic will be detoured to three alternative routes. and parking will be unavailable within the immediate construction zone during work hours. Parking will be available at the parking lot on Russell Street between Benvenue and College. Residents are encourages to observe all no parking sign, tie or keep pets from work site, and use either bicycles or carpool around the area. Transit riders can call Berkeley Trip at 644-7665 for revised schedules. Check the city website at www.ci.berkeley.ca.us or call Berkeley’s public workers department at 644-6540 for more information. 

Home at Last Animal Rescue fundraiser 

Members of the entire Bay Area community will gather Sunday, July 23 at 7:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz in a special event of sharing and caring for Bay Area homeless animal. 

The event will raise money for the Homes At Last Animal Rescue, an all-volunteer animal Rescue organization which takes dogs and cats primarily from the Berkeley Municipal Animal Shelter, places them in foster homes and ultimately permanent homes with loving families, saving their lives. 

Over the course of the past three years, Home At Last has rescued and saved from imminent death over 400 animals. Recognizing the innate value of many animals not considered immediately “adaptable,” HAL helps a real cross-section of homeless cats and dogs.

Saturday, July 15

Light Search and Rescue 

9 a.m.-noon 

Emergency Operations Center 

997 Cedar St. 

Free training classes to help families prepare for emergencies. The classes are open to Berkeley residents at least 18 years old, and will be taught by retired firefighters. They give hands-on training in how to put on a splint, extinguish a fire, use a fire hose, and more. 

510-644-8736 

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

10 a.m.-3 p.m. 

Center Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street 

510-548-3333 

Kites 

12:30-3:30 p.m. 

Lawrence Hall of Science 

Centennial Drive, below Grizzly Peak Blvd. 

Come to the LAWRENCE HALL for children’s kite making activities and Indonesian coffee. 

510-642-5132 

www.lawrence hall.berkeley.edu 

Sunday, July 16

People’s Park Rally 

1 p.m. 

People’s Park at Derby Street near Telegraph Avenue 

Emergency rally on the future of People’s Park and the 133rd anniversary of the strike of 1877. Speakers/performers include Gina Smith, Carol Denney, Thunder, Gerald Smith, Roger Wilkins, Folk This, Leon Stevens, Clifford Fred, Michael Diehl, Michael Delacour and more. 

510-841-7460 

Rent Board nominations 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

Progressives will nominate a slate of candidates for the November election. 

“In Our Own Hands” 

2-4:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 

This film, part of the Sundays at the BRJCC Cinema series, features lively interviews and rare archival footage telling the story of a group of Jewish volunteers from Palestine who battled to become a fighting unit in the British army during World War II. A $2 donation is suggested. 

510-848-0237 

“Oliver!” 

3:00 p.m. 

Pacific Film Archive 

2575 Bancroft Way @ Bowditch 

This musical adaptation of Dickens’ Oliver Twist is recommended for children 8 and over. It recreates the journey of a young orphan from a paupers’ workhouse to the rough-and-tumble city life of London where he is introduced into a gang of thieves.  

Tickets $4.00 

510-642-5249 

Meditation Seminar 

2:30 p.m. 

St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. 

Experience the Awaking of the soul through mediation on the Inner Light and sound. This event is free of charge. Free. 

510-845-9648 

“Endangering the Species” 

4:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Community Media 

Cable Channel 25 

“Endangering the Species” a video tells the story of homeless people from the perspective of a homeless producer, ASUC Art Student Ken Moshesh. 

Monday, July 17

Tai Chi Chih 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst at MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. WAY Jr. Way 

Come for Tai Chi Chih with Ben Levitan. 

510-644-6107 

Tuesday, July 18

Big Band/Show Tunes 

1:15 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst at MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. WAY Jr. Way 

Come for live music with piano, trumpet and violin. 

510-644-6107 

“What is nice?” 

7-9 p.m. 

Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut Ave. 

Come for a free discussion and social group, open to everyone regardless of age, religion or view point. 

510-527-5332  

Wednesday, July 19

“Women Who Run With Words” 

7:30 p.m. 

Diesil Bookstore 

5433 College Ave, Oakland 

A writing workshop created by local poet Ruth Wynkoop, who will present a group reading of poetry and short prose.  

510-848-1069 

Ballroom Dance 

10 a.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst at MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. WAY Jr. Way 

Come for a practice session of ballroom dance. 

510-644-6107 

“Chinese Calligraphy” with Mrs. Jou 

1:00 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst at MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. WAY Jr. Way 

510-644-6107 

Thursday, July 20

“La Ciudad” 

7:00 p.m. 

Revolution Books 

2425 Channing Way 

“La Ciudad,” filmed in black and white, presents four stories about people from Latin America who have come to work and survive in New York City. A garment worker in a sweatshop, a homeless puppeteer and his daughter, a young man newly arrived from Puebla, Mexico who crashed a quincenera – sweet fifteen – party, and a group of day laborers hired to clean huge stacks of bricks for pennies. The actors in this film are immigrant workers who had a special stake in bringing these stories to light.

Councilmember Spring accused 

Last evening I witnessed a display of Berkeley politics at its worst and the brazen manner in which a public commission was lied to and misled by Councilwoman Dona Spring compels me to speak out. I happened to be attending the Commission on Disability meeting at the North Berkeley Senior Center and noticed that one of the topics was a recommendation to the city regarding the proposal to grant the Ashkenaz dance club $30,000 in public funds for accessibility improvements. I happened also to be present when this item was brought up at the City Council budget hearing several weeks before. A motion was made by Kriss Worthington and seconded by Betty Olds, that the Council not vote on the money for Ashkenaz until the Commission on Disability had a chance to make a recommendation.  

Dona Spring was at the Commission meeting last night, negating that vote of the City Council by spreading the story that the money for Ashkenaz was a done deal and had already been voted on. The Commission therefore, voted to go along with what they were misled into thinking was a fait accompli. If this had been done in the context of a trial, it would have been a clear case of jury tampering — but since it was done in a political setting there is little chance that Councilwoman Spring will be held to account. I just want her to know that there are citizens who are watching, and who are disgusted with this kind of deceitful behavior. 

Joe Cadora 

Berkeley 

Spring takes the stand 

I am responding to the letter by Mr. Cadora which accuses me of lying to the Commission on Disabilities about the Council’s approval of an allocation of $30,000 to the folk dance club Ashkenaz. In the future, it would be a good idea for Mr. Cadora to get his facts straight before hurling out slanderous accusations at people.  

The Council passed the proposed budget of Shirek, Maio, Spring and Worthington on June 27, 2000. In the approved budget, was the following allocation and language: “An allocation for improvements at Ashkenaz is being proposed for $30,000, to fund miscellaneous upgrades. Of this amount up to $15,000 in proposed ADA improvements is to be referred to the Commission on Disability.” As one of the authors of the budget, the intent of this language was to have the Commission give input into the accessibility design.  

The motion made several weeks earlier by Councilmember Worthington to refer the requested funding for Ashkenaz to the Commission on Disabilities was modified and superseded by this later motion which passed as a part of the fiscal year 2000-2001 budget. 

I sit by what I told the Commission about this matter that the $30,000 allocation was approved by the Council but not yet released pending input from the Commission on the accessibility issues. I dispute Mr. Cadora’s distorted portrayal. 

Dona Spring 

Berkeley City Councilmember

Berkeley's West Indies theater company ends a run today at the Eighth Street Studio Theater of Laurence Holder's two-character play “When the Chickens Came Home to Roost” – a story about the complex relationship between black activist leader Malcolm X and his Nation of Islam superior Elijah Muhammad. 

Running about an hour with no intermission, and performed by two recent Berkeley High School graduates, “When the Chickens Came Home to Roost” is set in late 1963, about a year and a half before the assassination of Malcolm X, whom it has been often rumored was killed on orders from Elijah Muhammad.  

In 1963, Malcolm X was a top subordinate to Elijah Muhammad in the Nation of Islam, and a rising star in the organization – a man whose personal appearances and radio speeches drew large audiences and attracted many people to the organization. 

At the opening of the play, Malcolm X (Sean Slater) arrives at the home of Elijah Muhammad (Daveed Diggs) to talk about paternity suits that have been filed against Elijah Muhammad by women who were former employees of the Nation of Islam. 

Although Elijah Muhammad does not want to discuss this issue, Malcolm X presses. He argues that Nation of Islam followers need an honest response to the problem, to keep the group's moral integrity high at a difficult time. According to the play, this contradicts Elijah Muhammad's style, which has been one of silence and stonewalling. 

As the play evolves, the differences in style, belief and relationship behaviors between the two men emerge. 

Malcolm X, it turns out, has many criticisms of Elijah Muhammad's autocratic leadership. Malcolm X, for example, wants more linkage between the Nation of Islam and the emerging 1963 civil rights movement than the isolationist Elijah Muhammad permits. 

At the same time, Malcolm X appreciates the work of Elijah Muhammad, regards Elijah Muhammad as having saved his life, and submits obediently, if reluctantly, to his orders. 

Elijah Muhammad reminds Malcolm X, “This is not a democracy. This is the Nation of Islam.” 

So one of the play's themes deals with the issue of autocratic power in the hands of a man whose work and vision has transformed the lives of many people. The play asks, to what extent is this autocratic power appropriate? When, rather, is it appropriate for people to speak their own minds? 

In this play, Elijah Muhammad sees the interaction with Malcolm X as a cat and mouse game between himself and a young upstart who is trying to usurp the organization. 

Malcolm X swears that it is not so. He swears obedience to Elijah Muhammad and the organization repeatedly. The ambiguity around this issue gives the play much of its drama. 

After the assassination of President Kennedy, which takes place during the course of the play, Elijah Muhammad instructs his mosque leaders not to speak with their congregations about the president's death. 

But Malcolm X has a hard time refraining from observations about violence in America and how the chickens are coming home to roost. 

West Indies has staged a good production of the play with a youthful cast. Slater's thoughtful performance captures the look and feel of Malcolm X X.  

Teenager Diggs is a little young to be playing the elderly Elijah Muhammad, but also turns in a creditable performance that has multiple layers. Two actors also self-directed the play. 

Less than year and a half after the 1963 time frame of this play, Malcolm X X was assassinated. There has been much speculation since then on who called the hit. 

“When the Chickens Came Home to Roost” runs one more weekend, Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m., through July 15, at Eighth Street Studio Theater, 2525 Eighth Street, Berkeley. $8 general, $5 students. For information, call 510-547-7884.

In an effort to make playgrounds safer for children, state legislation that became effective in the beginning of this year demands that all child play areas in the state - public and private - be inspected by Oct. 1. 

Rather than worry about what problems will show up from these inspections of local playgrounds, Berkeley staff mostly believes that the city’s playgrounds are already safe, thanks to recent restoration work. 

“Berkeley is probably in good shape because we had a committee that went around to playgrounds and made a priority list of what needed to be done,” said Lisa Stephens, parks and recreation commissioner. 

That committee consisted of city staff, members of the parks and recreation commission and community members. It was formed by Berkeley Partners for Parks, a citizen’s group that supports parks, and was authorized by the City Council in 1997. The committee members visited all public playgrounds in Berkeley and ranked the ones that needed the most work. The committee then prioritized the work to be done. With money allocated by the City Council over the last four years, almost all of the problem areas have been fixed, Stephens said. 

The city has 50 play areas in its 33 city parks, and making them safe is a top priority for the city, said Lisa Caronna, director of the parks and waterfront department. 

“We are working through rather vigorously on park construction,” Caronna said. 

The city has only eight more parks to work on. Those include Aquatic Park, the Prince Street Totlot and the La Loma Totlot, which are scheduled to be completed this year. 

Moore Iacofano Goltsman (MIG) and Play and Learning in Adaptable Environments (PLAE), two nationwide organizations that train public and private agencies in play area safety and injury protection, held a press conference Friday to discuss the new law. 

“Some of our playgrounds are very old. Fortunately most of the asphalt under those (playgrounds) has been replaced by safety surfaces, but there are still many playgrounds that have unsafe conditions,” said Tim Gilbert, project manager at MIG/PLAE. “What we are really trying to do is to bring the whole system up to current standards.” 

After studying each playground, Certified Playground Safety Inspectors will come up with a list of hazards.  

It is then up to the agency that operates the playground to make changes, reducing any possible dangers.  

Privately-operated sites will have until Jan. 1, 2003 to take care of all existing problems, while public play areas have no set date, but will be repaired as funding becomes available. 

Gilbert said that it would be hard to regulate every playground in the state to make sure they are all inspected and modified, but most organizations will follow these steps to avoid lawsuits. 

“There is no inspector that is going to come by and see if your playground has been inspected,” Gilbert said. “But there are enough legal challenges every day of children getting injured on playgrounds” so that the playgrounds will be made safe. 

The state law simply states that the organization that runs the playground has to have the inspection survey on file. 

The most common injuries occur when children fall off structures or get their clothing tangled on jagged edges. Children can also get stuck in small holes and gaps in the structures. 

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, more than 200,000 children - 20,000 in California - are treated in hospitals each year as a result of playground-related injuries. This represents 575 injuries per day, a dramatic increase over the past two decades. This, Gilbert says, has been the reason for the call for legislation. 

“What people are going to do is take the results of the survey, which are going to be basically this big, long laundry list of everything that’s wrong with the playground, and then check it against the report of the injuries on that playground and start to prioritize,” Gilbert said. 

After 25 years of costly leased facilities, Berkeley’s Vista College appears headed to a home all its own. 

The Peralta Community College District trustees voted last week to accept a plan which guarantees a permanent, 145,000 square-foot building to be constructed at 2050 Center Street. The proposed building, which will house Vista’s classrooms, offices, laboratories and student services, is contingent on the passage of a $153.2 million bond issue, which will come before voters in November. 

“Everyone’s happy. It’s a really, really great thing,” said Peralta Community College District board member Susan Duncan. “Vista has always been in a sub-standard rental facility. The original bond issue in the 1960s ran out of money when they were building Laney (College), Merritt (College) and the College of Alameda and Vista got stuck in leases.” 

An architect, selected by a PCCD board committee, will be announced at the next board meeting, July 25. 

“We have $15 million in the bank to start the building and the passage of the bond issue we’re putting forward in November will give us the money we need to put up a first class, state-of-the-art facility,” Duncan said. “It has been the long-time desire of a number of people on the board to have a top quality atmosphere to help best serve the students.” 

Presently, Vista maintains lease agreements worth upwards of $800,000 per year with three private property owners in central Berkeley. The proposed building site, purchased this spring by the PCCD, is across the street from the existing structure. 

“The practicality of having a permanent building is clear. With such a high leasing cost the current situation isn’t cost effective,” said PCCD public relations director Shirley Figarino. “Basically, the board and the chancellor pledged to make this happen a few years ago and now they’re keeping their commitment.” 

The board’s action seems a fitting final chapter in Vista’s longtime quest to have its own campus. 

In addition to the main building on 2020 Milvia St., Vista has a science laboratory on 2061 Center St. and several classrooms at 207 Allston Way.  

For over 20 years Vista has also had an agreement with UC Berkeley for free classroom space Monday through Thursday nights, the only collaboration of its kind in the state between a community college and a major university. 

“At this point in time it’s all riding on the bond. In the measure are funds to pick up the remaining costs for the facility,” said Art Chen, director of facilities for the PCCD. “If the bond passes, we’re going into the ground. I think it’ll be a tremendous contribution.” 

