construction
of the resident and business
complex on 4th and Addison
10/20/08
Sally and Richard were guests
at the "Gala Opening Celebration" of our Hotel
Durant. The opening featured a swing band, wine bar, dessert
munchies, grilled specialites, and (argh!) a live "Greatful
Dead" jam band. (The hotel has been redecorated by Sally's
friend, Steven Miller.) Richard commented that there were hundreds
present and that one of the men's room had a red-painted urinal
with the Stanford logo at its bottom. The Durant is part of the
local chain, joie de vivre
hotels.
Brennan's
opened in its new location last week--in the converted old railroad
-passenger-station behind its former location--with a fancier
interior but the same old fashioned food, hofbrau and bar.
a Potter Creek elder emails
"Green Policies in California Generated
Jobs, Study Finds"
is a story by Felicity Barringer in the New York Times.
"California's energy-efficiency policies created nearly 1.5
million jobs from 1977 to 2007, while eliminating fewer than 25,000,
according to a study to be released Monday.
The study, conducted by David
Roland-Holst, an economist at the Center for Energy, Resources
and Economic Sustainability at the University of California, Berkeley,
found that while the state's policies lowered employee compensation
in the electric power industry by an estimated $1.6 billion over
that period, it improved compensation in the state over all by
$44.6 billion.
Built into that figure were
increases of $1.2 billion in the light industrial sector, $11.2
billion in wholesale and retail trade, $7.3 billion in the financial
and insurance sectors and $17.8 billion in the service sector."
Saturday, in a conversation
with our Dave Kruse, Dave mentioned that his very-for-real, Green-redo
of the Potter Creek Kruse facility is going apace. "The solar
panels are up" Dave said and he estimated the redo is 80%
complete.
"Few results seen from Mideast teen peace
camps" reports Matthew
Kalman, Chronicle Foreign Service.
"Each year, hundreds
of Israeli and Palestinian teenagers defy the violence and hatred
that divides them by forging personal ties that they hope will
lay the groundwork for future peace.
John Wallach, the founder
of Seeds of Peace, a nonprofit group based in New York that has
invited more than 4,000 young people from conflict areas to meet
one another, said before his death in 2002 that such people-to-people
programs have created "an enduring commitment to building
a future of peaceful coexistence."
A virtual peace industry
has flourished around these workshops, creating a raft of Palestinian
and Israeli nongovernmental organizations. Between 1993 and 2000,
Western governments and foundations spent between $20 million
and $25 million on the dialogue groups, according to a 2002 report
by the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information.
But the programs have failed
to produce a single prominent peace activist on either side, most
observers agree. And now the first wide-scale survey of Palestinians
involved in these peace programs suggests that the enterprise
has been a waste of time and money. The unpublished report, a
copy of which was obtained by The Chronicle, was commissioned
by an unidentified donor nation from Pal Vision, an independent
Palestinian youth organization and research center in East Jerusalem
that is involved in dialogue workshops."
I got a hint something was
amiss while viewing our Viva's video-appreciation of Barbara Lubin's
Berkeley pro Palestine-youth group. On camera, in the "west
Bank," and in front of Palestinian teenagers, Lubin exclaimed
"'bleep' Israel!"
Viva's video is, none-the-less,
very worth watching.
More about the "Global
financial crisis" from BBC NEWS is here.
10/21/08
Kubik forwards an email from
BPD Ofc Buckheit
Hi Bob,
I know you have been concerned
with the apparent prostitution in your area, and I thank you for
your vigilance in reporting the incidents to the police. As well
as having the beat officers take appropriate action, I wanted
to let you know that our Drug Task Force conducted a special enforcement
operation in the San Pablo corridor this weekend and made several
prostitution related arrests (six at last count). Hopefully,
this will deter the prostitution activity in the area. BPD
will continue to focus on the area, but please continue to report
suspicious activity if you see it.
Ofc. Karen Buckheit #135
Area #4 Coordinator,
981-5774
kbuckheit@ci.berkeley.ca.us
Jarad emails
Mark and David's fence was
tagged along 9th Street side of their property (they are on the
SE corner of Channing Way and 9th Street).
This vandalism is worse than the last time that cost them in excess
of $1,000 to repair and we need to stop this criminal activity
that is clearly the WSB (Norteno) gang.
In addition, the gang members broke into the locked yard and littered
the place with Tecate beer cans. If anyone saw anything that can
lead to the arrest and prosecution of those responsible please
call our area coordinator immediately. We need to pull together
to put a stop to this or we will all end up victims eventually.
Since the city of Berkeley has not effectively addressed our
gang graffiti problem I have taken the proactive step on behalf
of the city of Berkeley to contact the city of San Jose to discuss
their reknowned municipal anti-graffiti code commonly known as
"You Tag, You Lose."
The program fines offenders, takes away driving priviledges, and
assigns offenders and families of offenders to community service
where they are forced to clean up graffiti. I will have a copy
of the municipal code from San Jose in the next 24 hours and will
make it available to everyone as a model of what has helped San
Jose, California reduce graffiti in their city by 95%.
