scrmbld1008d.html

10/25/0

Potter Creek construction

aplenty with Kruse green-remodel

Kruse workers about to lift three high-efficiency ac-units onto their roof yesterday AM

yesterday midday, the old Brennan's was still up, by late afternoon it was down

a Steve Smith photo

École Bilingue Halloween Parade, 2008

more photos here

Bob's CEID kids in Bob and Carol's Pumpkin Patch-Cindy Dickeson photos

clownin' at the École Bilingue Parade

new menu items at 900 GRAYSON include

Fall Salad 7.0

House Lettuce & Chicory Mix, Red Wine Poached Pears, Candied Walnuts, Dried Cranberries & Honey Cider Vinagrette

Flat Iron Steak 13.5

Seared Flat Iron Steak, Mashed Potatoes, Asparagus Bernaise Sauce

Season's Pasta 11.0

Fresh Pappardelle Pasta, Crimini Mushrooms, Leeks, Roast Butternut Squash, Roasted Peppers & Idiazabal Cheese, Sage & Madeira Wine Sauce

more about 900 here

Pixar's Peter Docter and friend lunched at 900 Thursday. Docter directed Monsters Inc and wrote Wal-E. I'm told that he's currently working on Up, a featurette.

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--pdf link here

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)

"Q&A with personal financial guru [and Buttercuper] Suze Orman" is an interview by Carolyn Said, Chronicle Staff Writer.

10/26/08

Yesterday, Cal beat UCLA 41 to 20.

The game celebrated Cal's 1950s Rose Bowl team. Our Mayor, Tom Bates, played on that team. Quarterback of the team, Joe Capp was interviewed during the game and said that football is about playing together and that many of that team's member went on to success like doctors and mayors.

Well, Ok then.

"Stout defense buries Bruins--Four interceptions, two for TDs, carry day as Cal offense struggles" reports Rusty Simmons, Chronicle Staff Writer.

"As the third quarter neared its end Saturday in Strawberry Canyon, Cal senior linebackers Zack Follett and Worrell Williams briefly turned their focus from stopping UCLA's offense to kick-starting the Bears' offense."

"Sather Gate's checkered past" is a report Ken Stein in the Chronicle.

"Two marble panels depicting naked women were discovered in a little-used storage area beneath the bleachers of Edwards Stadium in May 1977. Some at UC Berkeley knew right away what had turned up - two of
the eight bas relief marble panels that had been missing since April 1910 ... from Sather Gate. Within a month of the publicity surrounding the May 1977 discovery, the remaining panels (weighing 280 pounds each) were discovered at the Amador Marble Co. near Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland.

The male and female nudes had graced the four granite pillars of the uncompleted monument until they were ordered removed by a furious and humiliated Jane K. Sather. Sather, a rich benefactress of UC
Berkeley, had presented Sather Gate as a gift to the university as a memorial to her late husband, Peder Sather. Today, while the iconic Sather Gate is undergoing a seven-month long, $1.5 million restoration, is an occasion to recall the scandal that rocked the university nearly 100 years ago."

"Middle class sprawls in Nairobi, Kenya" is a story at worldfocus.org.
And definitely check out worldfocus.org

"Parks fill out the profile as Mission Bay grows" is a story by Marisa Lagos, Chronicle Staff Writer.

Sometimes it's hard to separate the identity of a San Francisco neighborhood from its park. After all, what would the Mission District be without Dolores Park, or North Beach without Washington Square?

As San Francisco's newest neighborhood, Mission Bay, continues to grow, it is also beginning to find its unique personality. Neighbors say an intricate part of that process has been the opening of new
parks in the area - additions that come even as the city faces increasingly difficult financial times."

DON'T BE MEEK

MAKE

JOHN COLTRANE PARK

IN POTTER CREEK

And, "Neighborhoods look to cafes to perk up streets" writes Marisa Lagos.

"Neighborhoods like North Beach and Noe Valley are teeming with coffee shops, but head south and you're likely to find people clamoring for a cafe.

In recent years, these businesses have become a key part of community efforts to revitalize commercial strips, arguably the most visible and telling element of any neighborhood. Coffee shops offer a safe, warm gathering place for neighbors, bring foot traffic to areas that need it, and tend to reflect the flavor of a community.