Two of the UC Berkeley Young Musician Program alumnae present a joint recital featuring works by Bach, Mozart, Mahler, Puccini and Poulenc. Members of the YMP summer faculty Jeannine Anderson and Yerdue Caesar-Kaptoech are on to exciting things: Anderson is pursuing a masters degree in opera performance at New York’s Mannes School of Music, having finished her undergraduate work at the Oberlin conservatory, and Caesar-Kaptoech begins graduate study at the University of British Columbia in the fall. Tickets: $20 general, $10 students/seniors. For more information, call 642-2666.

Berkeley has stepped into the ring in the fight against big tobacco. 

Tuesday night the City Council unanimously passed a resolution asking local newspapers to voluntarily refrain from running tobacco ads, or to accompany them with an anti-smoking ad of equal size. 

The resolution, which passed 8-0 with Councilmember Diane Woolley abstaining, is intended to combat the tobacco companies advertising onslaught targeting teenagers. And it called for newspapers to prepare to fight any legal challenges advertisers may bring against them in any free-speech issues that rejecting to run the ads may create. 

The resolution will be sent to the managing editors of eight major papers: The Bay Times, the East Bay Express, Metro, The Oakland Tribune, the San Francisco Bay Guardian, the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Francisco Examiner and the San Francisco Weekly.  

Aware and concerned with any free speech issues, Mayor Shirley Dean said that it would be “voluntary and therefore constitutional.” Dean proposed the resolution. 

“I don’t agree that this is dictating to anyone,” she said. “It’s not the city telling newspapers what to do or interfering. I think that would be improper.” 

Dean cited a quote by Steve Falk, president of the San Francisco Newspaper Agency, given to the San Francisco Chronicle on Wednesday, saying that “it is a topic we would want to discuss, not just because the Berkeley City Council brought it up, but it is also a topic on the minds of our readers,” 

“I think that is important,” the Mayor said. “I’m just happy to open the discussion.” 

Councilmember Diane Wool ley, a former reporter and the only member of the council that abstained in the voting, said that though she doesn’t personally encourage smoking, she doesn’t think that government should get involved. Especially with such a small scope of newspapers, when magazines are preferred by tobacco advertisers. 

The discussion that led to the recommendation cited the $5.6 billion tobacco companies spend on ads in magazines with high youth readership, such as Sports Illustrated and People, but noted that some recent editions of the Bay Guardian have included 10 full page tobacco ads.  

“Here we have a selected group of newspapers being asked to give up tobacco ads,” Woolley said. “It would be different if we banned all tobacco ads across the country in all mediums.”  

“(The City Council) has a tendency to make a law about everything we don’t like,” she said. “We’re not supposed to legislate behavior.” 

The Mayor said it would affect the smaller weekly papers more than the major metros that don’t typically run tobacco ads.  

“I don’t know if anyone will give them up,” she said. “It would probably be difficult for a paper like the Weekly or the Bay Guardian to give up a lot of revenue.” 

Talk about a nicotine fit.  

A man arrested for felony robbery yesterday must have needed a smoke really badly after his run in with the Alameda County Sheriff’s department because Berkeley police arrested him after he threatened to kill a man sitting in front of the Barnes and Noble bookstore on Shattuck Avenue and Channing Way, if he didn’t hand over a cigarette, said Captain Bobby Miller of the Berkeley Police Department. 

He was previously involved in an argument aboard an AC Transit bus. AC Transit dispatched the Alameda County Sheriff after it was reported that the man had a gun. Miller said that the robber didn’t have a gun and didn’t know if the argument was over cigarettes.  

After the argument was settled and he was released, the suspect walked a block to Shattuck and Durant where he told a man that if he didn’t give him a cigarette that he would kill him. Miller said that it was technically robbery even though it was just a smoke that was taken. 

The robber then turned around and walked two blocks to the corner of Shattuck and Bancroft Way where police apprehended him while he was enjoying his cigarette. 

The Sheriff’s office has jurisdiction over the AC Transit, and Miller said that the two departments work in conjunction with one another if an incident arises on board a city bus.

Not quite sure whether to celebrate or to moan on the one year anniversary of the shut down by Pacifica, community radio station KPFA did a little of both Thursday. 

To mark the anniversary, KPFA hosted an all-day open house, free concerts and a late-afternoon commemorative picket at its Martin Luther King Jr. Way studio. 

“It’s really hard trying to figure out how to treat today,” said Susan Stone, KPFA director of Drama and Literature. “Are we simply marking the date, are we commemorating it or are we celebrating it? For some, celebration is kind of (strange) because it was a very gruesome day.” 

The whole ordeal began March 31, 1999 when KPFA General Manager Nicole Sawaya’s contract was terminated by Pacifica Executive Director Lynn Chadwick. Protesters gathered in front of the station in the following days and weeks and held demonstrations and rallies.  

On July 13, Pacifica locked up the station and began airing old tapes. 

“There is a lot of wear and tear psychologically on the station because there has been no settlement with Pacifica over the status of our general manager or settlement in apology or otherwise to Nicole Sawaya, whose termination still wrinkles all of us,” Stone said. 

KPFA aired special programming throughout the day, which included live performances from 10 a.m. to noon. A dozen different artists and groups each played five-to-10-minute sets, illustrating the station’s eclectic sound. 

Kokomon Clottey, the last performer was one of the musicians who had participated in the demonstrations a year ago. The drummer from Ghana, performing with his group the Rhythm Tribe said that celebrating community radio is important to him, which is why he chose to return for the anniversary. 

At noon, standard programming resumed with Living Room, hosted by Kris Welch, who revisited the events a year ago as heard on KPFA. She also played never-before-heard clips of demonstrators outside the station July 13, 1999, chanting “Free speech radio, we want our station back.”  

At 12:30 p.m., halfway through the program, Welch came out of the building and set up at a table on the sidewalk to finish her broadcast. A crowd gathered around to hear her discussions with guests, including Larry Bensky, who recapped his experiences from last year. 

“A year ago I was one of the folks listening at home and I got down here as fast as I could,” said Bensky, a longtime KPFA broadcaster who was fired by Pacifica April 9, 1999. 

Flashpoints, the show that was airing when host Dennis Bernstein was removed from the studio by armed security guards last July 13, also broadcast from the street from 5-6 p.m. 

People slowly showed up for the picket during mid afternoon, carrying signs that negatively depicted Pacifica’s corporate nature and demanding free speech for KPFA.  

“This continues to show the symbol of, hey, we are not going away, we want free speech radio,” KPFA Volunteer Tony McNair said. 

Rudy Posch of Los Altos showed up at about noon, wearing a hat that featured stickers promoting Ralph Nader for president, Food not Bombs and of course, KPFA. 

“It’s a very grassroots thing to do,” Posch said of his apparel. “I couldn’t afford to bring a TV, but it’s easy to make a hat.” 

KPFA’s intent of the day’s events was to recap its recent history, show how far it has come and look ahead. John Sheridan, intern on the Local Advisory Board, said that it was also a good time to promote the upcoming LAB elections. 

“Where we stand now is I would say we are in tremendous suspension because we are still operating somewhat effectively, though on reduced circumstances,” Stone said. “But we are waiting for Pacifica to own up to its mistakes and also to come clean with us about a collective vision that really speaks to what we need.” 

Staff writer Ian Buchanan contributed to this story. 

Friday, July 14

Conversational Yiddish 

1 p.m. 

Opera: “La Gioconda” 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

510-644-6107 

Airport System Plan Update 

1:30 p.m. 

MetroCenter Auditorium, 101 Eighth St., Oakland 

The public will have a chance to make public comment on the Draft Final Plan at this time. Copies of the draft are available in the main libraries, on MTC’s website, www.mtc.ca.gov, or can be requested from MTC by calling ahead. 

510-464-7815 

Berkeley Folk Dancers Beginners’ Try Outs 

7:45-10:30 p.m. 

Live Oak Park Social Hall, 1301 Shattuck Ave. 

Cost for non-members is $5. 

510-525-3030 

aturday, July 15

Light Search and Rescue 

9 a.m.-noon 

Fire Department’s Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. 

This summer, Berkeley’s Office of Emergency Services will offer a set of free training classes to help families prepare for emergencies. The classes, open to Berkeley residents at least 18 years old, will be taught by retired firefighters. The classes give hands-on training in how to put on a splint, extinguish a fire, use a fire hose, and more. Call ahead to register. The next class will be held on fire suppression (Aug. 12). 

510-644-8736 

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

10 a.m.-3 p.m. 

Center Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street 

510-548-3333 

Kites 

12:30-3:30 p.m. 

Lawrence Hall of Science 

Centennial Drive, below Grizzly Peak Bld. 

Come to the LHS for children’s kite making activities and Indonesian coffee. 

510-642-5132 

www.lhs.berkeley.edu 

Sunday, July 16

People’s Park Rally 

1 p.m. 

People’s Park 

Emergency rally on the future of People’s Park and the 133rd anniversary of the United States’ great strike of 1877. Come hear Gina Smith, Carol Denney, Thunder, Gerald Smith, Roger Wilkins, Folk This, Leon Stevens, Clifford Fred, Michael Diehl, Michael Delacour and more. 

510-841-7460 

Rent Board nominations 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

Progressives will nominate a slate of candidates for the November election. 

“In Our Own Hands” 

2-4:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 

This film, part of the Sundays at the BRJCC Cinema series, features lively interviews and rare archival footage telling the story of a group of Jewish volunteers from Palestine who battled to become a fighting unit in the British army during World War II. A $2 donation is suggested. 

510-848-0237 

“Oliver!” 

3:00 p.m. 

Pacific Film Archive 

2575 Bancroft Way @ Bowditch 

Recommend for ages 8 and up. This musical adaptation of Dickens’ Oliver Twist combines a superb cast, wonderful music and breathtaking choreography to recreate the journey of a young orphan from a paupers’ workhouse to the rough-and-tumble city life of London where he is introduced into a gang of thieves.  

Tickets $4.00 

510-642-5249 

Free Meditation Seminar 

2:30 p.m. 

St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. 

Experience the Awaking of the soul through mediation on the Inner Light and sound. This event is free of charge. 

510-845-9648 

“Endangering the Species” 

4:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Community Media 

Cable Channel 25 

“Endangering the Species” a video tells the story of homeless people from the perspective of a homeless producer, ASUC Art Student Ken Moshesh. 

Monday, July 17

Tai Chi Chih 

1:00 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst at MLK Jr. Way 

Come for Tai Chi Chih with Ben Levitan 

510-644-6107 

Tuesday, July 18

Big Band/Show Tunes 

1:15 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst at MLK Jr. Way 

Come for live music with saz, piano, trumpet and violin. 

510-644-6107 

“What is nice?” 

7:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m. 

Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut Ave. 

Come for a free discussion and social group, open to everyone. 

510-527-5332

For most of the last 14 months, as I’ve covered and observed the daily events of this community, I’ve kept my pen capped. I’ve refrained from writing a regular column, I’ve declined to openly share my opinions and I’ve held my tongue – most of the time. 

No more. 

Tomorrow marks the final issue in which my name will appear as editor, and I’ve had a little time this last week to think about all the people who have helped make my time here in a Berkeley just a little more, well, exciting. 

So, thanks to: 

• The Berkeley City Council, which provided the best entertainment every Tuesday evening it met. Each meeting also reminded me of my childhood – when my brother and I would bicker like the immature children that we were. 

• Mayor Shirley Dean, who helped remind me that a politician is a politician is a politician. 

• Councilmember Kriss Worthington, ditto. Actually, I’m still waiting for the week when his name doesn’t appear at least once in a local newspaper. 

• Councilmember Polly Armstrong, who often demonstrates more common sense than many of her colleagues – even if she doesn’t like it when Judith writes a column. 

• Sara Jane Olson, or Kathleen Ann Soliah, or whatever name you want to use, for giving our City Council something truly meaningful and significant to waste its time debating. 

• The Berkeley Police Department, for creating more barriers and obstacles to information than you’d expect in the alleged home of free speech. 

• People in the Finance Department who handle business licenses: ditto. 

• The City Council’s actions during closed-door sessions: ditto. 

• Staffers at the Berkeley Public Library branches, who proved that not every Berkeley bureaucracy is unfriendly and uncooperative. 

• El Cerrito, for its Target. 

• Oakland, for its 24-hour grocery stores. 

• UC Berkeley, which regularly demonstrates that even the most educated, most enlightening institutions can be bad neighbors. 

• Berkeley teachers, for not going on strike. 

• The school board, which only occasionally behaved like the City Council – and then woke up and came to its senses. 

• School district contract negotiators, who wanted the public to know the offers that were on the table. 

• Tom Bates, Yolanda Huang, Jered Lawson, Beebo Turman and many others, who helped me realize that organic food really isn’t that wild of an idea. 

• Lew Jones, for finally giving me that secret document with the secret information. 

• Cathy James, for helping Lew. 

• Karen Sarlo, for pretending she didn’t see Lew give me the document. 

• Jack McLaughlin, who just interviewed for the superintendent’s job with yet another school district. Just kidding – um, I think. 

• The Chronicle, the Examiner and Contra Costa Newspapers, for regularly demonstrating what’s wrong with the corporate media mentality. 

• Mary Frances Berry and Lynn Chadwick, ditto. 

• Chris Thompson, for all his free publicity through his “stories” on the Daily Planet. 

• Our other friends at the Express, for the stuffed “800-pound" gorilla. 

• The Committee to Minimize Toxic Waste, whose paranoia makes Howard Hughes look sane. 

• Judith Scherr, who will begin making daily trips to Tilden Park next week. 

• Arnold Lee and Ed Carse, for choosing Berkeley as the place to launch this newspaper. 

• Ron Mix, who gave me the chance to run a newspaper – twice. 

• Joe Eskenazi, for the mug and months of creatively written stories. 

• All my other co-workers, for enduring my odd humor and lame jokes. 

• Dave Bartram, Amy Stewart, Bill Rath and Dave Earl, who helped me keep my sanity. 

• Though she may never read this, Kathleen Ellis, for reminding me of the rejuvenating power of a single phone call. 

• My brother, for actually holding a conversation a few weeks ago that didn’t turn political or ideological. 

• My parents, for more than I could ever write in one column. 

Rob Cunningham, who has been editor of the Daily Planet since Day One, gets to keep his job for about another 24 hours.

THEATER 

ACTORS ENSEMBLE OF BERKELEY 

“Murder At The Vicarage” by Agatha Christie, July 14 through Aug. 12. Performance of the classic whodunnit. $10. Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Aug. 10, 8 p.m. Live Oak Theatre, 1301 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 528-5620. 

CALIFORNIA SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL 

“Hamlet” by William Shakespeare, July 1 through July 22. Shakespeare probes the shadowy corners of the human psyche in this dark, compelling tragedy of vengeance, madness and murder most foul. 

$21 to $38 general; $19 to $38 seniors; $10 to $38 children. Wednesday and Thursday, 7 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 4 p.m.; July 11 and July 18, 7 p.m.; July 22, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Bruns Memorial Amphitheatre, Shakespeare Festival Way/Gateway Exit on state Highway 24. (510) 548-9666 or www.calshakes.org 

MUSIC VENUES 

ASHKENAZ 

Billy Dunn, July 12, 9 p.m. $8. 