I will also be speaking with SJPD officers that are actively involved
in the program. This is such an important and expensive issue
for residents and the city of Berkeley itself, that I am
offering to do the leg work required to arrange / facilitate an
in person meeting with San Jose City Officials and the
BPD Chief of Police, City Attorney, City Manager, City Parks and
Recreation Department, and the Berkeley City Council so they can
learn how the program in San Jose works and how we can emulate
San Jose's success. If the city indicates interest across departments
in such a meeting I will start work this week to set it a meeting
rather than wait for the city to do it since we need to act sooner
rather than later.
Jarad
Mark emails
thanks Jarad,
I spoke with Officer Buckheit just now and she is working on having
someone come out tonight and make a police report for us, at least.
I called the BPD on two occasions
last night; one for people being on the corner and two to
have someone come out to make a report for us. No one ever
came for the report so Officer Buckheit is coordinating for us.
This is "street terrorizing" at its worse. In
this economy we can ill-afford to pay monies for senseless crimes
like these.
If anyone heard or saw anything please let us know.
Mark Johnson
"'It Came From Berkeley': Wackiness in
context" is a book
review by Justin Berton at sfgate.com.
"If Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly ever reads local journalist
and Chronicle contributor Dave Weinstein's book, 'It Came From
Berkeley: How Berkeley Changed the World,' O'Reilly might be amused
to learn that the lefty college town originally was founded on
religion, as a moral retreat from that Sodom and Gomorrah across
the bay, San Francisco.
'Berkeley was always meant to be a place apart,' Weinstein said.
'A really 'oral, quiet place, where intellectuals could meditate,
surrounded by nature."
The description still fits, even if downtown is more crowded by
men who wear pink tutus while riding unicycles.
But for anyone who has wondered how and why Berkeley became an
adjective meaning zany-liberal-smarty-pants, Weinstein tracks
down the historical and cultural dominoes that led to milestones
such as the Free Speech Movement, bans on plastic foam cups, traffic
'calming' roundabouts and, of course, tree-sitting."
After growing up in socialist
Milwaukee until eighteen, I came to Berkeley in my early twenties.
For after graduating from the University of Wisconsin, I enrolled
in graduate school at Cal. What I found was a fairly ordinary,
and by Wisconsin standards, even conservative, college town.
My religious rights as a
Christian Scientist were violated by the compulsory physical required
as part of Cal's enrollment. I was required to sign a loyalty
oath a part of enrollment at Cal--unheard of in Wisconsin. And
the real bummer, Evelyn, the woman I lived with in Madison and
came with to Berkeley, found that the job she had been offered
at the University was no longer available when she showed up in
person. Evelyn is African-American. That would be, . . . er, .
. . Racist?
Forgot,. . . here "packaged
goods" could not be sold within a mile of campus, at Madison,
beer was served in the student union.
"Sculpture depicts Berkeley's biggest protests" is a report by Carolyn Jones, Chronicle
Staff Writer.
"Berkeley is immortalizing
its greatest protests - from People's Park to disability rights
to the tree-sitters' standoff at Memorial Stadium - in a towering
sculpture of fist-waving demonstrators on a pedestrian and bicycle
bridge over busy Interstate 80."
It's an angry and in your-face-work,
and since "what goes around comes around," look for
some "good ole boys" to 'torch it,' . . . sooner than
later.
Our since-the-Sixties tradition
of love and peace has deteriorated into anger and confrontation?
10/22/08
"How does solar power work? Chemist Paul
Alivisatos explains how to generate electricity from sunlight" at sciam.com.
"The sun-that power plant in the sky-bathes Earth in ample
energy to fulfill all the world's power needs many times over.
It doesn't give off carbon dioxide emissions. It won't run out.
And it's free.
So how on Earth can people
turn this bounty of sunbeams into useful electricity?"
Tina Carpio emails
My husband Lou Carpio is
a lineman for PG&E and was working [in Potter Creek] to replace
power recently--you gave him your card with your website and said
you had taking some pictures of him working. I looked around your
website but couldn't find them, but found lots of other cool stuff!
Can you please . . . let us know where we might find the photos
specifically? Thanks!
Tina
Check out 5/16/08
BPD PIO, Ofc Andrew Frankel
emails: Ron, for the good people of West Berkeley
Six Arrested in Prostitution
"B" Sting
Berkeley, California (Monday, October 20, 2008) We
call it a "B" Sting when members of our Special Enforcement
Unit go undercover posing as customers or "Johns" to
curb prostitution (recognized in the California Penal Code as
violations of PC 647A/B), along the San Pablo Avenue corridor.
In response to recent concerns voiced by members of the community
about such activity, the Special Enforcement Unit conducted a
sting on the evening of October 16th. The operation resulted
in 6 arrests over the course of three hours.
Although the primary mission of the Special Enforcement Unit is
to stem the flow of narcotics in our city, we recognize the impact
prostitution has on the quality of life of our residents.
We periodically conduct these operations to discourage these illegal
activities.
If you see what you believe to be prostitution or drug trafficking
in your neighborhood please call the Berkeley Police Dispatch
at (510) 981-5900. Calls made to (510) 843-2677 (THE-COPS
line) will bring on duty Drug Task Force officers your way.
We look forward to continued collaborations with our community.
"2 UC Berkeley students
arrested in robbery" reports the AP.
"Two University of California,
Berkeley, students, including a football player, have been identified
as suspects in an armed robbery at a dorm.