Sometimes they also lead to some unexpected benefits. In the Bayview, for example, Javalencia coffee shop owner Servio Gomez parlayed the success of his Third Street business - and its open mike nights - into an adjacent gallery, which focuses on local artists. Mama Art Cafe in the Excelsior district also showcases local artists and musicians, and often opens its door for community meetings. And at Joe Leland cafe in Visitacion Valley, people stop by just to chat with owner Russel Morine, whose business is filled with posters for community events."

Dana Goodyear, profiles, "Zen Master," in The New Yorker.

"Gary Snyder, the Zen poet, lives on a hundred backcountry acres in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada,
meditates mornings, and gives thanks for his food before he eats it. He likes a boilermaker at dinnertime and, on occasion, the bullfrogs from his pond. Snyder, who is seventy-eight, has written nineteen books of poems and essays that are engaged with, among other things, watersheds, geology, logging, backpacking, Native American
storytelling, sex, coyotes, and Chinese landscape painting. He is a poet of the Pacific Rim."

"Calif. company to offer rides on zeppelin airship" is a story by AP writer, Terence Chea.

"Zeppelins, the giant floating airships used to carry passengers and drop bombs until the 1930s, haven't been seen in American skies for more than 70 years.

Now a California company is bringing the iconic aircraft back to the United States, with plans to offer aerial tours of the San Francisco Bay area in a newly built zeppelin. It's one of just three in the world - the others are in Germany and Japan.

Airship Ventures Inc.'s zeppelin arrived in the Bay Area on Saturday, passing over the Golden Gate Bridge en route to its new home at Moffett Field, a former naval air station in Mountain View, about 40 miles south of San Francisco.

Fifteen feet longer than a Boeing 747, the 246-foot-long Zeppelin NT (New Technology) was built in Hamburg, Germany and transported by container ship to Beaumont, Texas, before a cross-country flight to California.

While they may look like blimps, zeppelins have rigid internal frames that are covered with a canvas hull.

Starting Friday, Airship Ventures will begin offering rides that provide a bird's eye view of Napa and Sonoma wine country, the Big Sur coastline, San Francisco and other parts of the Bay Area. The cabin holds 12 passengers and two crew members, and tickets start at $495 per person for an one-hour ride."

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

10/27/08

Yesterday morning board-members of the Palm Springs Art Museum toured Potter Creek. They looked at Marvin and Ruth's new building as well as Andrew and Kristen's condo.

Well, Ok then.

"School bake sales victims of nutrition rules" is a story by Carolyn Jones, Chronicle Staff Writer.

"The era of the chocolate cookie, sold from a card table for 25 cents, is rapidly fading on California school campuses.

Thanks to the state's tough new nutritional standards for public schools, bake sales - that age-old staple of school fundraising - are nearly obsolete. Cookies, cupcakes, pizza and other easy-to-sell goodies invariably exceed the fat, sugar and caloric limits set by the Legislature for foods sold on campus to schoolkids.

And at a time when school budgets are being slashed, some parents and school staff are mourning the loss."

"Rash of robberies in North Berkeley Hills" reports Sean Maher in the Times.
"Police are asking neighbors in the North Berkeley Hills to be vigilant, as a rash of recent home burglaries appear to be connected.

During daylight hours suspects have kicked in the doors of several neighborhood homes over the last two months, gaining entry and making off with laptops, electronics, jewelry and bikes, police said. In light of comparable methods and close geography, investigators say at least 15 recent robberies are connected.
A witness recently reported two suspects, young men driving a 1980s Honda, with paint that could be silver, gray or blue.
Police are urging community members to keep a close eye on their neighborhoods and report any suspicious activity. Bay Area Crime Stoppers offers up to a $2,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest.
Anyone with information can call police at 510-981-5900 or Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477)"

"Throwing the bathroom sink at the economy" is a report by cnn.com.

"As stocks plunge around the world, talk of radical solutions to fix the economy swirl. But it may be too late to undo the damage done by the credit crisis.

Governments and central banks of the world's leading nations have taken unprecedented coordinated actions in the past month to help out battered financial markets and economies around the globe.

Yet, the global meltdown in stocks continued Friday. And this lack of confidence and sense of panic has left experts wondering what can be done next to assure investors and get banks to operate normally once again.

