Political action arm of the Berkeley Property Owners Association to receive the highest fine in modern Berkeley history

In what should be the final chapter of a long controversy, the Berkeley Fair Campaign Practices Commission (BFCPC) plans to vote on a draft stipulation between staff, the City Attorney's office and a campaign funded by some of the Bay Area’s largest landlords. The proposed fine, $18,900.84, is – by a significant margin – the highest penalty issued in the last 10 years, and possibly in Berkeley history.

If approved on Thursday, the fine would be imposed on agents of the Berkeley Rental Housing Coalition (BRHC), the Political Action Campaign arm of the Berkeley Property Owners Association (BPOA). In the November 2016 election, the BRHC supported two candidates – property owner Judy Hunt and property manager Nate Wollman. -more-

The U.S. Census Bureau recently reported new data showing median incomes rising sharply in the San Francisco area. While many in the Bay Area latched onto the promising economic outlook, I was immediately struck by the glaring headline that was missed.

Black households, already far below the average median income in the Bay Area, were locked out of this explosion of wealth.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median income for the San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward metro area jumped by 9 percent from 2015 to 2016, while the median income for black households inched up just 2 percent.

The annual median income for black households in the region stands at $46,571, less than half the $106,919 for whites. -more-

Gun shots again? How many more Americans have to die before our governing body will listen to the pain and cries of those who lost there loved family members? It is very painful to hear the cries of those community members who don’t have the power to pass the laws to put an end to the gun violence. -more-

One person was arrested and one is at large following a strong arm robbery Friday morning in Berkeley across the street from the University of California at Berkeley, university police said today. -more-

Police at the University of California at Berkeley are investigating a sexual assault that occurred over the weekend, police said Wednesday. -more-

Berkeley firefighters have posted a graphic video of their service in Santa Rosa on YouTube. You can see it below: -more-

Berkeley’s homeowners include those who have a secure backyard, those who have-not, and those who wonder how long before they lose what they have now: sunlight, a patch of nature to call their own, privacy, and some peace and quiet.

Those who have a secure backyard own a home in the R-1 zone, located in the northeast hills and foothills; a patch around San Pablo Park (the result of down zoning in 1963), another patch surrounding upper Sacramento Street, and the Claremont, both lower and upper.

Homeowners in the R-1 and other residential zones are allowed to build a small backyard cottage limited to 750 square feet or less, known as an ADU (accessory dwelling unit) that is regulated by an ordinance finalized by the City Council in March, and explained in a flow-chart with Q and A. Since then, an ADU task force has developed under the aegis of Councilmember Ben Bartlett. -more-

For years before Hurricane Maria’s direct hit devastated much of Puerto Rico’s infrastructure in a matter of hours, the officially-bilingual U.S. territory’s economy had been in freefall and was subject to strict austerity measures imposed by the U.S. (and its bankers) which had caused schools to close and a mass exodus of the island’s youth.

Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens but it has no representation in the Electoral College, so its people cannot vote in general presidential elections. It has one delegate in the House of Representatives who serves on and votes in committees but cannot vote on the House floor; that position is currently held by Jenniffer González-Colón, a Republican.

Puerto Rico pays taxes to the U.S. In 2011, Puerto it paid $3.3 billion in taxes to the U.S., more than some states, in the form of Social Security, payroll, import, export, and commodity taxes. Most people in Puerto Rico do not pay federal income taxes, but they do pay local income taxes, which are often higher than what federal income taxes would be. Although Puerto Ricans pay into the U.S. Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security systems, they cannot collect the same benefits as citizens in the 50 states, which shifts more of their health care costs onto the territory’s government. -more-

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District is extending a health advisory and Spare the Air Alert due to unhealthy air quality from the wildfires in the North Bay. -more-

Adoption fees waived through October 22

“A somber President Trump mourned the victims of the Las Vegas attack and called it “an act of pure evil” during brief remarks at the White House late Monday morning.

“Speaking directly from a prepared statement, the president reached for unity and struck a religious tone that is unusual for him, though more common when he reads prepared remarks.” (from an article in The Atlantic).

You can always tell when the twerpish Steven Miller has written one of Trump’s occasional teleprompter speeches, because Miller’s had enough of a (rejected) religious upbringing to manipulate the lingo. His boss didn’t even have that.

Donald Trump’s only exposture to something resembling moral thought was the Norman Vincent Peale “Power of Positive Thinking” feel-good pseudo religion. In the current administration, you could say that Miller plays The Devil to Trump’s Faust, except that the incumbent president lacks Faust’s initial innocence.