Campus officials said Tuesday
that 21-year-olds Gary Doxy and R.J. Garrett were taken into custody
Monday on suspicion of robbery and attempted robbery.
They were arrested in connection
with a Sept. 30 incident in which two students were robbed in
the early morning hours.
UC police say the weapon involved was a BB gun.
Garrett, a sophomore, has
been suspended from the football team. Doxy, a junior, was dismissed
from the team this summer for breaking team rules."
Bob emails that Carol's son-the-chef
is mentioned on eatingla.blogspot.com with
Morning Glory brittle: here's to a sweet election.
The best thing about bake sales, besides donating to a cause you
believe in, is getting to taste homey handmade baked goods --
some of which are now available commercially. At last week's fundraiser,
we tasted fudge from Ellelle, available at Little Flower Candy.
Then last night we tried brittle with distinctive flavorings from
Morning Glory Confections. Morning Glory brittle is an adult-oriented
crunchy confection flavored with cocoa nibs, coffee, pecan, chai
and curry, made by former private chef Max Lesser, whose wife
Susan blogs at Silver Lake Blvd. and the more baby-focused Reservation
for Three.
Our Mayor-the brewer is mentioned
in the California State San Marcos student paper site in
"Beer of the Week
Bison Chocolate Stout
by Jonathan E. Thompson
Bison
Brewing brews and bottles the six award winning USDA approved
organic Chocolate Stout in Chino, California. Bill Owens founded
the brewery in 1989 with current Berkeley, California Mayor Tom
Bates. Since 2002, the brewery has only produced full organic
beer.
BevMo retails six 12 fluid ounce bottles of Bison Chocolate Stout
for $8.99. The dark brown glass bottle features a buffalo cast
in a shadow standing on a grassy field. White, tan, brown, and
black colors comprise the label. A black and white bottle cap
featuring the company's logo seals a beer with a higher than average
6.1% alcohol by volume."
200Kon crap?
"'Berkeley Big People'
invites mockery" writes Kenneth Baker, Chronicle Art Critic.
Emeryville [italics mine] artist Scott Donahue's sculpture
'Berkeley Big People,' dedicated over the weekend, scores a new
black eye on the already battered face of public art in the Bay
Area.
Unlike that other nearly
irremediable form of public art - architecture - most sculpture
in public places cannot justify itself by function. Donahue's
piece can, to the extent that it approximately marks the city
limits and purports to celebrate its history of activism.
But can bad art celebrate
good causes? Not properly.
Donahue's dominant figures,
clustered around a likeness of the UC Berkeley campanile, represent
protesters agitating for various causes. A seated figure, riffing
on Auguste Rodin's 'The Thinker,' gestures toward the city's intellectual
firepower, and a violinist stands for its hospitality to the arts.
A series of small vignettes
around the sculpture's elevated base symbolize protests, ranging
from the Free Speech Movement to the tree-sitters who recently
lost their bid to save a stand of old oaks on the designated site
of a new university sports complex.
Perhaps from a vehicle passing below on Interstate 80, the sculpture
high on the east end of a long pedestrian bridge communicates
a flash of appreciation for Berkeley's long contrarian streak.
But viewed on foot, up close, it reads as caricature, and thus,
as mockery. It turns any thought of activist politics into
dismissive thoughts of political correctness.
Whether Donahue intended
'Berkeley Big People' to work this way, I cannot tell. But that
is the only sense in which it does work.
As sculpture, 'Berkeley
Big People' fails every test.
Crucially, it ignores the fact that the best art of the past
50 years at monumental scale has systematically discredited the
statuary conception of sculpture.
Consider two examples of
local public art that do make that recognition. Claes Oldenburg
and Coosje van Bruggen's "Cupid's Span" (2002) on the
Embarcadero in San Francisco looks like representational sculpture.
But its immensity, its visual echoes of the Bay Bridge and other
associations - something about having one's heart pinned here,
a reminiscence of Old World colonizers' masted ships - take it
far from the literal impression it makes at first.
I do not think 'Cupid's Span'
wears as well as some of the team's projects in other cities,
such as 'Clothespin' in Philadelphia, but it does have built into
it the possibility of visual surprise on future encounters."
passing on the freeway it
looks like sticks
closeup, and in Our Town of such great diversity, there ain't
much
"Berkeley, California: Merchandizing 'Obamamania'
" is found on Swiss
World Radio.
"Stop four of our US
campaign road trip takes us across the bay from San Francisco,
to the Ashby market. It's on the border between preominantly black
Oakland, California and the liberal bastion of Berkeley. Reporter
Andrew Stelzer says you can measure excitement in the African-American
community by the merchandizing of Obamamania."
"Season on Brink Bruins on Horizon" is story originally published on CalSportsDigest.com
"The Arizona loss still stings, but the
California Golden Bears must put it behind them. UCLA travels
to Berkeley this weekend for a key Pac-10 conference matchup.
Cal sits a half game behind first place in the Pac-10 standings
but does not control its own destiny. With four of the final six
games at home, the Bears can still contend for a top bowl slot
starting with a win over the Bruins
California's season has been
up and down thus far through the first half of 2008. The win over
Michigan State to start the season looked huge until the Spartans
were plastered 45-7 by Ohio State this past weekend. They subsequently
fell out of the top 25. The opening road loss at Maryland looked
very bad on September 13; however, the Terps are now 5-2 and in
contention for the ACC Atlantic division title. Nonetheless, last
Saturday night's showing in Tucson was arguably Cal's worst performance
of the year.