'They've already thrown the kitchen sink at the problem,' said Lakshman Achuthan, managing director of the Economic Cycle Research Institute. 'I guess the next step is the bathroom sink.' "

And more than you might want to know about the "Global financial crisis" is at bbcnews.com.

Our world economy has an internal dynamic of its own and make no mistake, it is now restructuring itself, human ego aside.

In pre-revolutionary-times, crime and violence escalate with political groups on the far right and left allying themselves with criminals, often gangs. As social order deteriorates, crime becomes more political, as both extremes raise funds through criminal acts like bank robberies.

Of course, crime and violence also escalate in non-pre-revolutionary-times.

Network news reports gun sales are up 9-10% over last year.

10/28/08

"When wife is attacked, husband becomes hero" is from Chip Johnson's Chronicle column.

"While he didn't realize it at the time, suspected armed robber Alexander Davidson's plan was over from the moment his intended victim screamed for help.

He was up against a determined Berkeley resident who would chase him down, becoming a neighborhood hero and a symbol of neighborhood vigilance as the city deals with a surge in street crime.

'I think that's Myra!' Michael Furlong told his tenant on a Sunday two weeks ago as they stood in the backyard of the Furlong family's home on Seventh Street while Furlong cleaned his barbecue.

It was his wife, and she was in distress.

When Furlong, a 50-year-old advertising man, got to the car in the driveway, Myra Furlong was 'standing at the back of the car - she'd been maced,' he said.

Here's what happened, according to the Furlongs and police: A man and woman smiled and passed by the 43-year-old mother as she opened the trunk of her car. The man, identified as Davidson, 19, of Bakersfield, apparently doubled back and struck Myra Furlong in the head before spraying mace into her eyes.

He quickly walked to the driver's side and peered inside the vehicle. She heard Davidson curse out loud when he saw the couple's daughters, ages 5 and 9, sitting in the back seat.

When Michael Furlong got to the car he found his wife in obvious pain - and infuriated. He then looked up the street and saw a man and woman walking away.
Wearing his Sunday soccer uniform and a pair of blue dishwashing gloves, the wiry Furlong set out after them on the 2300 block of Seventh Street.

'I turned and ran after these two people walking away, about five houses away. One guy broke and ran, and I just chased him,' Furlong said. 'I kept after him to the corner. He turned on Channing (Way) and I lost sight of him. I asked someone who saw him running, so I knew which direction he was going.'

As he continued down the street, Furlong saw something moving near the back corner of a house. He followed the shape until it hunkered down near a garbage bin.

'I jumped a two-foot hedge right on top of him,' Furlong said. 'I grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pushed him into a rose bush when he tried to get away.'

That's when another neighbor coming over the hedge yelled out, 'He's reaching for a knife!'
While Davidson used both hands to try and open the blade, Furlong swung him to the ground hard, and the knife fell out of his hand. Another neighbor kicked the knife from Davidson's reach. The three men subdued Davidson until police arrived."

on 10/24/08 I posted

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

"S.F. gang injunction zone controversial" is a story by Demian Bulwa, Chronicle Staff Writer.

Joshua DeLeon admits he was 'gang-banging' when he was identified by San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera as one of 32 Norteños in the Mission District who needed to be reined in.

When Herrera's civil gang injunction went before a judge, DeLeon showed up in court - but only, he said, to laugh at the whole affair.

A year later, DeLeon says shame and God changed him. He was baptized in July and enrolled at City College, with a goal of becoming a counselor to gang members and others.

To Herrera, DeLeon's story is a sign that the wide-ranging injunction has been a success. However, that isn't how DeLeon sees it."

Jarad forwards an email to Ofc Karen Buckheit

Karen

Can you tell the block anything about the arrest that was made for one of the Nortenos on the 2300 block of 10th on Oct 26 (Sunday) between 1-5pm?

There were 2 patrol cars, 2 officers, and one of the guys we always see hanging out in front of 2311 10th Street. He is the one that always wears the red baseball cap with a "C" on the front of it.

Anything you can share about who he is, why he was arrested, and his background would be helpful. These guys are making their presence more openly known & over the weekend, 2 neighbors saw these younger guys hanging out with older Nortenos, many of them with prison tattoos at 4-430am on Sunday morning at the corner of Channing Way and 10th Street (yes the BPD was called).