Babatunde Olatunji, July 13, 9 p.m. $11. 

Tamazgha, July 14, 9:30 p.m. $11. 

Kotoja, Akimbo, July 15, 9:30 p.m. $11. 

Resin, Caesar Myles and Dreaded Truth, Rebecca Riots, Famous Last Words, Erika Luckett, Liz Anah, July 16, 4 p.m. $8 to $25. 

1317 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley. (510) 525-5099 or www.ashkenaz.com 

FREIGHT AND SALVAGE 

Dan Crary and Beppe Gambetta, July 12. $15.50 to $16.50. 

Bill Evans, Avram Siegel, Marty Cutler, July 13. $14.50 to $15.50. 

Juan-Carlos Formell, July 14. $14.50 to $15.50. 

The Laura Love Band, July 15. $17.50 to $18.50. 

Pat Donohue, July 16. $14.50 to $15.50. 

Music at 8 p.m. 1111 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 548-1761 or (510) 762-BASS. 

LA PEÑA CULTURAL CENTER 

War!, July 12, 7 p.m. $10. 

Jon Fromer and Friends, July 14, 8 p.m. $8 to $15. 

Ray Cepeda, July 15, 9:30 p.m. $10. 

Dya Singh, July 16, 8 p.m. $18. 

3105 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 849-2568 or www.lapena.org 

924 GILMAN ST. 

Attitude Adjustment, Wolfpack, Men's Recovery Project, Axiom, July 14. 

MU330, Alkaline Trio, Link 80, Venice Shoreline Chris, Blue Meanies, Lawrence Arms, Honor System, Dan Potthast, Mike Park, July 16, 4 p.m.  

$5. Music at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 924 Gilman St., Berkeley. (510) 525-9926. 

THE STARRY PLOUGH PUB 

Cadillac Angels, Rip Carson and the Twilight Trio, July 13. $5. 

Tempest, Azigza, July 14. $8. 

Plus Ones, The Cables, Luminar, The Fitsners, July 15.  

For age 21 and over. Wednesday, 8 p.m.; Thursday, 9:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 9:45 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 3101 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 841-2082. 

OPERA 

THE BERKELEY OPERA 

“Beatrice and Benedick” by Hector Berlioz, July 14 through July 23. A joyous evening of wit, deception and romance based on William Shakespeare’s comedy “Much Ado About Nothing.” Jonathan Khuner conducting. Sung in English. 

$16 to $30 general; $24 senio rs; $15 youths age 17 and under. Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave., Berkeley. (925) 798-1300 or www.juliamorgan.org 

MUSEUMS 

Berkeley Historical Society 

"Berkeley's Ethnic Heritage." May 7 through March 2001. The exhibit examines the rich cultural diversity of our city and the contributions of individuals and minority groups to our history and development. The exhibit look at the original native tribelets in the area and the immigrants who settled in Ocean View and displaced the Spanish/Mexican landowners. It also examines the influence of theUniversity of California, the San Francisco earthquake, and World War II on the population and culture of Berkeley, and subsequent efforts to overcome discrimination. Curated by Linda Rosen and the Berkeley Historical Society Exhibit Committee. Thursday through Saturday, 1 to 4 p.m. Wheelchair accessible. Admission free. 

Berkeley Historical Society located in the Veterans Memorial Building, 1931 Center Street, Berkeley. 510-848-0181 

www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/histsoc 

UC BERKELEY ART 

MUSEUM 

“Doug Aitken/MATRIX 185: Into the Sun,” July 9 through Sept. 3. An exhibit of works primarily in video and film, using the interplay of art and media to evoke deserted landscapes. Artist’s Talk, July 9, 3 p.m. Doug Aitken discusses his installation. In Gallery 1. 

Rodin and His Contemporaries,” through August. An exhibit of 11 bronze maquettes on loan from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation in Los Angeles. The bronzes range in style from the artist's classically inspired “Torso of a Woman” to the anguish of “The Martyr.” Some of the maquettes were cast during Rodin’s lifetime, others have been cast fairly recently under the aegis of the Musee Rodin which alone is authorized to cast his sculptures posthumously. 

$6 general; $4 seniors and students ages 12 to 18; free children age 12 and under; free Thursday, 1 1 a.m. to noon and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. 2626 Bancroft Way, Berkeley. (510) 642-0808. 

HALL OF HEALTH  

2230 Shattuck Ave. (lower level), Berkeley 

A hands-on community health education museum and science center sponsored by Children's Hospital Oakland and Alta Bates Medical Center. 

“This is Your Heart!” ongoing. An in teractive exhibit on heart health. 

“Good Nutrition,” ongoing. This exhibit includes models for making balanced meals and an exercycle for calculating how calories are burned. 

“Draw Your Own Insides,” ongoing. Human-shaped chalkboards and models with removable organs allow visitors to explore the inside of their bodies. 

“Your Cellular Self and Cancer Prevention,” ongoing. An exhibit on understanding how cells become cancerous and how to detect and prevent cancer. 

Free. For children ages 3 to 12 and their parents. 

(510) 549-1564 

LAWRENCE HALL 

OF SCIENCE 

“Experiment Gallery,” through Sept. 10. Step inside a giant laboratory and experiment with concepts surrounding sound, light, mechanics, electricity, and weather. 

“Math Rules!” ongoing exhibit. A math exhibit of hands-on problem-solving stations, each with a different mathematical challenge. Make mathematical ice-cream cones, use blocks to build three dimensional structures, make dodecagon pies from a variety of mathematical shapes and stretch mathematical thinking. 

“Within the Human Brain,” ongoing installation. Visitors test their cranial nerves, play skeeball, master mazes, match musical tones and construct stories inside a simulated “rat cage” of learning experiments. 

$6 general; $4 seniors, students and children ages 7 to 18; $2 children ages 3 to 6; free children under age 3. Daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Centennial Drive, University of California, Berkeley. (510) 642-5132 or www.lhs.berkeley.edu 

PHOEBE HEARST MUSEUM 

Kroeber Hall, UC Berkeley 

“Modern Treasures from Ancient Iran,” through Oct. 29. This exhibit explores nomadic and town life in ancient and modern Iran as illustrated in bronze and pottery vessels, and textiles. 

“Pana O’ahu: Sacred Stones – Sacred Places,” through July 16. An exhibit of photographs by Jan Becket and Joseph Singer. 

“Phoebe Hearst Museum-Approaching a Century of Anthropology,” a sampling of the vast collections of the museum, its mission, history, and current research, with selections from ancient Egypt, ancient Peru, California Indians, Asia (India), and Africa. 

“Ishi and the Invention of Yahi Culture,” Ishi, the last Yahi Indian of California, spent the final years of his life, 1911 to 1916, living at the museum, working with anthropologists to record his culture, demonstrating technological skills, and retelling Yahi myths, tales, and songs. 

Wednesday through Sunday 10 am -4:30 pm; Thursday until 9 pm (Sept-May) 

(510) 643-7648 

HABITOT CHILDREN’S MUSEUM 

Kittredge Street and Shattuck Avenue 

A museum especially for children age 7 and younger. Highlights include “WaterWorks,” an area with some unusual water toys, an Infant Tree for babies, a garden especially for toddlers, a child-scale grocery store and cafe, and a costume shop and stage for junior thespians. The museum also features a toy lending library. 

Exhibit: “Back to the Farm,” open-ended. This interactive exhibit gives children the chance to wiggle through tunnels like an earthworm, look into a mirrored fish pond, don farm animal costumes, ride on a John Deere tractor and much more.  

Admission is $4 for adults; $6 child age 7 and under; $3 for each additional child.  

Hours: Monday and Wednesday, 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Tuesday and Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

(510) 647-1111 

JUDAH L. MAGNES 

MUSEUM 

2911 Russell St., Berkeley 

“Telling Time: To Everything There Is A Season,” through May 2002.  

An exhibit structured around the seasons of the year and the seasons of life with objects ranging from the sacred and the secular, to the provocative and the whimsical. Highlights include treasures from Jewish ceremonial and folk art, rare books and manuscripts, contemporary and traditional fine art, video, photography and cultural kitsch. Through Nov. 4: “Spring and Summer.” 

Free. Sunday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

(510) 549-6950. 

GALLERIES  

KALA INSTITUTE 

“Markings/Imprints,” through July 28. The 2000 Kala Art Institute Fellowship Awards Exhibitions, Part I, featuring works by Susan Belau, Liliana Lobo Ferreira, and Jamie Morgan. 

Free. Tuesday through Friday, noon to 5 p.m. Workshop Media Center Gallery, 1060 Heinz Ave., Berkeley. (510) 549-2977. 

TRAYWICK GALLERY 

Rachel Davis, Samantha Fisher, Benicia Gantner, Cherith Rose, June 21 through July 22. An exhibit of new work by the four artists. 

Free. Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. 1316 10th St., Berkeley. (510) 527-1214. 

“Yangtze River: in the Dragon’s Teeth” 

Carol Brighton's poured paper paintings of the Yangtze River gorges, through July 31. Six-foot paper pieces in the long format of a Chinese scroll. This artwork is done in support of the International Rivers Network campaign to save the Yangtze River. The full impact of these beautiful compositions can even be viewed from across the street. 

Addison Street Windows Gallery, 2018 Addison St., Berkeley 

To publicize an upcoming event, please submit information to the Daily Planet via fax (841-5695), e-mail (calendar@berkeleydailyplanet.com) or traditional mail (2076 University Avenue, 94704). Calendar items should be submitted at least one week before the opening of a new exhibit or performance. Please include a daytime telephone number in case we need to clarify any information. 

Controversy continues as city officials weigh just how to commemorate, celebrate or otherwise incorporate the West Berkeley Shellmound into the cultural context of the city. 

In February, following testimonials from local historians, UC Berkeley professors and Native American descendants, the 5,700 year-old shellmound, considered by experts among the oldest and largest of the 425 Native American mounds that once encircled San Francisco Bay, was designated a city landmark. However, the City Manager’s Office and two owners of the current property have filed an appeal before the Berkeley City Council to overturn the designation. 

“I object strenuously to the filing of an appeal on behalf of the city of Berkeley without consulting the City Council,” said Councilmember Kriss Worthington. “Landmark designa toric district and can often be used as a way to promote an area. There are also certain tax benefits, so we’re actually lucky that Berkeley has so many landmarks.” 

The appeal will be considered at a public hearing at the Tuesday council meeting. 

“From a policy standpoint and a landmark standpoint, this is the first resource of this nature that we have acknowledged in this city. This kind of resource is very sensitive. Emeryville bulldozed theirs (the Emeryville Shellmound) and Berkeley wants to take a different approach to helping this community protect and commemorate what is a tremendous attribute,” said Mark Rhoades, who heads the city’s Zoning Division. “However, there is a public right of way that underlies the designation and right now there have been more questions raised than we have answers for. What does it mean when we need to re-pave a road or do other improvements? Our Public Works Department needs to be very careful and do everything that’s appropriate.” 

While city officials maintain that an appropriate commemoration of the shellmound is mandatory in any future development of the area, local preservationists feel slighted at the proposed removal of city landmark status. 

“The problem is that the city is afraid the landmark designation will prevent them from building and that they’ll need an archeologist to go in with them to make repairs. I don’t think that’s what is going to happen,” said Jakki Kehl, a Mutsun Ohlone Indian and the shellmound’s Native American advisor. “The landmark status is important because it adds awareness to the site. It humanizes the site.” 

A visit to the present site of the West Berkeley Shellmound, approximately at the corner of University Avenue and Second Street, reveals no hint of the ancient mound’s abundant historical and cultural significance. The shellmound, and whatever artifacts remain, is entirely under what is now the parking lot of Berkeley’s 110-year old Spenger’s Fresh Fish Grotto. 

“As a site, it’s been severely degraded. But it’s the only game in town and it’s irreplaceable. It’s a place to re-imagine how life was a place for appreciation and interpretation,” said Malcolm Margolin, author of The Ohlone Way: Indian life in the San Francisco-Monterey Bay Area. “If this was a cemetery of Berkeley’s founding fathers, with the Shattucks or the Hastes, there would be a white picket fence around the whole thing. It would be cherished. Instead it’s Indian burials and so it has been treated like a trash heap. When there’s a difference of how you treat things. The word for it is racism.” 

Nearly five years of complaints aimed at Kragen Auto Parts at California Street and University Avenue were answered when the City Council voted 5-4 to uphold the Zoning Board’s recommendation that its permit be revoked. 

In April, the Zoning Board voted unanimously to repeal the 12-year-old store’s license after it found that Kragen violated several conditions the city imposed on it. Kragen’s challenge to the council failed after Councilmember Margaret Breland gave a strained “yes,” after asking the clerk to skip her when it was her turn to vote, waiting until the others had made their decisions. 

In favor of the revocation were Mayor Shirley Dean, Councilmembers Breland, Linda Maio, Dona Spring and Kriss Worthington. Opposed were Vice Mayor Maudelle Shirek, Councilmembers Polly Armstrong, Betty Olds and Diane Woolley.  

Kragen faced the council in the same matter two years ago and escaped with conditions it had to agree to, in order to stay in business, such as steam-cleaning oil and other fluids from the parking lot, picking up litter and sweeping. Kragen appealed in court, but lost.  

Spring said that after multiple notices it was a “constant problem getting compliance from Kragen.” She noted that it was as an expensive and time-consuming affair dealing with the company and that the message sent was that they could defy the city. 

“We have spent $100,000 to $150,000 trying to get compliance from them,” she said. “How many more meetings do we need to have?”  

“When does our Zoning Board mean what it says?” she said. “If we don’t pass (the recommendation), it will send a message that you can ignore the city. We have to apply the law equally.” 

Armstrong called revocation “one more example of the gentrification of Berkeley.” 

“If they close, there will be no more low-cost auto parts store,” she said. “And I don’t want to see jobs go away, especially entry-level jobs for our young people. The feeling is that we’re not acting like a real city.” 

Armstrong added that the building will probably become “another yuppie restaurant.”  

In the midst of the quarrel with the city, Kragen obtained the Grand Auto Supply store at University Avenue and Martin Luther King Way. Mayor Dean said that the location, however, is planned to be redeveloped, so Kragen is currently searching for another location on University. 

And the council can’t impose any conditions on the University Avenue and Martin Luther King Way-location or any new location unless neighbors comlain about the business. The mayor said that leaves her with hopes that Kragen can clean up its act and be responsible. 

“This gives them an opportunity to say, ‘We’ve learned our lesson’ and do what’s right,” she said. “It seems whatever they do, people will say they have concerns, so they have to step up to the plate.” 

Calls to Kragen attorney William Segesta were not returned. 

With only a few weeks to go before its summer break, the City Council delayed a measure on Tuesday that would begin the process of analyzing and perhaps restructuring the Housing Authority Board.  

The item placed on the consent calendar by Mayor Shirley Dean, asks the city manager to analyze whether the housing authority, which oversees low income housing, should be a five-member board made up entirely of public housing residents, or made up of two landlords and three residents. 

The question will be discussed in two weeks by the existing housing authority, made up of the nine members of the City Council and two resident representatives. 

Prior to the meeting Councilmember Kriss Worthington expressed disapproval of the process by which the recommendation was put on the table. He criticized the mayor’s motive for placing it on the consent calendar and suggested that the item be discussed by the existing housing authority to avoid “disenfranchising people.” 