The Bears built a solid 10-point
halftime lead only to be outscored 28-3 in the third quarter to
lose 42-27. The loss not only knocked Cal out of the top 25, but
also it came against a Pac-10 foe, a foe the Bears should have
beaten.'
"New Measure Would Restrict Minors' Access
to Abortions" reports
the Daily Cal.
For the third time since 2005, California voters will be given
the opportunity to limit a minor's access to abortion until an
adult family member is notified.
Two previous measures, Propositions
73 and 85, were defeated in 2005 and 2006, respectively. This
year, Proposition 4 includes an added clause that was designed
to protect teens from parental abuse."
"New National Center for Parents with Disabilities
and their Families:Research and resources concerning the 9 million
U.S. parents with disabilities"
is a story about "us" at marketwatch.com.
A new National Center for
Parents with Disabilities and their Families has been established
in Berkeley, California under the auspices of Through the Looking
Glass, a non-profit organization founded in 1982. The Center will
oversee several national research studies concerning parents with
disabilities and their families, as well as provide consultations,
trainings and publications to parents, family members and professionals.
The research and resources
of the Center will address the nearly 9 million U.S. parents with
disabilities -- 15% of all American families. Parents with disabilities
include mothers and fathers in all disability categories -- such
as parents with physical disabilities, deaf parents, blind parents,
parents with psychiatric or cognitive disabilities. The Center
is funded by a $500,000-per-year federal grant for three years
from the Washington, DC-based National Institute on Disability
and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), U.S. Department of Education."
the email from Jarad, Mark,
and Ryan continue with some comments Laura of the Russell Oregon
Street group
Well I thought the problem
would at least be looked at but after 3 calls to BPD and a talk
with officer Buckheit, no one has even called to check in.
It is very disappointing and makes you want ot take matters into
your own hands. Time after time the police tell you to call
them but then when something like this happens, and you get no
attention, it really reinforces that we have a true problem.
Officer Buckheit, you said someone would call me or my partner
to make contact. He arrived home last night and no one had
been there, and no one called him. He was up until 11 p.m.
and left our secured gate open in case some did. I do not
understand this; why do WE have to keep pestering you all to do
your jobs.
I'm taking it a level to hopefully at least get a report out of
this for our insurance before my graffiti removal people show
up today or tomorrow. And who, by the way, will be cleaning
up the City of Berkeley's graffiti on the streets!?
Mark Johnson
Hi Mark,
I just spoke with Officer Buckheit, who said that she took the
report and apparently someone will be coming out to the property. She
mentioned that she talked to Angela as well, who will be contacting
public works to take care of the City property that has been tagged.
I'll follow up with PW this afternoon. By the way, did that
light in front of your house ever get fixed? The City's
head electrician said that someone was going out last week to
check into it. Thanks Mark.
Sincerely,
Ryan Lau
Council Aide
Councilmember Darryl Moore
and Laura emails about graffiti
enforcement programs
Check with the League of
California Cities, a couple of years ago this statewide organization
promoted the Santa Clara model of graffiti enforcement programs
which includes uses "Tag you Lose" for enforcement purposes.
I provided this information to Lt Hester, now retired but formerly
in charge of CSB and Angela Gallegos-Castillo two years ago. At
that time the City promised ROC neighborhood group they would
augment and amend to include enforcement actions the graffiti
abatement program. ROC, the Russell Oregon California St
neighborhood group has placed graffiti problems at the top
of our agenda for the past 6-8 years.
Laura Menard
from my log
10/19/08--10:05 AM--irritant
off-and-on all AM in warehouse front and IMMEDIATELY in front
of warehouse with odor like "ozone-heavy-air" in a spare-the-air
day, cough, wear mask.
1020/08--11:49 AM--irritant
in front room, dry eyes, dry mouth, light head, turn on HEPA. 7:58
PM--irritant IMMEDIATELY in front of warehouse with odor like
"ozone-heavy-air" in a spare-the-air day, cough, leave.
"Bank-to-bank loan rates fall for sixth
day" reports MadlenRead
of the AP.
"As bank-to-bank lending
rates slide lower, the credit climate is looking a bit brighter-at
least for stronger companies."
10/23/08
CEID folks
in Bob and Carol's Pumpkin
Patch
"Cal football player, friend charged in
robbery" reports Henry
K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer.
"A Cal football player
and a former team member upset at reported racial slurs made by
a member of the university's crew team sought revenge by robbing
two residents of a dormitory, but targeted the wrong people, campus
officials said Tuesday.
R.J. Garrett and Gary Doxy, both 21, were arrested and charged
Monday in connection with last month's robbery of two Cal crew
team members at the Clark Kerr Campus, a residence-hall complex
southeast of UC Berkeley that is home to many student athletes.
The suspects, who are black,
decided to commit the Sept. 30 robbery after hearing about racial
slurs reportedly made by a white member of the Cal crew team at
an off-campus party three days earlier, police said.
A black female student athlete
who was at the party was offended by the comments, which someone
else relayed to Garrett and Doxy, police said."
"Six Women Arrested In Berkeley Police
Prostitution Sting"
is a story by Ashley Trott, Daily Cal Staff Writer.