I think it's time for everyone to openly admit (particularly Angela Gallegos-Castillo and the rest of the City Manager's office) that you cannot divide up gang members and say that different groups have different levels of involvement - quote from Angela about the Nortenos is linked here http://www.eastbayexpress.com/news/gangs_____in_berkeley_/Content?oid=842981.

I've spoken with close friend and expert on gangs, who is a Sgt in a North Bay law enforcement agency and who led a gang task force in Santa Rosa (Sonoma County). His informed & expert opinion after direct dealing with Nortenos and Surenos for multiple years working in conjunction with the FBI and interviewing gang members doing time at Pelican Bay Maximum Security Prison was that classifying any gang members into categories of less egregious and more egregious offenders is a mistake that will hinder the ability of residents and BPD to claim back the neighborhood and live in a safe area without fear of violent crime.

It's time to change the rules of the game and stop acting like a young gang member isn't a serious gang member. We live in this neighborhood and none of us were born yesterday, we know what's going on and it's time for the city to do the same. These people are an imminent threat and we expect the city to start acting accordingly.

Jarad Carleton

Lt Greenwood emails

Jarad,

Ofc. Jeremiason detained and handcuffed a juvenile on Sunday, at 1:32 PM. He had at least one cover officer. He suspects the juvenile is a gang member, but there was no probable cause to arrest. Ofc. Jeremiason will continue to focus on the block.

I found no other incident matching the description you included.

I will pass along the information you've included below to area officers, for their information.

Regards,

Lt. Andy Greenwood
Berkeley Police Department
Community Services Bureau

"A conversation with David Smick" is from the 10/23/08 Charlie Rose Show.

David Smick's book is

"The World Is Curved: Hidden Dangers to the Global Economy.

David Smick keeps a low profile, but experts consider him one of the most insightful financial market strategists in the world. For more than two decades, he has conferred with central bankers (such as Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke) and advised top Wall Street executives and investors, from George Soros to Michael Steinhardt to Stan Druckenmiller. Political leaders (from Bill Bradley to Jack Kemp) have regularly sought his policy advice.

The World Is Curved picks up where Thomas Friedman's The World Is Flat left off, taking readers on an insider's tour through the private offices of central bankers, finance ministers, even prime ministers. Smick reveals how today's risky environment came to be-and why the mortgage mess is a symptom of potentially far more devastating trouble. He wrestles with the two questions on everyone's mind: How bad could things really get in today's volatile economy? And what can we do about it?"

It is fully reviewed here.

The World Is Curved: Hidden Dangers to the Global Economy (Hardcover) is available from amazon.com.

"Experts to gather this week for UC Berkeley-UCLA symposium on mortgage meltdown" is a UC Berleley press release.

"With the mortgage market and subprime loans taking much of the blame for today's global financial crisis, a timely symposium - 'Mortgage Meltdown, the Economy and Public Policy' - will be held Thursday and Friday, Oct. 30-31, at the University of California, Berkeley.

Among the featured speakers will be Federal Reserve Bank Chair Ben Bernanke (speaking via satellite); San Francisco Federal Reserve President Janet Yellen, professor emeritus at the Haas School of Business; California State Senate President Pro Tem-elect Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento); and Yale University economist Robert Shiller, author of 'The Subprime Solution: How Today's Global Financial Crisis Happened, and What to Do about It.'"

10/29/08

Understand that I've been spending much time and thought preparing for the Great Pumpkin rise from the Pumpkin Patch. Still, I've spent some little time thinking about our mayoral race. In this time of contention, economic turmoil, and fear, I'm reminded that in the past, Tom Bates brought our council together and reduced our deficit.

Works for me today as well.

(Yesterday afternoon, our Mayor and our State Senator came to Potter Creek for a tour of Kruse' green-remodel. I, almost literally, ran into them as I was leaving Kruse--a well dressed, attractive couple I must say.)

During our Councilman Daryll Moore's term, city services have improved in Potter Creek. There is now a responsive police presence, street dumping has virtually been eliminated, and there is street cleaning. Also, our infrastructure has been improved with the resurfacing of our streets. And most important, the removal of deteriorated culverts and deepened gutters has improved storm run-off.

Still my guy.