“The Mayor knows we’ve been talking about making improvements. She’s trying to push it through to take credit for the work,” Worthington said. 

“The Mayor wants to play politics and beat her breast and say I did it, I’m the one.” 

Dean, however, said that the purpose of the recommendations was simply to begin a process by which the housing authority can begin to evaluate itself. 

The change in procedure and membership of the board could have long-lasting effects on several issues relative to the housing authority. “What we want is to have residents take more responsibility for what the authority does. That means in terms of (federal) grants for self-sufficiency, maintenance for the units, etc. This would increase the level of resident responsibility and participation,” Dean said. In addition it could increase the availability of units and the number of housing vouchers. It may in fact make more landlords willing to accept the Section 8 vouchers, according to Dean.  

The housing authority “is made up of the City Council, wealthy people who don’t know what the low-income and elderly have to deal with, and then they’ve got me and Pinkie propped up on the end,” said Helen Wheeler. Wheeler, a low-income senior, and Pinkie Payne are the current resident representatives on the BHA.  

It is written in the City Charter that the housing authority meet every month, but currently it is meeting only every six months, according to Wheeler. 

“It is an acceptable idea in principle and concept, the details need some discussion,” Wheeler said. The wording of the document according to Wheeler, showed that the mayor may not be up to task when it comes to the specifics of the way the housing authority works. “And I regret that I was not consulted before it was placed on the consent calendar,” she added. Wheeler was in fact unaware of Dean’s proposal until hours before the City Council convened. 

The item also recommended that the city manager evaluate how other cities have structured and managed their housing authorities. In addition, it asked that the city manager obtain comments on this proposal from the interested parties and return to the City Council with a detailed report within the next six months. 

According to Dean, there is nothing currently written into the charter that mandates that the housing authority keep its current makeup. As HUD has changed and as more vouchers are offered and more issues come up, the housing authority should be able to adapt to handle those issues, according to Dean. 

The BHA will meet July 25th before breaking for the summer.

3,700 to 800 A.D.: Native peoples deposit tons of sand, gravel, rock, shellfish remains and other materials into mounded “hills.”  

1902: Under the supervision of John C. Merriam, UC archeologist E.L. Furlong conducts a limited excavation, unearthing 265 artifacts which were deposited in the Museum of Anthropology. Soon after, the El Dorado Oil Works was built on and around the mound. 

1910: The shellmound is listed on an inventory, compiled by N.C. Nelson, of 425 similar mounds that encircle the Bay.  

1930s: The WPA provides federal money to fund construction of the Bay Bridge, the Eastshore Highway, the University Avenue Overpass and the culverting of the creeks into underground pipes. Spenger’s Fish Market converts its market into a large restaurant and parking lot, signaling the final flattening of the West Berkeley Shellmound. 

1950-1954: When a building is demolished UC Berkeley archeologists seize the opportunity to excavate the site further. Amongst many layers of shells, bones and stone tools about 92 human bodies were found, half of which were infants. 

1961: Amidst public outcry to halt a proposed industrial park in west Berkeley, an archeology graduate student at UC Berkeley reminds residents of the shellmound’s presence underground. 

February 7, 2000: The Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to approve the designation of the shellmound as a city landmark. Among the criteria for approval, the commission noted, “the West Berkeley Shellmound is most highly significant to native descendants as a sacred burial ground and it is recognized that this historical resource has yielded and is likely to yield information important in prehistory or history.” 

Tuesday: A public hearing before the Berkeley City Council will be held to consider an appeal filed by the city and Richard and Darlene Devecchi, to overturn the landmark designation. The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on the second floor of the Old City Hall at 2134 Martin Luther King Way in Berkeley. 

Compiled by Charles McDermid

While many of her classmates are on vacation or back in their hometowns this summer, Teresa Rodriguez remains in class at the University of California, Berkeley, wrapping up a double major in English and physical anthropology.  

In August, Rodriguez not only will receive her degrees, but a $500 thank-you gift from the campus.  

With California higher education facing a so-called “tidal wave” in student enrollment during the next 10 years, UC Berkeley is offering for the first time this summer a $500 rebate to any student who graduates at the end of this year’s Summer Sessions. Campus officials hope the Graduating Seniors Rebate Program, a campus incentive to increase summer enrollment, will make room for more students in the fall.  

“The rebate offer was a clear incentive for me to finish school in the summer. Prior to now, I didn’t even know you could graduate in the summer,” said Rodriguez. “Thanks to my ‘reward,’ I will visit a couple of graduate schools where I plan to apply next year. Believe me, I couldn’t do this without the $500.”  

The popularity of Summer Sessions, which runs through August 11, has been increasing by about 8 to 10 percent for the last six or seven years. This summer, some 9,400 UC Berkeley students – about 40 percent of the undergraduate population – are in campus classrooms. Of this group, 316 students have applied for the graduation rebate.  

Penders is pleased with the response to the rebate. “Three hundred was our target,” he said.  

Another new incentive to attending Summer Sessions is a change in the eligibility requirement for the Low Income Grant Program.  

Last summer, students who received less than $1,000 a year in family support for their education were eligible.  

This year, the amount of family support was raised to less than $3,000 a year, increasing the pool of eligible students for the program.

This is something that is precious 

This is something that is ours 

This is something that we paid for 

This is something that we believe in 

This is something that we intend to keep 

Alice Walker, speaking at a rally in support of KPFA and documented in the film “KPFA on the Air” 

One year ago today thousands of listeners tuned in to KPFA radio’s most listened-to broadcast – the evening news. 

Co-anchor Mark Mericle was leading with a story on problems in the health care system when cries for help came from somewhere in the background. 

“I have belongings here…I’m nervous. I’m afraid you’re going to hurt me.” The call was more distinct as Mericle directed his microphone toward Dennis Bernstein, the host of the listener-sponsored station’s drive-time news magazine, who was being dragged by armed security guards from the room adjacent to where the news was being broadcast. 

Mericle helped get Bernstein’s calls onto the air and reported what was happening. Soon an interim station manager cut off the broadcast, ordered programmers to leave the building and began playing taped speeches on the air. He called police and ordered a citizen’s arrest of everyone who remained in the building. 

Meanwhile hundreds of listeners poured into the streets in front and beside the station and as many as could get in, joined the KPFA staff sitting inside the building on Martin Luther King Jr. Way. 

This drama and the subsequent three-week lockout of KPFA programmers showed the proportions to which tensions between listener-sponsors of KPFA and its governing board, the Pacifica Foundation had grown. 

Why did people pour into the streets that day, with hundreds camping out each night in front of the station during the lock-out, with 10,000 marching on July 31? 

What was the passion, the commitment, the love they felt for something as mundane as a radio station? 

A new film, produced by Veronica Selver and Sharon Wood, attempts to answer the question in a one-hour documentary they call “KPFA on the air.” 

The film, to be screened at UC Theater on July 28 and on PBS’s Point of View in September, brings to life the depth and breadth of the roots of the 51-year-old station. 

The documentary goes back to the creation of the listener-sponsored station by pacifist Lew Hill, who saw KPFA as a focal point for dialogue. 

“There were ideas that were just waiting to be pulled out,” says Hill’s widow, Joy Hill, speaking in the film.  

These ideas would be shared over the airwaves and would be diverse and contradictory. 

They would include voices as divergent as Lawrence Ferlengetti, and Edward Teller. One could hear William Mandel speaking at the House Committee on un-American Activities as well as Republican Casper Weinberger, former Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare.  

The diversity of ideas, over the years, has created sharp rifts within the station staff and volunteer programmers. Larry Bensky, now a station volunteer after having been removed from his paid post last year by the former Pacifica Executive Director Lynn Chadwick, recalls the time during which he was station manager and groups of people were fighting each other for a spot on the air. 

“It was not the voice of fringe forces, but open to fringe forces,” Bensky says. 

Still, listeners found the station was in the forefront, broadcasting news of the free speech movement in 1964 and the anti-Vietnam War movement that followed. 

The station has never confined itself to politics. Its musical offerings have ranged over the years from recorded bird calls, to live Mozart, rap and world music. 

KPFA listeners are as diverse as the people who program at the station, so it is not surprising that they have, at various times, led movements to reform the station from outside. 

The filmmakers touch on the protests of 1995, when Soviet expert Bill Mandel and others were taken off the air.  

“We listen to KPFA, why don’t you listen to us?” was the listeners’ cry.  

“Everyone wants a piece (of the station),” was the response of Pat Scott, KPFA station manager at the time. 

Despite ongoing struggles around programming within the station, there was tremendous unity and support behind Nicole Sawaya, popular station manager whose contract Chadwick terminated March 31. 

In fact, many people say it was Sawaya’s talent that managed to get the diverse voices working together at the station. 

The story of what happened after Sawaya was terminated, programmers fired or pulled off the air, the station locked down and reopened; the legal battles to bring democracy to the national governance of the station, with financial accountability available to all; the internal movement to bring younger voices to the station and to bring the diverse voices of people of color; the triumph of democratization of the local advisory board, currently under way – are all stories to be told. 

Perhaps the story will be told in “KPFA on the air” Part II. 

“KPFA on the air,” along with the films’ producers and KPFA staff, will be at the UC Theater, 2036 University Ave., 7:30 p.m. July 28. 

It will be broadcast on PBS’s POV in September.

Thursday, July 13

Free computer class for seniors 

9:30-11:30 a.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis St. 

This free course offers basic instruction in keyboarding, Microsoft Word, Windows 95, Excel and Internet access. Space is limited; the class is offered Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Call ahead for a reservation. 

510-644-6109 

Berkeley State Health Toastmasters Club 

12:10-1:10 p.m. 

State Health Building, Eighth Floor, 2151 Berkeley Way 

Toastmasters International, a nonprofit educational organization, has been working for over 70 years to help people conquer their pre-speech jitters and improve communication skills. 

510-649-7750; higgins_edie@hotmail.com 

Movie: “In a Class of its Own” 

1 p.m. 

Prostate support group 

3 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

510-644-6107 

Community Health Commission Meeting 

6:45-9:30 p.m. 

Public Health Division, 2344 Sixth St. 

Items on the agenda include review of written subcommittee report on Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health, and the HHS Budget update as well as the topic of medical marijuana and pesticides. 

510-644-6500 

Zoning Adjustments Board Agenda 

7 p.m. 

Council Chambers, Old City Hall, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way 

The board will discuss current business/committee appointments. Concerns relating to individual addresses are going to be brought forward. 

510-705-8111 

Friday, July 14

Conversational Yiddish 

1 p.m. 

Opera: “La Gioconda” 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

510-644-6107 

Public Meeting on the Regional Airport System Plan Update 

1:30 p.m. 

MetroCenter Auditorium, 101 Eighth St., Oakland 

The public will have a chance to make public comment on the Draft Final Plan at this time. Copies of the draft are available in the main libraries, on MTC’s website, www.mtc.ca.gov, or can be requested from MTC by calling ahead. 

510-464-7815 

Berkeley Folk Dancers Beginners’ Try Outs 

7:45-10:30 p.m. 

Live Oak Park Social Hall, 1301 Shattuck Ave. 

Cost for non-members is $5. 

510-525-3030 

Saturday, July 15 

Light Search and Rescue 

9 a.m.-noon 

Fire department’s Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. 

This summer, Berkeley’s Office of Emergency Services will offer a set of free training classes to help families prepare for emergencies. The classes, open to Berkeley residents at least 18 years old, will be taught by retired firefighters. The classes give hands-on training in how to put on a splint, extinguish a fire, use a fire hose, and more. Call ahead to register. The next class will be held on Fire Suppression (Aug. 12). 

510-644-8736 

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

10 a.m.-3 p.m. 

Center Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street 

510-548-3333 

Sunday, July 16

People’s Park Rally 

1 p.m. 

People’s Park 

Emergency rally on the future of People’s Park and the 133rd anniversary of the US’s greatest strike of 1877. Come here Gina Smith, Carol Denney, Thunder, Gerald Smith, Roger Wilkins, Folk This, Leon Stevens, Clifford Fred, Michael Diehl, Michael Delacour and more. 

510-841-7460

THEATER 

ACTORS ENSEMBLE OF BERKELEY 

“Murder At The Vicarage” by Agatha Christie, July 14 through Aug. 12. Performance of the classic whodunnit. $10. Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Aug. 10, 8 p.m. Live Oak Theatre, 1301 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 528-5620. 

CALIFORNIA SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL 

“Hamlet” by William Shakespeare, July 1 through July 22. Shakespeare probes the shadowy corners of the human psyche in this dark, compelling tragedy of vengeance, madness and murder most foul. $21 to $38 general; $19 to $38 seniors; $10 to $38 children. Wednesday and Thursday, 7 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 4 p.m.; July 11 and July 18, 7 p.m.; July 22, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Bruns Memorial Amphitheatre, Shakespeare Festival Way/Gateway Exit on state Highway 24. (510) 548-9666 or www.calshakes.org 

MUSIC VENUES 

ASHKENAZ 

Tamazgha, July 14, 9:30 p.m. $11. 

Kotoja, Akimbo, July 15, 9:30 p.m. $11. 

Resin, Caesar Myles and Dreaded Truth, Rebecca Riots, Famous Last Words, Erika Luckett, Liz Anah, July 16, 4 p.m. $8 to $25. 

1317 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley. (510) 525-5099 or www.ashkenaz.com 

FREIGHT AND SALVAGE 

Juan-Carlos Formell, July 14. $14.50 to $15.50. 

The Laura Love Band, July 15. $17.50 to $18.50. 

Pat Donohue, July 16. $14.50 to $15.50. 

Music at 8 p.m. 1111 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 548-1761 or (510) 762-BASS. 

LA PEÑA CULTURAL CENTER 

Jon Fromer and Friends, July 14, 8 p.m. $8 to $15. 

Ray Cepeda, July 15, 9:30 p.m. $10. 

3105 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 849-2568 or www.lapena.org 

924 GILMAN ST. 

Attitude Adjustment, Wolfpack, Men's Recovery Project, Axiom, July 14. 

MU330, Alkaline Trio, Link 80, Venice Shoreline Chris, Blue Meanies, Lawrence Arms, Honor System, Dan Potthast, Mike Park, July 16, 4 p.m.  

$5. Music at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 924 Gilman St., Berkeley. (510) 525-9926. 

THE STARRY PLOUGH PUB 

Tempest, Azigza, July 14. $8. 

Plus Ones, The Cables, Luminar, The Fitsners, July 15.  

For age 21 and over. Wednesday, 8 p.m.; Thursday, 9:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 9:45 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 3101 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 841-2082. 

OPERA 

THE BERKELEY OPERA 

“Beatrice and Benedick” by Hector Berlioz, July 14 through July 23. A joyous evening of wit, deception and romance based on William Shakespeare’s comedy “Much Ado About Nothing.” Jonathan Khuner conducting. Sung in English. $16 to $30 general; $24 senio rs; $15 youths age 17 and under. Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave., Berkeley. (925) 798-1300 or www.juliamorgan.org 

MUSEUMS 

Berkeley Historical Society 

"Berkeley's Ethnic Heritage." May 7 through March 2001. The exhibit examines the rich cultural diversity of our city and the contributions of individuals and minority groups to our history and development. The exhibit look at the original native tribelets in the area and the immigrants who settled in Ocean View and displaced the Spanish/Mexican landowners. It also examines the influence of theUniversity of California, the San Francisco earthquake, and World War II on the population and culture of Berkeley, and subsequent efforts to overcome discrimination. Thursday through Saturday, 1 to 4 p.m. Wheelchair accessible. Admission free. 