"Six Bay Area women
were arrested in a prostitution sting on Thursday after police
received a series of complaints from Berkeley residents.
About 10 officers in Berkeley
Police Department's under cover unit posed as "Johns"
seeking "dates," catching six women who were prostituting
themselves, Berkeley police Officer Andrew Frankel said.
Most of the women were arrested
on San Pablo Avenue early in the evening of October 16.
Oakland residents Shasha
Speech, 36, Chantay Grays, 42, Courtney Holden, 22, and Tianya
Gaddis, 18, were all cited for prostitution. Richmond resident
Rosa Russel, 19, and Berkeley resident Sandra Bates, 52, were
also cited.
Police say no pimps were
arrested in connection with the incidents."
Jarad forwards his email
Ashley
I read your article on the prostitution sting along San Pablo
Ave
These issues and more are what I was communicating to you for
your September 21, 2008 article titled "Community
Concerned by Recent Shootings."
I have deep respect and appreciation for Ofc. Frankle and feel
he is one of the best officers in the BPD. His prior work as area
coordinator for West Berkeley speaks volumes to his committment
& integrity and I feel honored to have worked with him
in my neighborhood watch group. However, he is bound by city policy
and the city's policy towards prostitution in wrong.
Therefore, his comment stating "prostitution stings are not
routine because they feel that the narcotics trade in the city
poses a larger threat to residents than prostitution does"
reflects the official city position and it is 100% wrong. I haven't
always felt this way, but let me explain why my perceptions
have changed since living in West Berkeley.
What the City of Berkeley doesn't talk about is that with condoms
lying around, residents that have to clean up the sidewalk area
are being exposed to HIV, Hepatitis A, B, and C, and a wide variety
of other infectious diseases. What is also not being said
is that prostitution is inextricably linked to narcotics
sales and violent crime.
The city's position on this issue does a disservice to the neighborhoods
that are affected by this problem and is another example of the
City of Berkeley choosing to intermittantly uphold its social
contract with the residents / tax payers in this city until public
pressure builds for several months. Bob Kubik has complained to
the police regarding this issue and posted comments on Ron Penndorf's
West Berkeley site Scrambled Eggs and Lox many times.
We expect and deserve a zero tolerance on this and all crime /
quality of life issues in West and South Berkeley. We are tired
of occasional suppression actions being used instead of a long-term
metrics driven crime reduction strategy for all affected neighborhoods.
Angela emails
Hello, First let me say that
I'm sorry to hear that your fence was tagged Mark. It is costly
and frustrating to clean-up. I also understand in speaking with
Ofc. Karen Buckheit that she is now taking your report and working
with you. Typically, my understanding is that patrol are unable
to attend to get to get to sites to take reports when they are
busy. I understand that Sunday night was very busy.
The police department has and will continue to arrest perpetrators
of crime and vandalism. The challenge the police faces,is that
it is a crime of opportunity. The tags go up quickly and at night
making it harder to make arrests. The West Berkeley neighborhood
has historically been plagued with graffiti by numerous tagging
groups, including the Norteno gang. According to our Youth Services
Division Sgt., Sgt.Louis, ( 981-5717) we are able catch few taggers
because of the nature of the crime, lack of resources and surveillance
sting don't always result in arrests. A surveillance sting requires
upwards to 6 officers which becomes an expensive endeavor rather
quickly so while they have been used in the past, it is not the
first strategy that the city uses. Decisions about how best to
use our resources (i.e.police) are carefully weighed by the Chief
of Police and priorities are given to areas where community violence
and drug dealing and street level activity occur, as you have
experienced first hand.
When taggers are young offenders, Sgt. Lous works the cases and
on a case by case basis determines recommendations. She has agreed
to take your calls if you have any questions. As a component to
last year's City's educational campaign effort, the BPD Community
Services Bureau sent out a letter to all principals, requesting
their assistance in communicating to parents the consequences
of tagging, including the suspension of driving privileges.
In addition to enforcement, graffiti prevention requires a holistic
approach that includes youth programming. The city is reconceptualizing
how we utilize our resources to get kids, that are getting into
trouble and also possibly disconnected with school involved in
more productive activities. I am in conversation with McCullen
Youth Court to engage those young people that are caught for tagging,
among other things. Cleaning up graffiti is an appropriate consequence
I would argue AND getting them involved in a community site that
offers youth development opportunities is ideal. Youth engaged
in activities that allow them to see themselves in a different
light helps to move them into more productive and less illegal
activity. Exposing them to adults that engage them in positive,
constructive (community) work, benefits the young person as well
as the entire community.
I spoke to and requested the public works supervisors to send
out graffiti abatement crew to go through the 9th/Channing area,
including 10th, 8th, 7th and 6th streets for graffiti removal.
The request went in today and they are working to get out there
within the next two days. Our traffic signs division is responding
as well. As background information, the city is replacing our
street signs with anti-graffiti removal for faster graffiti removal
throughout the city. Please continue to call the public works
department when you see tagging on public signs as it is our responsibility
to abate. It is helpful to receive the messages re: graffiti as
I can forward your requests, if you haven't done so already through
our public works customer service line/email.
Jared, I welcome your elegy and your efforts. Please call me to
discuss the approach you're suggesting.