Cloris Leachman was voted off Dancing with the Stars last night.

"Simple pleasures" is a story about our Alice Waters at www.guardian.co.uk.

"Alice Waters was a trailblazer in seasonal, locally produced, organic food when, in 1971, she opened her restaurant, Chez Panisse, in California. In this exclusive extract from her new book, she says that tasty recipes needn't be complex

My delicious revolution began when, young and naive, I started a restaurant and went looking for tasty food to cook. I was trying to find ingredients like the ones I had loved when I was a student in France: simple things such as lettuce, French beans and bread. I found that the people who were growing the tastiest food were organic
farmers in my own backyard, small farmers and ranchers within a radius of a hundred miles or so of the restaurant in Berkeley, California. They were planting heirloom varieties of fruits and vegetables and harvesting them at their peak. What was revolutionary about this was being able to buy directly from the source and not being limited to what I could find at the supermarket. When you have the best and tastiest ingredients, you can cook very simply and the food will be extraordinary because it tastes like what it is.

People always ask me for ideas for everyday meals - not restaurant food or special-occasion dinners, but just regular dinners at home. What makes a good meal is not how fancy it is or how complicated the
preparations are, but how satisfying it is. I'm satisfied when a meal balances flavour, colour and texture, when I've enjoyed cooking it, and when it is presented with care. An all-white meal, or one that is all soft, is not nearly as agreeable as one that has a variety of colours and textures. Flavours should complement each other and meld
into a whole, not rival one another for dominance. A dinner that has left me stressed after cooking is not a dinner I want to serve to my family and friends.

Finally, presenting food so that it looks appetising and pretty makes it taste better, and it is fulfilling for both the cook and the diners. And a well-set table, however humble, is the crowning touch to a satisfying meal."

"Logitech acquires SightSpeed" is a reports at news.cnet.

"Logitech announced Tuesday that it has paid about $30 million in cash to acquire SightSpeed, a maker of cross-platform video chat and calling software. It's a logical acquisition for Logitech, which includes video cameras among its large portfolio of peripherals for PCs. Berkeley, Calif.-based SightSpeed was founded in 2001 and has 25 employees."

"Navitas Capital and Webcor Builders Establish Strategic Relationship for Identifying & Accelerating Innovation in Green Building. Webcor's Phil Williams to Join Navitas Capital's Advisory Board" is a press release by PR Newswire.

Navitas Capital and Webcor Builders today announced a strategic relationship for future collaboration in driving sustainability in the built environment."

"California Car Sales Suffering in Staggering Economy" reports KTVU-TV.

"New car sales in California have dropped dramatically and the decline is being felt beyond dealer showrooms."

"Students support high-speed rail with 'six degrees' campaign" is a CBS5 report.

"Student advocates of a statewide high-speed rail initiative that will appear on the November ballot are launching an e-mail and text message outreach campaign this morning.

California Public Interest Research Group spokeswoman Emily Rusch said the campaign is using the concept of "six degrees of separation'' to forward the message in support of Proposition 1A to as many people as possible -- and participants hope to eventually reach actor Kevin Bacon.

The "six degrees'' idea, that everyone is connected within six degrees, is often linked to actor Kevin Bacon because of an popular trivia game known as 'Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.'

At 10 a.m., more than 400 students from California universities began sending friends, family and acquaintances links to a student video promoting Proposition 1A.

The link was sent through e-mails, text messages and social networking Web sites such as MySpace and Facebook, according to CALPIRG.

Rusch was unsure of the likelihood of reaching Bacon, but said a couple of students are separated from the actor by just a couple of degrees."

"Wealthy interests alter Calif's initiative process" reports Steve Lawrence of the AP.

"When Hiram Johnson championed an initiative system for California nearly a century ago, he sold it as a
grassroots way to 'arm the people to protect themselves.'

California's 23rd governor foresaw citizen campaigns putting propositions on the ballot when the Legislature failed to address a pressing need.

But 97 years after Californians voted to allow themselves to put measures on the ballot, Johnson's experiment in direct democracy has changed dramatically.

He certainly could not have envisioned the multimillion-dollar campaigns for several measures on California's Nov. 4 ballot, some of which critics say will benefit their wealthy sponsors at the expense of California taxpayers."