Berkeley Historical Society located in the Veterans Memorial Building, 1931 Center Street, Berkeley. 510-848-0181 

www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/histsoc 

GALLERIES  

KALA INSTITUTE 

“Markings/Imprints,” through July 28. The 2000 Kala Art Institute Fellowship Awards Exhibitions, Part I, featuring works by Susan Belau, Liliana Lobo Ferreira, and Jamie Morgan. 

Free. Tuesday through Friday, noon to 5 p.m. Workshop Media Center Gallery, 1060 Heinz Ave., Berkeley. (510) 549-2977. 

TRAYWICK GALLERY 

Rachel Davis, Samantha Fisher, Benicia Gantner, Cherith Rose, June 21 through July 22. An exhibit of new work by the four artists. 

Free. Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. 1316 10th St., Berkeley. (510) 527-1214. 

“Yangtze River: in the Dragon’s Teeth” 

Carol Brighton's poured paper paintings of the Yangtze River gorges, through July 31. Six-foot paper pieces in the long format of a Chinese scroll. This artwork is done in support of the International Rivers Network campaign to save the Yangtze River. The full impact of these beautiful compositions can even be viewed from across the street. Addison Street Windows Gallery, 2018 Addison St., Berkeley 

To publicize an upcoming event, please submit information to the Daily Planet via fax (841-5695), e-mail (calendar@berkeleydailyplanet.com) or traditional mail (2076 University Avenue, 94704). Calendar items should be submitted at least one week before the opening of a new exhibit or performance. Please include a daytime telephone number in case we need to clarify any information.

Reform possible, even on Credit Union Board 

Thank you for your coverage of the recent board of directors election for the Cooperative Center Federal Credit Union. Two of the three candidates running on the “Save Our Credit Union” slate were elected: Jackie de Bose and Naomi Rose. We had to work within the available structures, including the need to personally gather about 150 signatures per candidate, but as a result of our determination and vision, we were able to achieve the first level of our goals. 

For the Daily Planet reader who is already a member of the CCFCU, we see this as a very heartening sign, and we encourage you to become involved in your own way. Our election to the board proves that the system does work, if you use it. 

Our platform was based on reforming financial procedures and democratizing the communications process between board directors, members and staff, as well as holding to the cooperative vision. The work had begun, but is not over. As the saying goes “I will tell you no lies, I will claim no easy victories. The struggle continues.” We were initially contacted, along with running mate IfeTayo Bonner-Payne, by CCFCU Director Carole Kennerly because of questionable financial procedures. Since then, these have been substantiated by the latest report of the National Credit Union Association (NCUA) Examiner. 

You will be hearing from us in the CCFCU quarterly newsletter, which is sent to all members and available in the lobby of the Credit Union, as well. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at 510-540-1076 (Jackie de Bose) or 510-923-1363 (Naomi Rose). 

Naomi Rose 

Director-elect, Cooperative Center 

Federal Credit Union Board 

Article not accurate on park’s early history 

Dan Greenman’s comments in his article, “Colorful history to People’s Park,” on page 3 of your July 11 issue, misrepresents the early history of the park. He says that the University initially purchased this block in 1957, before bulldozing it. In fact, however, the University exercised eminent domain to condemn the entire block, and then bulldozed it. Later, in court, the University admitted that it did not have any specific purpose in mind for the property when it condemned it, which made the University’s action a violation of state law. Of course by then an entire block of homes had been destroyed. 

It seems plain that the time has come for the city to purchase People’s Park in order to assure its future as a park. The University’s incessant history of bad faith in this matter, as in so many others, makes this the more pressing. 

Jim Powell 

MacArthur Fellow 

People’s Park bought with innocent blood 

If the University of California plans to keep the People’s Park restroom clean, then I’m delighted; it’s certainly more than the City of Berkeley has done in 10 years. But raise money to buy the park? With all due respect to the fund-raisers, for some of us the park has been bought and paid for in blood. 

Carol Denney 

Berkeley 

Absence of proof not proof of absence 

In commenting on the recent report on tritium at LBNL, Shelly Rosenblum of the EPA was quoted (Daily Planet, July 11) as being pleased that there was “no evidence of immediate damage” from the radioactive water and steam released in the Berkeley hills. Yet the same report goes on to criticize the very methods used to gather such evidence. The number of radioactivity monitoring sites is “well below average” while the measuring computer programs were rendered “inaccurate.” The late great Carl Sagan was fond of the aphorism: “Absence of proof is not proof of absence.” That a scientist in Rosenblum’s position should ignore scientific reasoning shakes our faith in the EPA. 

A. C. Shen 

Berkeley 

DAHRT project seems weapons-related 

Regarding the front page article of your July 6 issue headed “LBNL unaffected by UC-BO dispute,” I would like to respond. 

I quote from your article: 

“’We’re not a weapons lab,’ said Lynn Yarris, speaking for LBNL. ‘We’re not involved in these security issues.’ 

“The University of California manages three contracts for the U.S. Department of Energy – one at Los Alamos, one at Livermore and a third in Berkeley. ‘Each contract is separate,’ Yarris said.” 

Now, I would like to quote from “Why Are We Still Researching Nuclear Weapons?” by the late Lillian Nurmela (expert on nuclear issues, long time worker with Western States Legal Foundation, and member of East Bay Women for Peace): 

“The University of California at Berkeley (LBNL) in collaboration with the DOE weapons lab at Los Alamos, New Mexico, is working on the Dual-Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test facility (DAHRT). The DAHRT is basically an X-ray machine with two arms at right angles that will take very fast moving pictures of the explosion of plutonium pits. Plutonium pits are the core of nuclear weapons, and plutonium is the most deadly and longest live (over 200,000 years) material in the world. 

“The DOE plans to spend more than $1 billion on expanded facilities producing plutonium pits.” 

Dorothy Vance 

Berkeley 

Higher speeds are risky to all pedestrians 

As a pedestrian safety advocate, I tell everyone who will listen about the fact that on average, a 20 mph pedestrian/car collision will result in pedestrian death less than 10 percent of the time, while a 30 mph pedestrian/car collision will result in pedestrian death more than 50 percent of the time.  

The logic of the traffic engineer, that speed limits should be raised on Claremont, because most people are speeding anyway, is similar to the logic of the professor who raises all her students’ grades because everyone failed the final exam. It is the logic of giving up because you are not able to produce the desired results. 

For the professor to then go on to claim that the student’ level of understanding has been increased as a result of the grade curve would be ludicrous. The traffic engineer’s claim that safety or “traffic calming” is promoted by raining the speed limit is equally ludicrous. 

Thanks to the engineer, we can all press down a little harder on the gas pedal as wee speed our way down the mini-highway we call Claremont, between the exit ramp and the Hills or U.C. Berkeley. We won’t worry too much about neighborhood safety since the faster we go, the more we are promoting pedestrian safety. 

Meanwhile, the neighbors who voted for the speed limit increase and the traffic engineer (who all, no doubt, graduated from that same professor’s class) can all sleep soundly, knowing that they got an “A” in neighborhood traffic calming. 

Zac Wald, Executive Director, BayPeds,  

The Bay Area Pedestrian Education Group 

Enforcement is key to Claremont safety 

While it is difficult to improve on Betty Schwendinger’s reasoned response (Perspective, July 8) to Jason Meggs’ wide-ranging divisive attack on everyone that doesn’t see the infinite wisdom of Jason’s elusive dreams of Heaven on Earth if we would only change the lane configuration on Claremont, there is a change that has occurred in Jason’s vision that is worth mentioning and an important area of agreement. In prior visions, Jason has used Valencia Street in San Francisco as an example of how wonderful Claremont would be if Berkeley did as Jason dreamed. In actual interviews with 12 businesses on Valencia Street produced the following comments; that while they originally supported re-striping, 11 believed resulting conditions were very bad and the 12th said it was not working because of lack of police enforcement. They said accidents and congestion are now worse and the non-reported and near misses are higher than before. Apparently when reality conflicts with your vision, you just ignore reality.  

The strange thing is the area of agreement. Instead of dividing the community by attacking everyone, citizens, councilmembers and the police, why not strive for further increases in traffic enforcement? Jason makes the clear issue that Berkeley needs more traffic officers. Berkeley should make that a spending priority so that safety for all of Berkeley’s residents is improved. Human safety should be an area of universal agreement and efforts to provide for only a select portion of citizens will always be divisive.  

John Cecil and Dean Metzger 

Berkeley

Berkeley community radio station KPFA has come a long way in the last year. 

On July 13, 1999 the governing board of Pacifica Foundation, which holds the license to the listener-sponsored station, locked programmers out of the building, triggering weeks of demonstrations and dozens of arrests. Today KPFA celebrates the one-year anniversary of that day as it continues implementing a new election process for its Local Advisory Board. 

Traditionally self-appointing, the Local Advisory Board will elect its members for the first time this year. Last year’s crisis brought light to the undemocratic process of appointing the LAB and was an impetus for change, said Curt Gray, a member of the KPFA local board election committee.  

When community members complained that the 22-member LAB was too similar to the national board in its practice of appointing rather than electing its board, the LAB decided to democratize. 

“I think this is an important move to build stronger links between the radio station and the community,” said Tracy Rosenberg, administrative director of Media Alliance, a San Francisco media advocacy organization. 

Sherry Gendelman, chair of the LAB said that the events over the past year raised concerns in the community. The community’s voice was no longer being recognized by Pacifica and a local governing board internally selected had little accountability to the listeners. 

A number of advisory board members and subscribers decided that elections would be another way to influence Pacifica, in addition to demonstrating and getting arrested.  

“So they decided the (lab) needed to be restructured,” Gray added. 

Those advisory board members and station subscribers hope that the new election process will serve as a model for the National Governing Board of the Pacifica Foundation, which still appoints its members internally. 

“If there is a change in the members of the national governing board, then maybe they will take an interest in involving the community with an election,” Gendelman said. 

Two-thirds of the Local Board will be elected by subscribers and the other third by KPFA staff. Most of the staff is made up of unpaid volunteers from the community. 

The nomination process began June 24 and will continue through Aug. 9. The station will mail out ballots to KPFA voters on Aug. 25 and receive them a month later. To make the election valid, 10 percent of eligible voters (over 2,000 people) must return ballots.  

To be qualified to vote, people must have either fulfilled a pledge of at least $25 to KPFA, volunteered at KPFA for at least three hours in the last year or have been a KPFA staff member in the past year. Youth 20 years old or younger will be allowed to vote in this election only, in order to increase the number of voters. 

If the ballots are returned on time, the results will be announced in late September or October. Gray said delays could cause the process to be moved back, however. 

The election committee decided to use a proportional representation format for the election, an uncommon alternative election process. Under this method, voters will rank their top three candidates to fill the seven or eight open board seats. When counting the ballots, the committee will use a process that ensures half of the elected members to be women and half to be of minority groups. 

“This way we will represent and reflect all colors and interest groups humanly possible,” Gray said. “We are setting an example where the majority will not be able to silence the minority, which is how it usually works in this country.” 

Media Alliance is presenting a nomination forum Wednesday, July 19 from 7-9 p.m. at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco, 814 Mission Street second floor. For election updates, the public can call 510-848-6767, extension 463. 

Timeline of station events 

KPFA’s conflict with its license-holder, Pacifica Foundation, came to a head March 31, when popular station manager Nicole Sawaya’s contract was not renewed. The conflict continues today. 

March 31, 1999 KPFA General Manager Nicole Sawaya is terminated. Eight hundred people gather in front of the station. 

April 9, 1999 Larry Bensky, 30-year award winning broadcaster, is fired after promising on air to discuss Sawaya’s firing on his Sunday Salon program.  

April 15, 1999 One thousand people demonstrate outside Pacifica’s offices in Berkeley. 

June 18, 1999 Robbie Osman, 22-year programmer is fired by Chadwick. Two days later KPFA goes off the air for the two hours of Osman’s program. 

June 21, 1999 After camping overnight in front of KPFA and Pacifica headquarters, 14 people are arrested. 

July 13, 1999 Acting KPFA manager Garland Ganter asks security guards to escort host Dennis Bernstein out of the station. Bernstein calls out that he is being removed. Hundreds gather in front of the station at night and more than 50 are arrested. Pacifica locks up station. 

July 27, 1999 Berkeley City council holds special session and calls for KPFA to return to community control. 

July 31, 1999 More than 10,000 people march in Berkeley in support of reopening the station, Berkeley’s largest march since the Vietnam protests. 

Aug. 5, 1999 The station reopens. 

Oct. 27, 1999 A dozen affiliates boycott the station for a day. Programming Director Dan Coughlin broadcasts the news and is taken off the air. 

May 17, 2000 KPFA Local Advisory Board votes to democratize itself. Plans to implement an election process begin. 

– Dan Greenman, 

Daily Planet Staff 

Three days after Pacifica security guards took over KPFA studios on July 13 of last year, amid histrionic protestations broadcast live over the airwaves, a quieter battle was pitched against the Pacifica Foundation in Alameda County Superior Court. 

On July 16, lawyers for 18 local advisory board members filed a long-anticipated complaint against Pacifica alleging violations of the California Corporations Code.  

A year later the tent cities and chanting protesters are gone.  

But the lawsuit, Adelson et al. vs. Pacifica, lives on. Lawyers for both sides say the legal fight, which could go to trial in the next six months, is just heating up.  

Meanwhile, a separate action brought by 12 KPFA listeners is awaiting word from the State Attorney General on whether the group has standing to proceed against Pacifica. That decision on could be made in a matter of weeks. 

Both actions are seeking to redress in the courts what could not be achieved by KPFA supporters through political demonstrations last summer. Plaintiffs want the court to remove Pacifica’s current board and reinstate bylaws that allowed local advisory boards to elect representatives to Pacifica’s national governing body. The governing board sets Pacifica policy on issues such as fund-raising and programming at five Pacifica-owned radio stations located in Los Angeles, Houston, New York, Berkeley and Washington, D.C. 

Plaintiffs in both cases charge the non-profit foundation with violating the word and spirit of its decades-old corporate charter. 

“Pacifica management has deviated significantly from the express charitable purpose of the foundation,” said Dan Bartley, a lawyer representing the KPFA listener group. “The only way you can get back to that purpose is to ensure that the listener-sponsors have a voice and that means bringing a modicum of democracy to the process of selecting board members for Pacifica,” he said. 

Pacifica counters that actions taken by the governing board leading up to last summer’s KPFA crisis did not violate the corporate charter. Specifically, the 54-year-old foundation maintains that local advisory boards never had a right to elect members to the national board.  

“You can’t lose what you never had,” Pacifica attorneys asserted in legal papers filed last month. The advisory boards “have never had the right to vote on the election of directors of Pacifica or on amendments to Pacifica’s bylaws,” Pacifica Attorney Dan Rapaport of Oakland’s Wendel, Rosen, Black & Dean argued. Changes to Pacifica bylaws in February 1999, he told the court, did not take away any right held by the local advisory boards, “because they had no right to elect Board members to begin with.” 

In a brief interview with the Daily Planet, Rapaport referred all questions about the case to Pacifica’s Washington, D.C. office.  

Numerous calls placed to that office seeking comment were not returned.  