Please feel free to contact me at your convenience (email is better
than phone at this point) and I'll get back to you. Apologies
for not getting back to people until now.
Angela
Barbara Shayesteh emails
Hi Ron I mentioned
to my friend, who lives on Parker, just below Shattuck, that our
house (which we have owned for 22 years) is suddenly showing large
cracks in all of the archways and many ceiling/wall junctions.
She said she is having a similar problem at her house and she
swears it is because, when the City rebuilt the playing field
on Derby between Milvia and MLK Jr. Way, they capped off something
having to do with Potter Creek and that has changed the underground
water tables entirely. Have you heard anything about this?
She went to many of the community meetings having to do with the
redesign of that area and she is generally sane so I am wondering
if anyone else is aware of this problem.
Also, the City Bulletin today said they have arrested several
prostitutes in our area of San Pablo. All but two of them
have been released and they generally don't arrest them because
drugs are the priority but because of so many citizens' complaints,
this time they picked them up. I generally see the same
woman on the corner of San Pablo and Parker and I always call
it in when I see her. She is there sometimes at 7:30 am
and sometimes at 7:30 pm.
Barbara Shayesteh
"Structural
Engineers of Northern California Say Advancements Will SaveLives,
Property and Infrastructure WhenNext Hayward Earthquake Occurs"
reports marketwatch.com.
"As part of the commemoration
of the 140th anniversary of the 1868 Hayward earthquake -- the
first great 'San Francisco earthquake' and one of the most damaging
earthquakes in the nation's history -- members of the Structural
Engineers Association of Northern California will present important
information at the upcoming Hayward Earthquake Symposium. Their
presentations on the advancements of engineering knowledge and
technical guidelines in the past 140 years will collectively demonstrate
that few lives will be lost and total building collapses will
be rare as a result of future earthquakes 'if we all work together
and get prepared.'
Scientists warn that the
Hayward Fault is a 'Time Bomb' that releases huge amounts of damaging
energy every 140 years. The next big earthquake on the Hayward
Fault will affect the lives of the two million people who live,
work, attend school and rely on the utilities and transportation
systems in the vicinity."
10/24/08
École Bilingue Halloween
Parade, 2008
more photos
here
"So long, mystery meat: Top chefs come
to Cal cafeteria" is
a story by Janet Fletcher, Chronicle Staff Writer.
"Ask most college graduates
what they enjoyed about their time on campus and the answer is
probably not the food. But at UC Berkeley - a campus in the middle
of one of the nation's most acclaimed food towns - the food service
team is shaking up student dining.
Thanks to help from several celebrity chefs, Cal students are
now getting as broad an education in the dining halls to supplement
the one they get in the classroom."
"Fart gas' link to blood pressure" reports BBCNEWS.
"The gas best known
for being used in many stink bombs may also control blood pressure,
say US researchers.
Small amounts of hydrogen sulphide - a toxic gas generated by
bacteria living in the human gut - are responsible for the foul
odour of flatulence.
But it seems the gas is also
produced by an enzyme in blood vessels where it relaxes them and
lowers blood pressure."
Sally forwards an email about hooking up your digital converter
This is very funny and unfortunately
I relate to her confusion!
http://www.hulu.com/watch/36608/talkshow-with-spike-feresten-cable-psa
Mal Sharpe emails
Friday night at Anna's Jazz
Island the bailout rolls on as Big Money in Gumbo continues
to spread socialism, capitalism and ism u iz or ism you ain't
my baby? This band touches all the New Orleans basses from Louis
Armstrong through Professor Longhair and Fats Domino. Tunes you
can sing like Jambalaya and Little Liza Jane and My Bucket's
Got a hole in it. Bob Scott from the Willie Nelson Band on Drums,
Richard Mayers from The Big Belly Blues Band on Congas, Charlie
Hickox, slated to be Secretary of Foreign Affairs, on Piano, Jim
Gammon whose trumpet is already playing Taps for George Bush,
Dwayne Ramsey on clarinet with the hair Joe Biden wishes he had
kept, Denny Geyer on Guitar singing the story of his life "Fools
Paradise." and Mal Sharpe on trombone. Mal is bringing the
faded Hotel Powell checkbook he bought a the Ashby Flea Market
and will be writing out checks for millions of dollars for lucky
members of the audience. Last week we gave away 9 million dollars
at Armando's great music club in Martinez.
Anna herself may sing. Get
out of the house.
Big Money in Jazz continues
to play at the Savoy-Tivoli and Saturdays from 3-6 and The No
Name Bar in Sausalito on Sundays from 3-6.
Live music is better than
prozac.
"Jim Krenov long regarded as a master craftsman
continues to work from his home wood shop making hand-planes for
fine woodworking" is
a video on sfgate.com.
Jarad emails
From the Oakland Tribune
Man arrested in carjacking attempt: A 19-year-old Berkeley
man was arrested Sunday, accused of trying to steal a woman's
car in West Berkeley, police said.
Alexander Davidson faces charges of attempted robbery, three counts
of attempted carjacking, assault with a deadly weapon, and two
weapons charges, police said.
He is accused of spraying a 43-year-old woman with pepper spray,
hitting her, pushing her to the ground and trying to steal her
car in the 2300 block of Seventh Street, police said. The woman's
children, ages 5 and 10, were in the back seat at the time, police
said.