10/30/08

Patrick Kennedy just returned from some weeks vacationing in England and France. In France he toured the Normandy Invasion Beaches. "I'm preparing for my Downtown Berkeley Campaign" he remarked.

"Berkeley Councilmember Betty Olds retires after 16 years on the council" is a story by Kristin Bender of the Oakland Tribune.

"City Councilmember Betty Olds has been called the Queen of Common Sense on a City Council that has been criticized for having some sideways sensibilities.

Among politicians, who forever are watching their every word for fear of criticism, she isn't afraid to say what she means - offensive or not.

On the council, she's an independent voice, advocating to fix potholes and keep fire stations open rather than opining on the woes in Darfur or the accomplishments in Myanmar."

"Today's 'HD Hottie' is Rebecca Romijn, who stars tonight in high-def in Ugly Betty at 8 p.m. on ABC" is a press release at tvpredictions.com.

"The 36-year-old actress, who was born in Berkeley, California, started as a fashion model, capturing featured spots in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue and the Victoria's Secret catalog."

And Bender reports "Berkeley woman among 80 trailblazers in Oprah's magazine.

Tanya Moore, an African-American woman who is among the 2 percent of minority women to earn a doctoral degree in the past few years, didn't need Oprah Winfrey to tell her that women rule.

The 35-year-old Berkeley native, who watched her mother raise three daughters alone while family members battled drug and alcohol addiction, mental illness and domestic violence, already knew." that.

And, "CodePink closing Albany storefront office."

Laura Menard emails

Thank you to all the W. Berkeley and S. Berkeley participants at the council meeting last [Tuesday] night. For those interested, you can find a video playback of the meeting last night on the City Council web site:
http://berkeley.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?publish_id=509

Public commentary on our crime issues got underway at 15:30 in the video and lasted until 25:00. From 25:00 to 1:17:00 Police Chief Hambleton spoke to the council with Angela Gallegos-Castillo from the City Manager's Office, and with additional representation from the Department of Public Works (graffiti & dumping), and the Parks Dept (tree trimming away from street lights, graffiti on trees).

Public commentary resumed on the issue of crime at 1:17:00 and lasted until 1:43:30 on the video because so many people had something to say about our crime problem.

Key takeaways from the meeting

Chief Hambleton provided crime statistics for the entire city of Berkeley that did not single out the two key problem areas of the city which are West Berkeley (District 2 Darryl Moore) and South Berkeley (District 3 Max Anderson).

The Chief's crime stats (posted in the Yahoo Group files section under "Crime statistics") started with a table labeled "Crime in Berkeley 1970 - 2007," but only included data until 2004. His other data on Violent Crime, Property Crime, and Total Part One Crimes included data until 2007. The council did question the Chief on why there wasn't any 2008 data available since we were 3/4 of the way through 2008.

Chief Hambleton then described crime stats for 2008 saying that city wide we are averaging 50 robberies per month, which were classified as a violent crime because they involve force. He acknowledged that violent crime in the city of Berkeley continues to rise, but pointed out that since 1992 we've had an overall decrease in violent crime.

The Chief was questioned by Darryl Moore to find out when the BPD last conducted an assessment of how to deploy officers based on calls for service, what is happening in different beats, etc. Chief Hambleton admitted that this assessment had not been conducted since the early 1990's (well over 10 years!), which helped to illuminate why South Berkeley and West Berkeley are back sliding into criminality with streets controlled by drug dealing gangs (H20 Waterfront Family) and violent Latin gangs (WSB - Nortenos).

Darryl Moore also questioned the Chief on the existence of gangs in Berkeley and for the first time our Chief of Police admitted in a public forum that yes, Berkeley does have gangs, which is a major admission since just 9 months ago BPD denied we had gangs operating in the city.

Chief Hambleton was unable to provide statistics on the efficacy of the bike patrol officers in South and West Berkeley. This is because the BPD doesn't have a computerized statistics program in place. If they were using the Compstat model of metrics based policing (Considered best practices for law enforcement by the FBI and credited with lowering crime in NYC by 65%), he would have been able to provide the council with that information because the department would have been tracking the crime pattern changes in the areas with bicycle patrols on a daily basis.

Many people contended that the statistics that Chief Hambleton presented were not accurate representations of what happens in West Berkeley and South Berkeley, and at least 2 speakers said so to the council.