So far, each side has won a round in the pretrial bout. Earlier this year the local board, represented by Dan Siegel of the Oakland law firm Siegel & Yee, defeated Pacifica’s motion to dismiss their lawsuit. But on June 23, Superior Court judge James Richman agreed with Pacifica that the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction seeking immediate action on their claims should be denied.  

In papers opposing the injunction, Pacifica attorney Rapaport maintained that the board members’ lawsuit “is nothing more than a thinly-veiled attempt to gain control of a three hundred million dollar public interest enterprise.” Rapaport argued that the plaintiffs were attempting to “place their hand-picked allies on Pacifica’s Board of Directors,” a move he likened to “letting the fox into the chicken coop.” 

In the separate action filed in November by KPFA listener-sponsors, Spooner vs. Pacifica, 12 would-be plaintiffs are waiting for California Attorney General Bill Lockyer’s office to decide if the group has standing to proceed in quid warranto, or on behalf of the public interest. Prior approval from the state is required before suing a non-profit corporation. 

The group says it was encouraged by a report issued two weeks ago by a state legislative committee blasting Pacifica’s practices during last summer’s 17-day lockout.  

“I don’t want to count our chickens but we are certainly optimistic,” said attorney Bartley about his clients’ chances of being granted standing to sue. “We plan to file and then move very quickly,” he added. Pacifica lawyers have opposed the KPFA listener group’s motion for leave to sue, arguing that the group should not be permitted to go forward.  

Ardent feelings underlie the KPFA listener action.  

“There are a lot of people like me who feel their lives were changed because of what they heard on KPFA,” said Carol Spooner, the lead plaintiff in the action, who says she has been a KPFA listener since 1961.  

“I feel strongly that [KPFA’s] alternative voice needs to be preserved for future generations,” she said. “When KPFA is really fulfilling its mission it is saying unthinkable things, things that really expand the boundaries of the dialogue.” Pacifica has tried to stifle that dialogue at its radio stations, she says. 

But the real issue remains election of members to the national board. In the past, two members from each of five Pacifica-owned radio stations sat on the governing board. But in February 1999, Pacifica changed its long-standing practice of permitting automatic election of members from the five local advisory boards.  

“The national administration has consistently distanced itself from the communities of the five radio networks,” said Sherry Gendelman, chair of the KPFA local advisory board and one of the plaintiffs in the board member lawsuit. “They have attempted to remove the community from community radio.”  

Pacifica strenuously disagrees. Attorney Rapaport contends in briefing papers that bylaw changes instituted in February of last year were necessary for the foundation to retain critical funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Pacifica says that funding was jeopardized by FCC regulations that required a strict division between the national governing board and the community advisory boards.  

“The ultimate irony of this case,” Rapaport told the court, is that the governing board that passed the now disputed amendments was comprised mainly of people elected from the local advisory boards. “The actions taken by the Pacifica Board that plaintiffs complain of, were taken by a Board that was composed of precisely the ratio of (local to national) directors that plaintiffs now seek to impose,” he wrote.  

But Gendelman views the matter otherwise.  

“The national governing board people are not radio people and they are not political people,” she told the Daily Planet. “If we are to grow we should find a way to be true to our mission, not turn into a station like (Pacifica’s KPFT in) Houston which plays canned music 24-hours a day,” she said. 

Adds attorney Bartley, “Pacifica management has essentially turned over the reins of the organization to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. That is totally inconsistent with the principles of the founding fathers of Pacifica.”  

Seniors, the disabled and long-term renters in Berkeley will get protections from landlords who want to move into the apartments they are renting – if voters pass a measure in November that the City Council put on the ballot Tuesday night. 

The ballot measure, which passed 5-1, with three abstentions, fixed the age for a senior at 60 and defined a long-term resident as one who has lived in a unit for five years. If a tenant is removed, the length a landlord must occupy the unit was increased to 36 months. Under the present law, landlords have to stay in a residence for only 24 months to prove that they “live” there, after evicting its former tenant.  

Voting in favor of the motion was the liberal/progressive block: Vice Mayor Maudelle Shirek and Councilmembers Dona Spring, Linda Maio, Kriss Worthington and Margaret Breland. Councilmember Betty Olds voted in opposition and Mayor Shirley Dean and Councilmembers Polly Armstrong and Diane Woolley abstained. 

The language was altered slightly from the proposed ballot measure to exempt owners of duplexes who have owned the property for five or more years and don’t have 10 percent ownership in any other property. But landlords may remove tenants who are protected under the measure for move-in reasons if they, or their relatives, happen to be over 60 years old or disabled. 

It is hoped that the measure will combat the worst-case scenarios caused by the Costa-Hawkins Act. Passed in 1995, it allows rent to rise to market-level when a tenant moves out.  

“This will protect the most vulnerable,” said Randy Silverman, chair of the city’s rent control board. “If we can stop a handful of people being forced out of their homes, and out of Berkeley, then it helps.” 

Silverman estimated that the new measure will stop “a few dozen” unjust evictions a year. 

As expected, the council bickered over the age limit and the level of owner protection. 

Olds proposed a substitute motion that set the protected age at 65 and exempted owners of five-unit buildings who have owned the building for over five years. 

“This started out as protection for seniors and the disabled,” Olds said. “Now it covers everyone.” 

Silverman noted that the scope is still very small, and said that he “felt it was important to protect all long-term renters.”  

“Only about 25 percent of renters in Berkeley qualify as long-term,” he said. 

Olds’ measure was defeated with Dean, Armstrong, Woolley and Olds voting in favor, Shirek voting in opposition and Breland, Maio, Worthington and Spring abstaining.  

Councilmember Polly Armstrong said that Olds’ proposal was “clear-cut, simple, applies to big landlords and doesn’t shut anyone out.” 

“It easily protects the class of people we are trying to protect,” she said. Armstrong abstained in the vote that passed the measure. 

She said that it would act as an incentive for landlords to rent to students, and short-term renters because they can raise the rent more often. Silverman said the incentive is already there because of Costa-Hawkins. 

“I wish we could come up with a broader scope, but it is impossible because of Costa-Hawkins,” Silverman said. 

He noted that the disparity is huge between units that are under rent control and those that aren’t. Silverman said the exemption should be limited to two-unit owners as opposed to five-unit owners to prevent investors from buying the smaller properties and jacking up the rent.  

The Berkeley City Council’s resolution to support former Symbionese Liberation Army member Sara Jane Olson was discussed passionately but a decision was put off until the council’s July 25 meeting.  

The measure calls on Los Angeles District Attorney to drop all charges against Olson and request that Governor Gray Davis pardon her. 

Before a vote could be taken, a motion to end the meeting was accepted by the body. City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque, citing the California Open Meeting Act, told councilmembers that continuing the discussion would be a violation and moved the measure to old business where it will reappear on the July 25 agenda. 

In her statements, Councilmember Polly Armstrong seemed to link Olson to the murder of Oakland African-American educator Marcus Foster, for which the Symbionese Liberation Army claimed responsibility in 1973. 

Armstrong refused to elaborate the alleged connection between Olson and Foster, whom she accidentally referred to as Marcus Garvey, and when spurred by Councilmember Kriss Worthington said, “I don’t have to answer, my statement stands by itself.” 

Worthington, who supports the resolution put forward by the Peace and Justice Commission, said Los Angeles District Attorney Gil Garcetti is using Olson’s case “as a way to get publicity and votes.” He added that Olson reportedly joined the SLA after Foster’s murder. 

The 53-year-old Olson was arrested after 23 years of living as a fugitive shortly after she was featured on television’s “America’s Most Wanted.” 

Formerly known as Kathleen Ann Soliah, Olson faces conspiracy charges in connection with an alleged attempt to bomb police cars in 1975 in retaliation for the deaths of six members of the SLA during a shoot-out with police.  

A wife and mother of three daughters, Olson was arrested in St. Paul, Minn. where, according to her resolution, she was a “productive, civic-minded member of her community.” She was released on a $1 million bail and returned home under the electronic-monitoring plan.

Despite the protests of preservationists and campus community neighbors, a preliminary investigation into the environmental consequences of UC Berkeley’s proposed expansion of the Goldman School of Public Policy has identified no significant long term impacts associated with the project. 

The Draft Environmental Impact Report, released last week by the school’s Physical and Environmental Planning Office, noted that while parking availability would decrease and traffic increase, there would be a “less than significant” adverse impact to the site’s historical and aesthetic resources. The report is now subject to a 45-day public review and comment period before final approval by the chancellor. The anticipated end for public debate is August 18.  

“The campus has every obligation to comply to the California Environmental Quality Act which maintains that the public has a right to comment on any determinations. The proposal won’t be approved until this process is completed,” said Jennifer Lawrence, principal planner of the Physical and Environmental Planning Office. “Our office will ultimately publish a final EIR in which we address all the comments we receive. At this point, as far as I know, we haven’t gotten any.” 

Proposed is a three-story, 11,000 square-foot building – complete with two lecture halls, 10 faculty offices, several small seminar rooms and space for one or more research centers – to be constructed adjacent to the existing Goldman School. The site is presently a 22-space parking lot on the corner of Le Roy and Hearst Avenues. 

“I’m very receptive to the expansion. I think that as an addition it is well thought out. When the university finally does something that is tasteful and respectful as this we ought to give them credit,” said Councilmember Betty Olds, whose jurisdiction includes the proposed development. “They did their homework on this one. However, I would very much be against any further additions up there.” 

Many residents of the adjoining community are hardly so adamant in their approval. 

“This is the last spot north of Hearst (Avenue) that is still open space. It’s a very fragile neighborhood on the interface zone and once again the school is being a difficult neighbor,” said Jim Sharp, a Berkeley resident who lives two-blocks from the proposed development. “If you go back 60 years, Hearst had fraternities, rooming houses and old buildings, now one by one they’ve all been eliminated and replaced. The city of Berkeley isn’t getting any bigger but the university is. It’s displacing the historical amenities of the town.” 

Sharp and 25 other community members voiced their concern at meetings when the plans for the expansion were unveiled in February.  

“The feeling is that when the Soda Building was built several years ago, that was too much. Neighbors already fell half-gobbled up, to add more adds insult to injury,” said Councilmember Dona Spring. “It’s been on hiatus for a few years but the philosophy of ‘if you get the money, we’ll build it’ is back. There is little thought about how that building will (affect) Berkeley. Continued expansion leads to (traffic) congestion and a deterioration of the quality of life.” 

School officials insist that all comments on the Draft EIR will be weighed for merit and that everything possible will be done to maintain the integrity of the site. 

“The Berkeley environment is tightly impacted. We’re basically sitting on top of each other,” said Lawrence. “We’re trying to be as sensitive as possible to neighbors and the environment.”  

Preservationists claim that the historical and architectural value of the existing building, erected in 1893 by renowned Bay Area architect Ernest Coxhead, will be compromised by the expansion. The building, formerly the Beta Theta Pi fraternity house, was acquired by the University in 1966 and designated Berkeley City Landmark #66 in 1982. According to Susan Cerny, author of Berkeley Landmarks, the building is among the Bay Area’s earliest and most important and influential buildings in the “First Bay Tradition.” An historic resources inventory conducted by the California Department of Parks and Recreation in 1979 says, “This whimsical building, like Coxhead other radical designs within the Bay Area idiom displays the same love of craftsmanship. The Beta Theta Pi house is an excellent example of the English Tudor revival style, both confident and eccentric in spirit.” 

The landmark is notable as one of few structures to survive the devastating North Berkeley Fire of 1923. The Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association recognized the Goldman School with an award for the school’s renovation of the facility in 1998.  

“It’s a miracle that this building exists after 107 years. Placing another structure on the site, no matter how pretty the structure is, will compromise the original building, the site and the views of the building,” said Cerny. “But times have changed and foremost is that the building is preserved. It represents a different era when land was available and the population was low. The addition reflects the increased density and the popularity of the university.” 

Wednesday, July 12

West Berkeley Redevelopment Projects  

8 a.m.  

James Kenney Community Center, 1720 Eighth St. 

City staff will discuss the planned improvements in the area, including the Berkeley rail stop, Aquatic Park, bike routes, and streetscape work throughout the neighborhood. The meeting will be of specific interest to business owners and commercial/industrial property owners in and adjacent to the West Berkeley Redevelopment Project Area. 

Ice Cream Day 

Noon-2 p.m. 

Lawrence Hall of Science, Centennial Drive, above UC Berkeley campus 

This is part of the Summer Science Fundays series at the Hall. Children and parents will have the opportunity to make, taste and compare ice cream. Included with regular admission to the museum. 

510-642-5132 

Deaf Issues Subcommittee 

1 p.m. 

Public Works Administration Office, First Floor Conference Room, 2201 Dwight Way 

The subcommittee will review potential projects and will make a recommendation to the Commission on Disability for a subcommittee work plan for the coming year, as well as hear a presentation on the screening of newborns for hearing loss by Alta Bates and other hospitals. 

“Dealing with the Opposite Sex” 

1:30 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

510-644-6107 

Baby Bounce and Toddler Tales 

7 p.m. 

West Branch Berkeley Public Library, 1125 University Ave. 

This storytime program is designed for families with children up to 3 years old. The free, participatory program features a half hour of multicultural songs, rhymes, lap jogs and stories to give very young children a lively introduction to the magic of books. Parents also will enjoy the new stories, rediscover old favorites and learn new songs and games to share. 

510-644-6870 

Thursday, July 13

Free computer class for seniors 

9:30-11:30 a.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis St. 

This free course offers basic instruction in keyboarding, Microsoft Word, Windows 95, Excel and Internet access. Space is limited; the class is offered Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Call ahead for a reservation. 

510-644-6109 

Berkeley State Health Toastmasters Club 

12:10-1:10 p.m. 

State Health Building, Eighth Floor, 2151 Berkeley Way 

Toastmasters International, a nonprofit educational organization, has been working for over 70 years to help people conquer their pre-speech jitters and improve communication skills. The local club meetings the second, third and fourth Thursdays of each month. 

510-649-7750; higgins_edie@hotmail.com 

Movie: “In a Class of its Own” 

1 p.m. 

Prostate support group 

3 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

510-644-6107 

Community Health Commission Meeting 

6:45-9:30 p.m. 

Public Health Division, 2344 Sixth St. 

Items on the agenda include review of written subcommittee report on Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health, and the HHS Budget update as well as the topic of medical marijuana and pesticides. 

510-644-6500 

Zoning Adjustments Board Agenda 

7 p.m. 

Council Chambers, Old City Hall, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way 

The board will discuss current business/committee appointments. Also concerns relating to individual addresses are going to be brought forward. 

510-705-8111 

Friday, July 14

Conversational Yiddish 

1 p.m. 

Opera: “La Gioconda” 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

510-644-6107 

Public Meeting on the Regional Airport System Plan Update 

1:30 p.m. 

MetroCenter Auditorium, 101 Eighth St., Oakland 

The public will have a chance to make public comment on the Draft Final Plan at this time. Copies of the draft are available in the main libraries, on MTC’s website, www.mtc.ca.gov, or can be requested from MTC by calling ahead. 

510-464-7815 

Berkeley Folk Dancers Beginners’ Try Outs 

7:45-10:30 p.m. 

Live Oak Park Social Hall, 1301 Shattuck Ave. 

Cost for non-members is $5. 

