While planning an East Coast poetry reading tour, I learned that Alice Paul was in the Greenleaf Extension Home in New Jersey. I contacted the facility and requested a visit, which was granted. We decided on ten o’clock on a weekday.

The day I arrived, I was told they were expecting me and that she was ready. She was sitting up behind a small table. I introduced myself and sat facing her. We exchanged pleasantries, and then I asked how things were going. “I don’t understand why my letters get no response!” she was distressed by the lack of response to the letters she had been writing to Congress about the Equal Rights Amendment. We talked about how women needed to be elected to Congress. There were a few men who were supportive, but in 1977. there were no groups of women legislators to turn to for support. I said I would talk to the manager of Greenleaf and see if there were a problem with the mail.

A nurse came in asking who I was. An interview had been arranged, and the writer had arrived with a photographer, expecting to see Alice. What was I doing there? I explained that I was from California and had asked to visit her while on a reading tour. I also was willing to leave, which reassured everybody, and I told Alice I would ask about the confusion regarding the mail and get back to her about what I learned. -more-

I write to ask that you vote to separate the park improvements from the proposed development at 600 Addison and that you urge the city to reject the development.

This seems to be some sort of replay of the terribly inappropriate proposal for the property directly adjacent to Aquatic Park on the east that was presented to the city in 2017. It poses a similar threat to the health of Aquatic Park as highly-valued bird habitat and a place of respite for Berkeley residents, and in the longer term a resilience zone for the city against sea rise. This project would require the destruction of many mature trees, and the two huge buildings would almost totally fill the existing built site and its parking lot as well as the adjacent property to the south, now benignly storing soil and wood chips.

In the past few years several new five-story apartment buildings have been built along University Avenue just a block from the park, adding several hundred new residents. This alone should be cause to protect and enhance the park, rather than allowing a huge increase in the built density of the adjacent site to the east. More than 80 mature carbon-absorbing trees would be destroyed including 10 Coast redwoods in good condition and a Coastal Live Oak, since the development covers virtually all available space. Obviously, such a large, dense development would totally change the character of the park that runs alongside it, now bordered by the lake and a tranquil, wooded space enjoyed by families, hikers, rowers, and birders. The Park saves a bit of Berkeley’s natural setting and provides an important bird habitat. It also, importantly, provides resiliency in the face of climate change and sea rise, which we need in the open areas close to the Bay such as that targeted by the proposed development.

If the Parks Commission is not already actively working with the Zoning Board to establish a formal resiliency zone in the flatlands of Berkeley nearest to the Bay shoreline, surely that should be done as soon as possible, to discourage future inappropriate building projects such as this from wasting city commissioners’ time.

In 2017, I recorded numbers of birds seen in the park over the summer. Above is a photo by Bill Woodcock taken then of some of them. -more-

Preliminary data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated the number of fatal drug overdoses hit a record high last year, reversing the progress made in 2018. In 2016, for example, more than 100 people were dying every day because of an opioid-related overdose, and over 11 million people misused prescription opioids, per Drug Rehab Services. The data released by the CDC show that within 50 states and the District of Columbia, overdose deaths are occurring in everyone at different degrees of severity. The number of Americans who died from a drug-related overdose surged to over 70,000 in 2017. However, by 2018 the number declined by 4.6%, which was the first decrease in almost 30 years. -more-

Seventy-five years ago, the U.S. dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima causing shock waves, radiation and heat rays resulting in the agonizing death of some 140,000 people, Three days later, the U.S. dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, killing another 74,000 people. Multiple generation birth defects followed. Secret records have shown how the U.S. gov’t and Hollywood secretly colluded to produce a sanitized version to justify the atomic bombings. -more-

International comparisons of social and political services provided to a nation’s citizens is certainly not flattering to the United States. The US is the only industrial country without a medical leave policy. In many countries where employees want to take care of a seriously sick family member they are paid for some of the time taken off from work. In the United States federal employees are allowed up to 12 weeks of time off. However, the caretakers, who are mainly women, are unpaid. -more-

A few concessions ought to be given those afflicted with life-changing, mind altering diseases. Many of us don't have anything gratifying to anticipate--and it would be nice if we could get a few perks in our lives. Maybe this could take the form of a part time job, one that is within our ability to perform, without it being humiliating and bottom of the barrel. Maybe this could take the form of an annual extra three hundred dollars in our measly SSI checks. Or maybe this could take the form of a trip to a museum--this field trip was once common for mentally ill people in groups but has evaporated along with the other good things we used to get. -more-

Russia claims to have a coronavirus vaccine — Sputnik-V. The director of the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology in Moscow, where the vaccine is being developed, has yet to publish any results from large-scale human trials or published data from earlier trials, which typically involve three phases to check a drug’s safety, efficacy, and dosage. -more-

On August 8th, Donald Trump's 2020 presidential campaign reached a critical juncture in the struggle to stabilize the U.S. economy. Faced with an epic financial crisis, Trump had a leadership opportunity, a chance to bring Republicans and Democrats together to develop a realistic recovery plan. Instead Trump opted for a political stunt, signing four faux "executive orders." It was a "tipping point." In his 2000 book, "The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference," Malcolm Gladwell defines a "tipping point" as a moment when there's a critical change of social perspective because a key determinant has reached critical mass. For a long time, Trump's political strength has been his perceived handling of the economy. Now he's lost that. -more-

Knockin' on Heaven's Doors

I find myself missing the row of multicolored doors that used to stand alongside the Epworth United Methodist Church on Hopkins Street. A celebration of the LGBTQ movement, the artwork was accompanied by a message that read: "God's Doors Are Open to All."

The display has been gone for several months now. I remember crossing the street one day and discovering that the doors, in fact, could not be opened—none of them were equipped with doorknobs.

I guess, that's the way the Bible (and St. Peter) would have it. If you want to be admitted to Heaven, you have to knock first. -more-

Worth Noting:

A very quiet week ahead with City Council on recess and most Boards and Commissions either on recess too or blocked from meeting during the pandemic. Two City meetings are scheduled for Thursday August 20 and Cheryl Davila has open office hours on Saturday August 22 from 11 am – 1 pm.



Thursday, August 20, 2020

Design Review Committee, 7 – 10 pm

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/designreview/

Videoconference: https://zoom.us.j.99173152669

Teleconference: 669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 991 7315 2669

2352 Shattuck – Final Design Review – demolish 2 existing commercial buildings; split lot into two and construct two 8-story mixed-use buildings with 206 units (including 15 Very Low Income units) 11,460 sq ft open space commercial space, 19,530 sq ft usable open space, 89 parking spaces. -more-