The man also tried to reach
for the woman's purse, police said.
A passer-by tackled the suspect, who pulled a knife on the man
and began swinging it at him. Police were summoned and Davidson
was arrested.
His bail was set at $230,000. No one was seriously injured.
Kristin Bender
CBS5.com reports.
"Berkeley officers today arrested a second
18-year-old man suspected of participating in a series of robberies
near the University of California, Berkeley campus since early
September, police said.
Lorenzo Jackson of Oakland
and 18-year-old Davon Vigay of Pinole, who was arrested last week,
are believed to have committed a string of robberies in the area
of Virginia and Arch streets near UC Berkeley, Berkeley police
spokesman Andrew Frankel said.
Neither is a student at the
university, Frankel said.
Jackson and Vigay allegedly
robbed at least 10 pedestrians by pulling up in a car alongside
the pedestrian, exiting the car and demanding money or other property,
according to Frankel.
The suspects were usually
armed during the robberies, Frankel said.
The rash of street robberies
led a neighborhood community watch group to keep their eyes peeled
for suspicious behavior, and tips from community members helped
lead police to the suspects, Frankel said."
Laura Menard, Russell Oregon
California St neighborhood group, emails some thoughts and opinions
on
1. Bagging Taggers-
Low cost, effective surveillance cameras could be deployed, perhaps
DTF has cameras available
2. MuCullen Youth Court would
be satisfactory for diversion, the City diversions program do
not hold offenders responsible, the city attempts at diversioin
have been failures by all measures.
This recent vandalism costs $1000 to repair, likely to be a felony
not a misdeamor crime therefore uneligible for diversion.
3. Gangs are not taken seriously
in Berkeley, in a city and school climate that denies gangs
exist and allows known WSB to wear gang affiliated clothing on
school campuses, we have an adult problem.
Adults do not believe in consequences for offenders, Berkeley
practices racial paternism, making excuses claiming these teens
have no other choices.
4. Deploy resources for environmental
prevention in known hotspots.
South Berkeley has been subjected to gang graffiti just
as badly as west Berkeley.
Telegraph area is covered with tagging.
5. Maintaining a gang database
with addresses, monikers,associates, cars, territory etc can be
extremely helpful in identifying likely suspects. SF gang database
is popular with the cops, better than the software available from
the state.
6. Santa Clara, San Jose
and many other cities have real gang problem significantly larger
than even Richmond or Oakland, and yet they have gotten graffiti
under control.
Seems to me it is past time to leave provincial Berkeley think
and consider new ideas. Climb out of the box.
7. Restorative justice- neighborhood
accoutability boards- offenders come in front of the neighborhood
council, admit their mistake and recieve community service and
adult support and direction in reforming their behavior.
This model is puts builds community,responsibility and mutual
respect of our neighborhoods.
Wouldn't that be refreshing and productive. And likely an excellent
deterrent.
Laura Menard
Contra Costa Unified has
a truancy response plan, they pick up truant kids in police cars
and drive them to school sites where counselors initiate a SART
conference- School Attendance Review Team
How logical. Berkeley is still discussing 15years later what constitutes
an acceptable method of contacting truants, including changing
the very term "truancy" to something less offensive
to offenders, like attendance assistance program.
All lip service, no program.
Jarad emails
Angela,
After speaking with the SJ Graffiti Abatement program staff, I
was told that I should speak with SJPD and the officers assigned
to graffiti abatement issues.
I've placed a call to them and left a message stating that I wanted
to get details of their program so that Berkeley could have a
model with a proven track record of success to emulate. I also
stated in the message that it was the goal to set up a face to
face meeting with SJ City Officials and Berkeley City Officials
on this topic so that Berkeley could learn about the SJ program,
and find out how to successfully implement it.
I informed them that I was a neighborhood watch organizer and
that the city manager's office in Berkeley was already aware
of my preliminary leg work to establish a future meeting on the
issue.
Jarad
"U.C. reaches contract accord with cops" is a report in the San Francisco Business
Times by David Goll.
"A new three-year contract
agreement between the University of California and its Federated
University Police Officers Association was announced Wednesday.
The association represents
the 10-campus U.C system's police force of more than 200 officers.
That includes U.C. Berkeley, the Oakland-based system's flagship
campus opened 140 years ago."
"California
Energy Supply Vulnerable to Future Heat Waves" is a report
at NBCChicago.
"In the near future,
large California cities can expect more frequent heat waves because
of climate change, warn scientists at universities in California
and Texas.
This could mean increased
electricity demand to run air conditioners in the densely populated
state, raising the risk of power shortages during heat waves,
said Norman Miller, an earth scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory and geography professor at the University of California,
Berkeley, and Katharine Hayhoe, a climate researcher at Texas
Tech University."
"Financial crisis 'like a tsunami' "
is found at bbcnews.com.
"Former Federal Reserve
chairman Alan Greenspan has called the recent turmoil in the global
financial markets a 'once in a century credit tsunami'.
Speaking before Congress,
Mr Greenspan, who stood down as Fed chairman in 2006, said the
crisis had left him 'in a state of shocked disbelief' ".
10/25
Jarad and Laura email about
the 10/28/08 City Council meeting
Please join fellow west and
south Berkeley residents at City
Council on October 28. City staff will be presenting the community
safety report
This is our chance to get the entire city council's attention
to
the problems unique to south/west Berkeley.