510-525-3030 

Saturday, July 15

Light Search and Rescue 

9 a.m.-noon 

Fire department’s Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. 

This summer, Berkeley’s Office of Emergency Services will offer a set of free training classes to help families prepare for emergencies. The classes, open to Berkeley residents at least 18 years old, will be taught by retired firefighters. The classes give hands-on training in how to put on a splint, extinguish a fire, use a fire hose, and more. Call ahead to register. The next class will be held on Fire Suppression (Aug. 12). 

510-644-8736 

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

10 a.m.-3 p.m. 

Center Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street 

510-548-3333 

Sunday, July 16

People’s Park Rally 

1 p.m. 

People’s Park 

Emergency rally on the future of People’s Park and the 133rd anniversary of the US’s greatest strike of 1877. Come here Gina Smith, Carol Denney, Thunder, Gerald Smith, Roger Wilkins, Folk This, Leon Stevens, Clifford Fred, Michael Diehl, Michael Delacour and more. 

510-841-7460 

Rent Board nominations 

1 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

Progressives will nominate a slate of candidates for the November election. 

“In Our Own Hands” 

2-4:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 

This film, part of the Sundays at the BRJCC Cinema series, features lively interviews and rare archival footage telling the story of a group of Jewish volunteers from Palestine who battled to become a fighting unit in the British army during World War II. A $2 donation is suggested. 

510-848-0237 

“Free Meditation Seminar” 

2:30 p.m. 

St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. 

Experience the Awaking of the soul through mediation on the Inner Light and sound. This event is free of charge. 

510-845-9648

THEATER 

ACTORS ENSEMBLE OF BERKELEY 

“Murder At The Vicarage” by Agatha Christie, July 14 through Aug. 12. Performance of the classic whodunnit. $10. Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Aug. 10, 8 p.m. Live Oak Theatre, 1301 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 528-5620. 

CALIFORNIA SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL 

“Hamlet” by William Shakespeare, July 1 through July 22. Shakespeare probes the shadowy corners of the human psyche in this dark, compelling tragedy of vengeance, madness and murder most foul. 

$21 to $38 general; $19 to $38 seniors; $10 to $38 children. Wednesday and Thursday, 7 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 4 p.m.; July 11 and July 18, 7 p.m.; July 22, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Bruns Memorial Amphitheatre, Shakespeare Festival Way/Gateway Exit on state Highway 24. (510) 548-9666 or www.calshakes.org 

MUSIC VENUES 

ASHKENAZ 

Billy Dunn, July 12, 9 p.m. $8. 

Babatunde Olatunji, July 13, 9 p.m. $11. 

Tamazgha, July 14, 9:30 p.m. $11. 

Kotoja, Akimbo, July 15, 9:30 p.m. $11. 

Resin, Caesar Myles and Dreaded Truth, Rebecca Riots, Famous Last Words, Erika Luckett, Liz Anah, July 16, 4 p.m. $8 to $25. 

1317 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley. (510) 525-5099 or www.ashkenaz.com 

FREIGHT AND SALVAGE 

Dan Crary and Beppe Gambetta, July 12. $15.50 to $16.50. 

Bill Evans, Avram Siegel, Marty Cutler, July 13. $14.50 to $15.50. 

Juan-Carlos Formell, July 14. $14.50 to $15.50. 

The Laura Love Band, July 15. $17.50 to $18.50. 

Pat Donohue, July 16. $14.50 to $15.50. 

Music at 8 p.m. 1111 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 548-1761 or (510) 762-BASS. 

LA PEÑA CULTURAL CENTER 

War!, July 12, 7 p.m. $10. 

Jon Fromer and Friends, July 14, 8 p.m. $8 to $15. 

Ray Cepeda, July 15, 9:30 p.m. $10. 

Dya Singh, July 16, 8 p.m. $18. 

3105 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 849-2568 or www.lapena.org 

924 GILMAN ST. 

Attitude Adjustment, Wolfpack, Men's Recovery Project, Axiom, July 14. 

MU330, Alkaline Trio, Link 80, Venice Shoreline Chris, Blue Meanies, Lawrence Arms, Honor System, Dan Potthast, Mike Park, July 16, 4 p.m.  

$5. Music at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 924 Gilman St., Berkeley. (510) 525-9926. 

THE STARRY PLOUGH PUB 

Cadillac Angels, Rip Carson and the Twilight Trio, July 13. $5. 

Tempest, Azigza, July 14. $8. 

Plus Ones, The Cables, Luminar, The Fitsners, July 15.  

For age 21 and over. Wednesday, 8 p.m.; Thursday, 9:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 9:45 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 3101 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 841-2082. 

OPERA 

THE BERKELEY OPERA 

“Beatrice and Benedick” by Hector Berlioz, July 14 through July 23. A joyous evening of wit, deception and romance based on William Shakespeare’s comedy “Much Ado About Nothing.” Jonathan Khuner conducting. Sung in English. 

$16 to $30 general; $24 senio rs; $15 youths age 17 and under. Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave., Berkeley. (925) 798-1300 or www.juliamorgan.org 

MUSEUMS 

Berkeley Historical Society 

"Berkeley's Ethnic Heritage." May 7 through March 2001. The exhibit examines the rich cultural diversity of our city and the contributions of individuals and minority groups to our history and development. The exhibit look at the original native tribelets in the area and the immigrants who settled in Ocean View and displaced the Spanish/Mexican landowners. It also examines the influence of theUniversity of California, the San Francisco earthquake, and World War II on the population and culture of Berkeley, and subsequent efforts to overcome discrimination. Curated by Linda Rosen and the Berkeley Historical Society Exhibit Committee. Thursday through Saturday, 1 to 4 p.m. Wheelchair accessible. Admission free. 

Berkeley Historical Society located in the Veterans Memorial Building, 1931 Center Street, Berkeley. 510-848-0181 

www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/histsoc 

UC BERKELEY ART 

MUSEUM 

“Doug Aitken/MATRIX 185: Into the Sun,” July 9 through Sept. 3. An exhibit of works primarily in video and film, using the interplay of art and media to evoke deserted landscapes. Artist’s Talk, July 9, 3 p.m. Doug Aitken discusses his installation. In Gallery 1. 

Rodin and His Contemporaries,” through August. An exhibit of 11 bronze maquettes on loan from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation in Los Angeles. The bronzes range in style from the artist's classically inspired “Torso of a Woman” to the anguish of “The Martyr.” Some of the maquettes were cast during Rodin’s lifetime, others have been cast fairly recently under the aegis of the Musee Rodin which alone is authorized to cast his sculptures posthumously. 

$6 general; $4 seniors and students ages 12 to 18; free children age 12 and under; free Thursday, 1 1 a.m. to noon and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. 2626 Bancroft Way, Berkeley. (510) 642-0808. 

HALL OF HEALTH  

2230 Shattuck Ave. (lower level), Berkeley 

A hands-on community health education museum and science center sponsored by Children's Hospital Oakland and Alta Bates Medical Center. 

“This is Your Heart!” ongoing. An in teractive exhibit on heart health. 

“Good Nutrition,” ongoing. This exhibit includes models for making balanced meals and an exercycle for calculating how calories are burned. 

“Draw Your Own Insides,” ongoing. Human-shaped chalkboards and models with removable organs allow visitors to explore the inside of their bodies. 

“Your Cellular Self and Cancer Prevention,” ongoing. An exhibit on understanding how cells become cancerous and how to detect and prevent cancer. 

Free. For children ages 3 to 12 and their parents. 

(510) 549-1564 

LAWRENCE HALL 

OF SCIENCE 

“Experiment Gallery,” through Sept. 10. Step inside a giant laboratory and experiment with concepts surrounding sound, light, mechanics, electricity, and weather. 

“Math Rules!” ongoing exhibit. A math exhibit of hands-on problem-solving stations, each with a different mathematical challenge. Make mathematical ice-cream cones, use blocks to build three dimensional structures, make dodecagon pies from a variety of mathematical shapes and stretch mathematical thinking. 

“Within the Human Brain,” ongoing installation. Visitors test their cranial nerves, play skeeball, master mazes, match musical tones and construct stories inside a simulated “rat cage” of learning experiments. 

$6 general; $4 seniors, students and children ages 7 to 18; $2 children ages 3 to 6; free children under age 3. Daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Centennial Drive, University of California, Berkeley. (510) 642-5132 or www.lhs.berkeley.edu 

PHOEBE HEARST MUSEUM 

Kroeber Hall, UC Berkeley 

“Modern Treasures from Ancient Iran,” through Oct. 29. This exhibit explores nomadic and town life in ancient and modern Iran as illustrated in bronze and pottery vessels, and textiles. 

“Pana O’ahu: Sacred Stones – Sacred Places,” through July 16. An exhibit of photographs by Jan Becket and Joseph Singer. 

“Phoebe Hearst Museum-Approaching a Century of Anthropology,” a sampling of the vast collections of the museum, its mission, history, and current research, with selections from ancient Egypt, ancient Peru, California Indians, Asia (India), and Africa. 

“Ishi and the Invention of Yahi Culture,” Ishi, the last Yahi Indian of California, spent the final years of his life, 1911 to 1916, living at the museum, working with anthropologists to record his culture, demonstrating technological skills, and retelling Yahi myths, tales, and songs. 

Wednesday through Sunday 10 am -4:30 pm; Thursday until 9 pm (Sept-May) 

(510) 643-7648 

HABITOT CHILDREN’S MUSEUM 

Kittredge Street and Shattuck Avenue 

A museum especially for children age 7 and younger. Highlights include “WaterWorks,” an area with some unusual water toys, an Infant Tree for babies, a garden especially for toddlers, a child-scale grocery store and cafe, and a costume shop and stage for junior thespians. The museum also features a toy lending library. 

Admission is $4 for adults; $6 child age 7 and under; $3 for each additional child.  

Hours: Monday and Wednesday, 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Tuesday and Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

(510) 647-1111 

JUDAH L. MAGNES 

MUSEUM 

2911 Russell St., Berkeley 

“Telling Time: To Everything There Is A Season,” through May 2002.  

An exhibit structured around the seasons of the year and the seasons of life with objects ranging from the sacred and the secular, to the provocative and the whimsical. Highlights include treasures from Jewish ceremonial and folk art, rare books and manuscripts, contemporary and traditional fine art, video, photography and cultural kitsch. Through Nov. 4: “Spring and Summer.” 

Free. Sunday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

(510) 549-6950. 

To publicize an upcoming event, please submit information to the Daily Planet via fax (841-5695), e-mail (calendar@berkeleydailyplanet.com) or traditional mail (2076 University Avenue, 94704). Calendar items should be submitted at least one week before the opening of a new exhibit or performance. Please include a daytime telephone number in case we need to clarify any information.

A lot has been written about the just-completed year at Berkeley High: the school’s rocky start, the near-revolt of students, the departure of yet another principal from a campus that many would describe as dysfunctional, the ongoing struggle to bridge the academic achievement gap. 

In the middle of it all for nine months was Meredith Maran, a local author who spent the year following the daily routines, the challenges, the travails and the accomplishments of three Berkeley High students. 

She’s no stranger to the campus: Her two sons attended Berkeley High, and she’s been writing about the school off and on for the last 14 years. Her first article, back in 1986, focused on a girl who wanted to take a female date to the prom, and Maran has written two previous books about her experiences at the high school. 

This time around, the author is a silent observer until the final chapter. Maran’s upcoming book, “Class Dismissed: A Year in the Life of an American High School, a Glimpse into the Heart of a Nation,” follows three BHS students through the 1999-2000 school year, three students who “beat the odds.” A bi-racial, African-American-identified super-achiever, who has cared for her younger brother since she was 10, on her way to UC Berkeley this fall. An affluent, white, half-Jewish son of a computer consultant mother and a drug-addicted father who died mysteriously last year – a teen who hangs out with the wealthiest, most privileged kids at Berkeley High. A football star who’s functionally illiterate but still dreams of being the first in his family to go to college, a student who fits and fights the stereotype of the African-American male athlete. 

“I wanted kids who both seemed to match and fly in the face of stereotypes,” Maran said during an interview last week in her North Oakland home, just a pebble’s throw away from Berkeley. “Ultimately, my goal with this book is to challenge readers to challenge their stereotypes.” 

Maran began working on the project last July, months before she had a contract from a book publisher. She called several BHS teachers she knew and asked for the names of students who might be appropriate “candidates” for this kind of book. By the time the school year began, that list was narrowed down to eight students, though one dropped out early in September. 

Once she got a book deal – from St. Martin’s Press, which will publish her work in October – Maran quickly realized that there was no way she could follow seven students for the whole year, or effectively capture their stories in one book. She and her assistant sat down and independently came up with the same list of three students to include in the book. 

While the stories of those three teens are the heart of the book, it’s Maran’s final chapter that is likely to generate public discussion. In her “afterword,” she offers five recommendations for improving public education in America – and here in Berkeley. 

• Abolish private schools. 

Private schools, Maran contends, are the “escape hatch” that allows society’s wealthiest and most privileged families to avoid public education, thereby maintaining inequity. 

• Make public schools more like private schools. 

“Everything parents pay for when they write a check to private schools is replicable in public schools, if America is willing to write the check,” she says. 

It’s a matter of how the country uses its resources, Maran said, advocating an exponential increase in per-pupil spending. She also recommends smaller high schools, ideally, of no more than 1,000 students; smaller classes, with no more than 20 students; and more counselors, who can be genuine allies with students. 

• Abolish segregated schools and segregated classes. 

Continued use of “neighborhood schools” around the country maintains uneven economic and social playing fields, Maran believes. She advocates adoption of plans similar to the one used by the Berkeley Unified School District, using busing and parent choice, even though the BUSD’s system could face legal challenges in the months ahead. 

• Pay teachers what they’re worth. 

Again, this is a question of how America uses its resources, Maran says. Should a teacher earn as much money as a sales clerk, or a prison guard, or an advertising executive, or a senator? 

• Get families into schools. 

While the other proposals may be too “ideological” for some people to accept in other parts of the country, particularly the first and third recommendations, this seems to be a universally accepted concept – yet it’s not universally practiced. 

In most schools, Maran says, families that come from more privileged backgrounds are more likely to get involved. They have the resources, the time and the motivation to work with the PTA – it’s actually PTSA at Berkeley High, for parents, teachers AND students – volunteer in the classroom and keep their kids accountable. 

That corresponds with more student involvement and often results in higher student achievement. 

“Kids who push themselves to the front of the line usually come from families already at the front of the line and who have taught their kid to do that,” she said. 

So, Maran offers several tangible ideas to encourage more parental participation: Require employers to give parents and guardians an hour off each week to volunteer in their children’s schools, a policy already in place in the U.S. military; provide child care, food and translations for evening events, and make sure information is distributed to all parents, which means not using e-mail until all families are online; turn high schools into community centers, where families can get the help they need to assist their students; and encourage community use of school facilities. 

And as Berkeley High prepares for yet another year of major transition – a new principal, three new vice principals, a fire-damaged B Building whose fate remains unclear – it’s likely you’ll find Maran around the campus, volunteering in the classroom and helping the school move ahead. 

“I just can’t leave that school alone,” she said. “It’s America. It’s a cliché to say Berkeley High is a microcosm of American, but it is".  

The City Council decided Tuesday to locate and count existing wells and aquifers. The unanimous vote means that the $15,000 allocated to the survey in last month’s budget can be spent. The question lingering on, however, is exactly how far the funds will go. 

