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Tony Kushner's epic Pulitzer and Tony Award winner “Angels in America” is the most important American stage work of the past 25 years. -more-

Wild animals belong in nature -more-

Tuesday, Sept. 12

If all goes as planned, the Berkeley Marina restaurants and hotel will be paying higher wages to their employees by Oct. 20. The Berkeley City Council is poised to expand its Living Wage Ordinance at tonight’s meeting, requiring established Marina businesses to pay their employees a minimum of $9.75 -more-

A quick read-through of tonight’s City Council agenda is akin to looking at a Jackson Pollock painting. It’s as if the city’s issues were poured through a fan and splattered across 2,000 pages of paper – well, 631 to be exact. Undergrounding utilities contrasts sharply with the obligatory monthly renewal of needle exchange programs. Expanding the Living Wage Ordinance compliments a “buy Berkeley” campaign, billboard removal within the city limits, meets Berkeley police undergoing American Disabilities Act trainings. As with a Pollock painting, the underlying balance comes from the contrast, the incongruity, the arbitrary limit of the canvas itself, or in this case, the limited time constraints of the council meeting and the finite patience of the council members. -more-

The Associated Press -more-

Daily Planet Staff -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — After nearly four weeks of effort by two fire departments, an underground hazardous waste landfill fire still smolders at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — A plan to transform the Transbay Terminal into a hub for public transportation is expected to be approved this week despite difficulty funding the $904 million project. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court Monday reversed a precedent in how drug convicts are sentenced, potentially ushering in a wave of new appeals. -more-

Bay area Asian Americans today reacted with a mixture of anger and relief to news that jailed Chinese-American scientist Wen Ho Lee might be freed, despite late word that a plea agreement had been postponed. -more-

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Police Department needs more aggressive independent review and a permanent special prosecutor to investigate misconduct, according to a police union-commissioned report Monday. -more-

SACRAMENTO — California is promising to spend at least $1.2 billion a year to create the nation’s biggest state scholarship program, covering college tuition for all low- and middle-income students with at least a C average. -more-

Berkeley homicide detectives responded to a call Friday from the daughter of an 84-year-old man found dead in his home after he apparently bled to death from a puncture wound to the leg. -more-

It takes a unique kind of passion to surround yourself every work day with serpents, tarantulas, lizards, hissing cockroaches as big as your thumb – and rats. Not to mention breeding some of the critters at your own home. -more-

Monday, Sept. 11

Carnivore bites back -more-

Last year, Cal’s defense was the most dominating in the Pac-10, but the offense, guided for much of the year by true freshman Kyle Boller, never got on track and held the team back from winning. This year appears to be different. -more-

“Marines in Berkeley” sounds as unlikely as “tofu in Wichita.” But both exist. Or nearly – as in the case of the Marines. -more-

No. 15 Washington 34, No. 4 Miami 29 -more-

SAN MATEO — When a suspected natural gas leak forced 1,000 office workers out onto the streets here last month, it became big news in two local upstart papers. -more-

Seniors and other Berkeley residents dependent on the city’s community health clinics for pre-emptive flu vaccines may be left unprotected this autumn due to a production shortfall. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — Residents east of an industrial plant in the Pittsburg area were asked to stay in their homes with the windows and doors closed for more than two hours Saturday morning, because of a yellow cloud sent into the air after a chemical reaction. No one was injured. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — The Marin Independent Journal, a 40,000-circulation newspaper based north of San Francisco, could be bought by ANG Newspapers owner William Dean Singleton, according to a published report Saturday. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — A regional panel gave San Francisco Bay area airports approval to extend runways into the bay, paving the way for the biggest encroachment on the bay in 40 years. -more-

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SAUSALITO — The Sausalito Police Department is looking for eyewitnesses who can describe the people who sold counterfeit tickets to the Sausalito Arts Festival over Labor Day Weekend. -more-

SAN JOSE — With stock options, time shares and the high cost of living in Silicon Valley, divorces are no longer only about who gets the kids and the house. Now couples, attorneys and judges must figure out how to split stock options and how a single parent can afford to live in the area to be able to see the children. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — Some trial lawyers are tossing out posterboards and overhead projectors in favor of computer presentations and other technology to help illustrate their arguments for jurors. -more-

SACRAMENTO — California’s new Indian gambling compact is so vague and shrouded by secrecy that the state doesn’t know how many slot machines are on reservations or how much money each tribe has given the state. -more-

LOS ANGELES — A compromise to rebuild Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center with fewer hospital beds is raising concern that more uninsured residents will go without medical care. -more-

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Saturday, Sept. 9

ADA gray areas need clarity -more-

Enough plastic lids to top 1,000 six-packs. Enough cigarette butts – and, mind you, just the butts – to stretch from home plate to the right field wall and back home again at Pac Bell Park. Enough plastic grocery bags to supply a Dom DeLuise shopping run. -more-

Can one trust a man when he pledges to a woman his promise of long-term fidelity? -more-