I have allied with west, south and southside leaders and we are
asking folks to show up, speak up and support this action
requesting the city put serious attention to these issues.
I will be presenting the
petition posted the bottom of this
message. If you agree with the purpose of the petition, please
send
me an email authorizing your name on the petition.
lauramenard@hotmail.com
Here are the council protocols for public comment. I think more
people speaking even for just one minute will have the greatest
impact. Folks who prefer not to speak can fill the chambers. Please
email me if you intend to show up or speak. Thanks so much.
Action Calendar
After the initial ten minutes of public comment on non-agenda
items
and public comment and action on consent items, the public may
comment on each remaining item listed on the agenda for action
as
the item is taken up. Where an item was moved from the Consent
Calendar to Action no speaker who has already spoken on that item
would be entitled to speak to that item again.
The Presiding Officer will request that persons wishing to speak
line up at the podium to determine the number of persons interested
in speaking at that time. Up to ten (10) speakers may speak for
two
minutes. If there are more than ten persons interested in speaking,
the Presiding Officer may limit the public comment for all speakers
to one minute per speaker. Speakers are permitted to yield their
time to one other speaker, however no one speaker shall have more
than four minutes. The Presiding Officer may, with the consent
of
persons representing both sides of an issue, allocate a block
of
time to each side to present their issue.
The petition:
We, the undersigned, are experienced leaders from several Berkeley
neighborhood groups and merchants associations, and have come
together to form an alliance advocating for reforms to Community
Involved Policing (CIP). We request that the Chief of Police,
the
Community Services Bureau, and City Manager's staff commit to
a
series of meetings with this Citizens Alliance for Accountability
in Community Policing (CAAP) the goal is to develop a set of
recommendations to be presented to the city council.
The participants herein have a long history in various aspects
of
neighborhood organizing for crime prevention and are uniquely
capable of identifying what works, what is missing and what needs
changing. We understand the importance of a productive partnership
with the police department based in data driven problem solving.
We
recognize the first step to successful crime prevention citywide
is
the implementation of an operational framework to deploy resources
in a sustainable and equitable manner.
We believe citizens in Berkeley have a right to a safe and healthy
neighborhoods and we are committed to the successful reform of
community involved policing.
Some key issues are:
Berkeley continues to experience an increase in violent and
property crimes.
Approximately 75% of the blocks in Berkeley are not organized.
Drug dealers and other criminals are often better organized than
neighborhoods.
Effective community policing is based in mutual trust and
partnerships between community groups and public agencies including
city code enforcement, city attorney, and the District Attorney's
office.
Best practice in CIP operations requires three levels for civic
organization:
http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/default.asp?item=36
1. Block level crime watch groups
2. Neighborhood Council for monitoring and problem solving
3. Citywide Advisory for discussion of policy and practice.
Thank you for your attention to this serious issue and we look
forward to productive discussions in the near future.
Laura Menard - South Berkeley (ROC)
Jarad Carleton - West Berkeley (10th Street)
Eternally useful
links
Bay Area home prices from sfgate.com
Bay Area foreclosures from sfgate.com
Our City Council update is
here.
Our Planning Commision update
is here
You can find more information
about our current weather conditions than is good for you at www.wunderground.com
Want to see weather coming
in, going out, beautiful sunsets, and much, much more? Check out
http://sv.berkeley.edu/view/
This very hip site was in an email from reader and contributor,
Tony Almeida. Read Tony's Jimi Hendrix story on the only page that routinely gets
more hits than Scrambled Eggs.
Best gas prices in 94710,
as well as all of US and Canada, are here
at gasbuddy.com
Kimar finds Costco routinely
has the lowest price.
Richmond
Ramblers' motorcycle club member, Cliff Miller emails a very
useful link
If you ever need to get a
human being on the phone at a credit card company or bank, etc.,
this site tells you how to defeat their automated system and get
you to a human being within a few seconds.
http://gethuman.com/
Markets
is not just a reference for Berkeley-Hills radicals with 1.5 mil
homes and considerable portfolios.
Our City of Berkeley Boards
and Commissions page is here--redone
and friendly.
Berkeley
Police reports at insidebay area.com are here.
Our Berkeley
PD Site with crime statistics and more is here.
Crime Log for 94710 is
here
This site is NOT affiliated
with Berkeley PD.
Take time to report
crime!
All reports
of crime-in-progress should first go to Berkeley PD dispatch--911
or non-emergency, 981-5900. THEN make sure you notify EACH of
these City people.
The contacts
are below:
Our new Area
Coordinator is Officer Karen Buckheit, Berkeley PD - 981-5774
kbuckheit@ci.berkeley.ca.us
Angela Gallegos-Castillo,
City Mgr Off - 981-2491 agallegos-castillo@ci.berkeley.ca.us
Ryan Lau,
aid to Darryl Moore - 981-7120 rlau@ci.berkeley.ca.us
Darryl Moore,
City Councilman dmoore@ci.berkeley.ca.us
More
Scrambled Eggs & Lox, here
and
Stories about Berkeley and stories about recorded-music
are at
Journal of Recorded Music 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
ronpenndorf@earthlink.net
The original owner
of all scanned material retains copyright. The material is used
only to illustrate