“Fifteen thousand dollars will pay for the survey and maybe help us dig up one well,” said Nabil Al Hadithy, the hazardous materials supervisor of the Division of Toxics Management, who is in charge of implementing the survey. “We can’t do much more unless we find alternative sources of money to augment the survey.” 

According to the proposal authored by Councilmember Kriss Worthington and citizen activist L.A. Wood and supported by the Community Environmental Advisory Commission, the deep aquifer starts at the East Bay Hills and gets thicker and deeper to the west where it reaches depths greater than 300 feet. This deep aquifer is thought to be clean but insufficient to generate enough water for a municipality. This is the aquifer that was tapped by households during the early parts of the last century with hundreds of domestic wells. Many are still in existence. Over the years, the shallow aquifer has been impacted in Berkeley by leaking underground fuel tanks, leaking sewers and industrial pollutants. The amended plan states that Berkeley has no existing drinking water uses for the groundwater. 

The document goes further to state that the lack of drinking water wells in Berkeley may be used as a reason to deny polluters the state funds to clean up fuel releases from underground tanks. It is for this reason that the city has proposed to survey groundwater resources for possible uses, such as emergency municipal and domestic drinking water sources for irrigation of landscaping and gardens and for industrial and commercial use. 

Wood has played a key role in initiating dialogue about delving into groundwater resources. According to him, “round one” was addressing the containment zone policy – essentially the assertion that if contaminants are left in place, they will take care of themselves by the process of natural biodegration. Wood considers the well-water issue to be round two in this battle. 

“We have to fight for our environment, even in Berkeley we have to fight,” Wood added. 

Al Hadithy warns that with the existing funds the extent of what may be done is limited. He did say, however, that the potential of what could be done with wells is endless. They may be used to fight fires, irrigate land and perhaps even be used to augment the existing drinking water supply. 

Wood referred to the allocation of $15,000 with decidedly more optimism. 

“It is symbolic, but its not just symbolic,” he said. 

With the substantiation of the initial survey, matching funds from other sources may be achieved. 

“It will attempt to demystify well and well water in Berkeley by going out and surveying all known wells, characterizing them for construction and sampling them. It will help empower individuals. It is a chance for Berkeley to take charge of something that we have dominion over. The process of our regulatory standards will change based on this.” 

John Selawsky, environmental commission chair, has his own take on the situation, but agrees with Wood’s optimism. “Where there’s a will there’s a way,” he said.  

Selawsky added that it was up to Berkeley to move in the direction of a new way looking at water resources and working out an emergency water use plan for its existing groundwater. He also added that some changes in the wording that the water control board has been using to classify groundwater does seem to allude to the fact that Berkeley may be in fact “moving in that direction.” 

In 1910 there were 3,400 tapped wells in Berkeley. At that time the presence of wind mills and above-ground water sources were quite common. It was not until the 1920s and 1930s that households got into water contamination issues and started to rely on alternate sources of water. The existence of underground wells and aquifers, the quality of these sources and their yields is, therefore according to Wood, quite significant. 

It will serve to validate the assertion that the chemical industry, inclusive of which are gasoline stations, have been leaking petroleum and contaminating groundwater. Looking at “groundwater as a potential drinking water source” will also give the environmental activist another bartering chip when negotiating cleanup issues with the city and industry. 

According to L.A. Wood, the ground water issue is the biggest little environmental project around because understanding groundwater is fundamental to every environmental issue. 

“Everything will be impacted even the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and its sampling and environmental monitoring. Because now they won’t be able to hide behind the assertion that no one uses the groundwater,” Wood added. 

“People really have no idea just how far this meager little fifteen thousand dollars will go".  

An East Bay version of San Francisco’s famous Mediterranean sidewalk cafe Enrico’s was supposed to be the cornerstone eatery in Berkeley’s emerging downtown Arts District. 

Instead, there is a new alliance between the players at Enrico’s and Berkeley’s own Cesar. They are collaborating to create a new restaurant at 2100 Shattuck, which, like Enrico’s, figures to feature Mediterranean cuisine 

It will offer a “Parisian slant,” said Mark McLeod, co-founder of Enrico’s and a partner in the new restaurant, tentatively called “the 2100.” It’s planned to open by mid-November. 

McLeod, Enrico’s head chef David Stevenson teamed up with Richard Mazzera, Dennis LaPayaude and Steven Singer of Cesar, when McLeod’s turned the lease over to the new partnership, formally called Restaurant Holdings Inc. in June. McLeod said he got involved in a number of business ventures and couldn’t take on any more, so he decided to sell the lease to the new partnership. 

The “Parisian slant” will be more informal and “brassarie,” as opposed to “French high cuisine,” McCloud said. 

“It will all be done very informally, like a big party,” he said. “It won’t be a classical French restaurant with hushed tones and formal service.” 

Stevenson will oversee cuisine at the new establishment, but will continue to cook at Enrico’s. 

“Dave and I will still be involved in Enrico’s,” McLeod said. “And they (Mazzera, LaPayaude and Singer) will still be involved at Cesar’s.”  

The restaurant is planned to serve as a gateway to the city’s developing Arts District, which is currently in the works along Addison Street. The entire block will display art, from poetry underfoot on the sidewalk to visual art on the window’s of the Addison Street Garage. It will accompany the 600-plus seat expansion of the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, which will serve as the Arts District anchor. 

McLeod said the new restaurant will be “moderately priced and serve a lot of different food.” A large bar and an indoor/outdoor patio seating for 40 will be nestled against the corner of Shattuck Avenue and Addison Street. But “you won’t be sitting on the sidewalk,” McLeod said. “You’re protected, but it feels like you’re outside.” 

On the inside, there will be an area where a jazz band will play from 8 p.m. until midnight. Downstairs a 40-seat private dining room is planned, which will also serve as a conference room.  

The Goldman School of Public Policy Expansion Draft Environmental Impact Report, released last week by the UC Berkeley’s Physical and Environmental Planning Office, says there are no significant and unavoidable long term impacts associated with this project. 

According to the California Environmental Quality Act of 1970, a significant impact is “…a substantial, or potentially substantial, adverse change in any of the physical conditions within the area affected by the project.” 

The siting of the proposed building, on the corner of Le Roy and Hearst Avenues, is adjacent to the former Beta Theta Pi fraternity house, a facility designed in 1893 by renowned architect Ernest Coxhead presently houses the Goldman School of Public Policy. 

The report says the expansion: 

• Would result in a less than significant adverse impact to the context of the historic resources.  

• Would present a less than significant alteration of the appearance of the site as seen from locations along Le Roy and Hearst Avenues. 

• Would slightly increase traffic delays at some intersections near the proposed project. 

• Would eliminate 22 parking spaces from the campus parking supply. 

• May increase transit use in the area. 

• Would significantly increase noise during construction in the short term. 

The complete Draft EIR report is available to the public at 300 A&E Building, just north of Sproul Hall on the UC Berkeley campus. A Public Hearing will be held on Wednesday, July 26 at 7 p.m. in the conference room of the GSPP at 2607 Hearst Ave. The public is invited to attend the hearing and offer comments.

A Party in Honor of DBA Leaders 

A party to honor for Larry Bush, Rauly Butler, and Donn Logan for their leadership of the Downtown Berkeley Association (DBA) will be held. 

Don Logan, a former principle of Elbasani and Logan Architects (ELS), recently resigned as the DBA’s Vice President of the Board of Directors and Chair of the Design Committee. ELS architectural firm that has made a mark in the City of Berkeley through their design of The Berkeley Repertory’s new theater and the new Berkeley High School Student Union. 

Larry Bush, DBA Past President, is the current President Elect of the Berkeley Rotary Club. Bush has been involved in the DBA for five years with the Promotion Committee as President, and continues to serve on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee. 

Rauly Butler, DBA President, has recently been promoted at The Mechanics Bank. Currently the Vice President at the Shattuck Avenue branch, he will soon become the head of Retail Banking at the Hiltop Mall main branch. 

17th Annual National Night Out 

On, Tuesday, August 1, neighborhoods throughout Berkeley are being invited to join forces with thousands of communities nationwide for the “17th Annual National Night Out” (NNO) crime/drug prevention event. NNO, which is sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch and co-sponsored by the Berkeley Police Department, will involve more than 9,000 communities from all 50 states, U.S. territories, Canadian cities and military bases around the world. In all, over 30 million people are expected to participate in “America’s Night Out Against Crime” on August 1.  

National Night Out is designed to: 1) heighten crime and drug prevention awareness; 2) generate support and participation in local anti crime efforts; 3) strengthen neighborhood spirit and police community relations; 4) send a message to criminals letting them know neighborhoods are organized and fighting back.  

From 7 to 10 p.m. on August 1, residents in neighborhoods throughout Berkeley and across the nation are asked to lock their doors, turn on outside lights and spend the evening outside with neighbors and police. Many neighborhoods throughout Berkeley will be hosting a variety of special events such as block parties, cookouts, parades, visits from police, flashlight walks, contests, youth activities and anti crime drug rallies.  

Berkeley neighborhoods interested in participating in this year's NNO should contact the Berkeley Police Department’s Community Services Bureau at 644-6696.  

Each year our NNO activities continue to grow in the City of Berkeley. In 1999, National Night Out activities included participation by over 900 residents and 60 Police Employees in 50 different Berkeley neighborhoods.  

Events included: potlucks, block parties, poetry readings, flashlight walks, neighborhood clean-ups and get-togethers all with the purpose of deterring crime and promoting Neighborhood Watch.  

For more information on National Night Out, please contact Berkeley Police Department’s Community Services Bureau at 644-6696.  

Sierra Nevada Forest Protection Campaign 

The Sierra Nevada Framework is an attempt to correct a serious environmental problem. The U.S. Forest Service currently had no coherent management plan for the 11 national forests in the Sierra Nevada. Conservation groups have explained many times that the lack of a unified plan had contributed to the destruction of ancient forest and the extinction of species. 

The Forest Service finally initiated the framework process and in May released eight alternative management plans for public comment. Two of those alternatives – six and eight – are identified as preferred options. Conservationists support Alternative Five, the only management plan that would make wildlife, watersheds and ancient forest the top priority. 

Dozens of framework hearings are being held this summer across California; the only one in the Bay Area is this weekend. Conservationists will attend to show their support for Alternative 5. Two Sierra Club leaders will also attend. 

Summer Tours of Botanical Gardens  

Celebrating the long days of summer, the University of California Botanical Garden is offering special “Twilight Tours” every Wednesday evening during July and August at 5:30 p.m. Each week a different horticultural specialist will lead the tours, which are free with Garden admission. 

Of special interest are the tours planned for August 9 and August 16, when Dr. Tom Carlson, a medical ethnobotanist, will lead tours that focus on traditional European herbs used as medicines, and on traditional Native American medicinal herbs. 

Please call (510) 643-2755 for directions to the Garden and more information about the Twilight Tours.

Paul H. Mussen, a pioneer in child psychology and a professor at the University of California, Berkeley for 30 years, died July 7, at Alta Bates Medical Center in Berkeley after a long struggle with prostate cancer. He was 78.  

An early developmental psychologist, Mussen wrote the classic text, “Child Development and Personality,” 1956, used as a standard in the field for 30 years, making Mussen the top-selling author for Harper Textbooks for years.  

He was among an avant-garde who moved the field from stimulus-response theory to a focus on social interactions between parents and children. His books included the “Handbook of Child Psychology,” 1971, “The Psychological Development of the Child,” 1963, and “Rootsof Caring, Sharing and Helping,” 1977. 

During a distinguished career at UC Berkeley, from 1956-1986, Mussen received a number of honors, including the Fulbright Award in 1960 for research in Florence, Italy, and, in 1968, was selected as a Fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford.  

At UC Berkeley, he served as director of the Institute of Human Development from 1971-80 and returned to serve as acting director in 1987.  

Mussen lectured and consulted at universities throughout Europe, Africa, Israel and the Middle East, India, Pakistan, New Zealand and Australia. 

Born March 21, 1922, in Paterson, N.J., Mussen grew up in Willimantic, Conn., and attended the University of Connecticut at Storrs until he received a scholarship to Stanford University in 1939. Joining the U.S. Navy in 1944, Mussen served as an ensign in NavalIntelligence in Washington, D.C, Hawaii, and San Francisco.  

He completed his doctorate in psychology at Yale University in 1949. He first taught at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, from 1949-51 and then at Ohio State University in Columbus until 1955, where he met and married Ethel Foladare, a graduate student who earned her doctorate from Ohio State.  

Mussen served as a member of the children’s advertising review unit of the Better Business Bureau for several years, upholding standards of writing and advertising on children’s television. He was president of the Western Psychological Association from 1973-74 and the American Psychological Association’s division of developmental psychology from 1977-78.  

Mussen is survived by his wife, Ethel; daughter, Michele, and her partner, Jim Hart, all of Berkeley; a son, Jim, daughter-in-law, Claudia, and grandson, Jacob, of New York; and a brother, Irwin, of Berkeley.  

Contributions in his memory may be made to the UCB-UCSF Joint Medical Program, Attention: Nina Green, 570 University Hall, Berkeley, 94720-1190, or to the Alta Bates Comprehensive Cancer Center, 2450 Ashby Ave, Berkeley, 94705-9989.

A suspect robbed the Bank of the West at 1480 Shattuck Ave. around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday with what was revealed to be an empty package he claimed to be a bomb. 

The man placed a small parcel on a teller’s window, handed the bank employee a note saying it was an explosive device and demanded an undisclosed amount of money. The teller gave the suspect cash before he escaped on foot and left the empty box, said Lt. Russell Lopes of the Berkeley Police Department. 

Lopes said the alleged robber was a medium built black male in his mid 30s, about 5 feet 10 inches tall, wearing a black puffy jacket, black jeans and sunglasses. He was in and out of the bank within two or three minutes, headed south on Shattuck, then west on Vine Street, Lopes said. 

The bank was evacuated and police removed pedestrians and cars within a 300-foot radius of the building. Businesses on the west side of Shattuck from a block south of Vine to Rose Street were evacuated. Customers on the east side of Shattuck were evacuated, but owners and employees were not. 

A single member of the bomb squad entered the bank about 2:45 p.m. and set up X-ray and photographic equipment to determine the contents remotely. Since it was inconclusive what the contents were, police brought the box outside, placed it in the bank parking lot and attempted to open it with a detonation cord. By design, the cord triggered projectiles that would essentially implode the box and scatter its contents, Lopes said. 

Yelling “fire in the hole,” a member of the bomb squad fired the remote device, resulting in several small pops. Lopes said the pops came from the detonation device misfiring. 

The device misfired several times before it caused the box to open and reveal its contents. Lopes said it was empty, as he had expected. 

Police are checking the handwritten note for fingerprints and reviewing the security tape, but Lopes said it will “take some time to process it.” As of Wednesday night there were no suspects. 

Police had estimated that it would take up to five or six hours to clear the streets. It only took a couple of hours, however, but several people were stranded as a result of their cars being parked inside the blocked-off area. 

Standing behind the police barrier on Shattuck Avenue, Erin Crow of Oakland lamented parking her in the block-off area. 

Crow’s watch read 3:50 p.m. and she was worried: “My kid’s in Alameda and I have to pick him up at 4 p.m.”  

Staff reporter Dan Greenman