Big plays, a solid running game, an elusive quarterback, and a swarming Yellow’Jacket defense are all things Berkeley High football fans can look forward to this upcoming season. If the ‘Jackets can improve their special teams play and limit their penalties, Berkeley High football fans can look forward to a trip to the playoffs. -more-

In a tiny room in the far corner of the C-building at Berkeley High School, a staff of three pedagogues are diligently building a high school within a high school. This school, however, isn’t built from bricks and wood, it’s built in cyberspace. -more-

“I came to Casablanca for the waters,” Bogart mumbled as Rick Blaine. When Claude Raines told him there was no water, that they were in the desert, the owner of Café Americain didn’t miss a beat. “I was misinformed.” -more-

Wood-burning stove business representatives, pediatricians and public health officials were among those speaking out at a public hearing on restricting the use of wood-burning fireplaces held Thursday night by the city’s Community Environmental Advisory Commission. -more-

Rent Board member Stephanie Bernay stood with a crowd outside H’s Lordships Restaurant at the Marina and toasted the Berkeley Property Owner’s Association – celebrating inside – with a plate of Ramen noodles. The mock toast was for BPOA’s hiring a high-priced attorney to sue the rent board. -more-

Friday, Sept. 8

Celebrate pier with renaming -more-

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After the undefeated St. Mary’s women’s volleyball team posted their third win of the young regular season by coasting to a 15-7, 15-3, 15-3 victory over the Contra Costa Christian Cougars, first year St. Mary’s head volleyball coach Herman Shum commented that, “something we really work on is to take the opponent out of the game.” One could argue that Shum’s statement contained just a tinge of truth in it, for the Cougars played as though they were never in the game to begin with. -more-

Habitot, an indoor romper room for toddlers, was filled to capacity with smiling and suited adults. Generally ignored by the infant inhabitants, Alameda County Supervisors Wilma Chan and Keith Carson stood before a model firetruck, handing out checks to Berkeley health care providers. Eleven organizations received $1.2 million in funds collected from Proposition 10, a voter-approved tobacco tax to provide a comprehensive system of early childhood development services for young children. -more-

In the almanac of cinema distribution, September begins the in-between season. When the summer blockbusters have cooled off and the holiday fare is yet to come a-caroling, a window of opportunity opens up for smaller, quieter films to be seen and local festival programmers can get a foothold on the moviegoing public. -more-

The Cal men’s golf team opened the 2000-01 season with a seventh-place finish at the Topy Cup at the Tanagura Country Club in Japan. -more-

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l Alta Bates Foundation/ Infant Follow-Up Clinic- $64,877 -more-

St. Mary’s won’t play traditional rivals El Cerrito or DeAnza in football league play this year. Berkeley High won’t play Piedmont or Salesian at all. These historied matchups won’t be happening because of the formation of a new league in the East Bay. -more-

Paved over, built on, and even sold for fertilizer and tennis court bedding, the West Berkeley shellmound is now completely covered by the cityscape. -more-

Wednesday, Sept. 6 -more-

LOS ANGELES – On the morning of Aug. 27, when Nina Sloan saw Narinder Virk on her regular weekly visit to the Ventura County Jail, Virk asked, teary-eyed, “Can nothing be done? Can no one come up with the money and get me out of here?” -more-

Timothy Erenta, former playwright-in-residence at Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science, will present his solo performance piece "Happy Endings are Overrated" as part of the ninth annual San Francisco Fringe Festival that opens Thursday. -more-

By Jared Green -more-

Dave Williamson couldn’t repeat the two words enough – “manufacturers’ responsibility.” -more-

1. UCLA Bruins -more-

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By Tukka Hess -more-

Amanda Jones was the force behind the downtown Berkeley BART station’s bike station, which opened last year. -more-

Daily Planet Wire Services -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — In one of the most important California civil rights cases in years, a state Supreme Court majority indicated Wednesday that the voter-approved ban on affirmative action abolished race- and gender-based preferences in government contracts. -more-

Councilmember Betty Olds, 79, has served the community for more than two decades. -more-

Wednesday, Sept. 6

Father: Jeffrey is a caring human being -more-

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Challenger Norine Smith, 58, is running for the District 6 seat as an independent. -more-

Attorney General Bill Lockyer and State Senator Jackie Speier detailed plans Tuesday for an addition to the statewide DNA databank that would aid in the identification of missing children and adults. -more-

Michael Minasian says that he and King, his 80 pound German Shepherd service dog, went into the Jupiter Cafe at 2181 Shattuck Ave. Sunday afternoon for a Caesar salad. -more-

The Associated Press -more-

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SACRAMENTO — As kids played kickball in the background, Rosamunda Guillen and Jocelyn Graves described Wednesday how the school voucher initiative on the November ballot would harm their Hispanic and black communities. -more-

At its first meeting since school was back in session, the school board will again try to approve a policy on the use and installation of cameras at Berkeley High School. -more-