In a week where Evil has reared its ugly head all over the planet, Donald Trump has earned the Pure Evil of the Week award for his tweets about Puerto Rico. -more-

the wind can change direction
and a bullet-ridden bar
snows across a quiet vineyard
under an orange sky
you brush a wedding dress
from your hair
and sweep polished garden tools
from your windshield
just trying to leave paradise
the valley's treasure boils upward
then settles in drifts along the fences
the wind can change direction
the body knows before the mind
that something unexpected is in store
bring your fiddle with you
and take the road you know
-more-

The Free Speech Movement (FSM) at UC Berkeley in fall 1964 involved upwards of 20,000 students before it was over, and more than 800 of the Berkeley faculty voted in support of its demands at its Academic Senate meeting on Dec. 8, 1964. The FSM coalition spanned the political spectrum at the time from the Young Republicans to the Young Socialists, to communists, to students variously affiliated with civil rights, religious, and environmental groups. As a result the Regents of the University of California revised their regulations that had previously banned communists and “controversial speakers” from visiting the campus, and prevented students from holding rallies, distributing literature, and posting fliers. -more-

Since Congress failed to take Obamacare away from 20 million people, the current President issued an executive order allowing young, healthy people to opt out and buy cheaper health insurance. This benefits them with cheaper payments, but as they might learn the hard way, you get what you pay for. Young and healthy doesn't protect one from something unexpected, like a car crash, injury from a hurricane's wind, or the stray bullet from an unregulated shooter's gun. -more-

About that second amendment that allows people the right to bear arms, a much more sensible idea would be to allow the political right to arm bears. Although bears do not have an exemplary reputation, I have never come across a bear that has engaged in las Vegas style mass murder. And to the best of my knowledge, no bear has ever assaulted any President of the United States. \What about the second amendment? The only issue I believe where there is unanimous agreement is that the second amendment comes after the first. -more-

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This is a Very Good Deal. Go for it! -more-

Ballingarry, Republic of Ireland—

This tiny village in the heart of County Limerick, with its narrow streets and multiple churches, seems untouched by time and untroubled by the economic and political cross currents tearing away at the European Union (EU). But Ireland can be a deceptive place, and these days nowhere is immune from what happens in Barcelona, Paris and Berlin.

Ballingarry—the place my grandfather emigrated from 126 years ago—was a textile center before the 1845 potato famine starved to death or scattered its residents. Today it houses five pubs, “One for every 100 people” notes my third cousin Caroline, who, along with her husband John, live next to an old Protestant church that has been taken over by a high tech company.

When the American and European economies crashed in 2008, Ireland was especially victimized. Strong-armed into a “bailout” to save its banks and speculators, the Republic is only beginning to emerge from almost a decade of tax hikes, layoffs, and austerity policies that impoverished a significant section of its population. The crisis also re-ignited the island’s major export: people, particularly its young. Between 2008 and 2016, an average of 30,000 people, age 15 to 24, left each year.

The Irish economy is growing again, but the country is still burdened by a massive debt, whose repayment drains capital from much needed investments in housing, education and infrastructure. But “debt” can be a deceptive word. It is not the result of a spending spree, but the fallout from of a huge real estate bubble pumped up by German, Dutch and French banks in cahoots with local speculators and politicians, who turned the Irish economy into an enormous casino. From 1999 to 2007, Irish real estate prices jumped 500 percent. -more-

American cultural history offers many images of walking through difficult times: "Going down the road feeling bad," "You got to walk that lonesome valley," and Psalm 23, "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil." At the moment, Donald Trump is marching us "through the valley of the shadow." -more-

In June 2017, President Donald Trump laid out his new Cuba policy in a speech in Miami by signing an executive order rolling back parts of former president Obama’s historic diplomatic breakthrough between the two former Cold War foes. Trump called it a “terrible and misguided deal.” But Trump did leave in place in place many of Obama’s changes, including the reopened U.S. embassy in Havana. -more-

The price of sanity for someone like me, who suffers from a major psychiatric disorder, is continuous vigilance against recurrence of symptoms. In some instances, symptoms sneak past the barrier. The barrier consists of medication, therapy, a support system, and looking inward in order to identify and negate symptomatic thoughts. -more-

Under the auspices of Cal Performances, the renowned Chicago Symphony Orchestra is in residency this week at UC Berkeley. On Friday evening, October 13, in the first of three concerts led by their Music Director Riccardo Muti, Chicago Symphony Orchestra presented a program comprised of Gioachino Rossini’s William Tell Overture, the West Coast premiere of All These Lighted Things by CSO Mead Composer-in-Residence Elizabeth Oganek, and Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4 in E flat minor “Romantic.” Earlier in the week various events took place (a master class, a colloquium, etc.) in association with UCB’s Music Department. -more-