The speakers also brought up their displeasure with lackluster code enforcement (citing the broken windows theory) and that the city needed to start enforcing municipal code for illegal dumping and graffiti abatement.

After the meeting both Darryl Moore and Gordon Wozniak spoke with me and indicated interest in the deployment of mobile high definition surveillance cameras that I've advocated for 9 months. They are easily mounted on telephone poles, etc., have pan/zoom/tilt capabilities, and can provide details as small as license plate numbers day and night up to 200 yards away. They liked the idea that they can be moved throughout the city when crime hot spots move and they agreed that they are no different than installing red light traffic cameras like we have at 6th Street and University.

It was made clear that while these cameras will not necessarily prevent crime from happening, but that they will provide the city with unrepudiable evidence for criminal prosecution, which BPD consistently says they have difficulty obtaining (evidence) because they can't catch the criminals in the act. HD surveillance cameras will provide that evidence and assist in successful prosecutions, which will have a positive impact on crime reduction in West & South Berkeley.

Gordon Wozniak also pointed out that it is ridiculous that Berkeley doesn't have a Commission on Crime Reduction, but they have a variety of other committees looking at issues including global warming and solid waste reduction. Further, he stated that in his 6 years on the council that he has asked for a serious monthly examination of crime and for much more than just the quarterly information update that is given by Chief Hambleton, but that the council has never made crime a priority.

As of today, it is clear that little to no guidance is given from the council to the City Manager's Office, City Attorney's Office, and BPD on the topic of crime and as a result, citizens in West Berkeley and South Berkeley are suffering the consequences of that lack of attention.

The council will meet again on January 27th, 2009 to discuss crime issues and at that time they are expected to have the beginning of a review on programs others cities in the bay area have implemented to determine what is effective and what isn't so that Berkeley can start to make some changes to how it fights crime.

The fact that so many people attended, loudly applauded each speaker, and that so many different faces stood up in front of the council did have a positive impact. Unfortunately the process has just begun and the calls for for real reform at the highest levels of the City Administration to proactively address the crime problem and establish quantitative measureable milestones is still unresolved.

"A Solar Gold Rush Is Spreading From California to New Jersey" is a report by Dara Colwell of AlterNet.

"Solar power is exploding in America, particularly in California. San Luis Obispo's Palm Theatre and Berkeley's Shotgun Players are now the first solar-powered theaters in the country; FedEx's distribution center in Fontana has a solar system covering 20,834 square feet; and Google's Mountain View campus boasts America's largest corporate solar installation. True to its pioneering spirit, California is leading the way -- but that's not to say other states aren't tagging quickly behind."

"Economic crisis comes home to the East Bay" by William Brand is on insidebayarea.com.

"We all know the story: The stock market's erratic, once rock-solid corporations are pulling the plug on jobs, and some streets, especially in new communities around the Bay Area, are becoming foreclosure ghost towns.
When someone draws comparisons to the Great Depression of the 1930s, people listen.

So how bad is it here in the East Bay? It's a study in contradictions, UC Berkeley economists say."

"Organized gangs of thieves hit retailers hard" reports Victoria Colliver, Chronicle Staff Writer.

"When state and federal law enforcement officers in June recovered more than $5.5 million in stolen goods and arrested 17 suspected members of a Bay Area shoplifting crime ring, it was clear it was more than a typical shoplifting bust.

The theft of large volumes of goods - razor blades, Oil of Olay, Tylenol and other merchandise from such well-known retailers as Safeway, Target and Walgreens - was part of an organized crime ring."

"Ducks And Golden Bears Square Off In Important Pac-10 Matchup" is at KTVU-TV.

"In a pivotal Pac-10 matchup, the 23rd-ranked Oregon Ducks head to Berkeley this weekend to take on the California Golden Bears at Memorial Stadium. The Ducks and Bears are two of four teams currently with only one loss in the Pac-10, so obviously this is a big bout for each program."

"Zen architecture about purity of design" is a book review by Terry Peters, North Shore News, Canada.

"Zen Architecture, by Paul Discoe (Gibbs Smith Publishers, $38.50).

The marriage of Western building practices with Japanese construction techniques is a complicated balancing act of esthetics and practicalities.

Paul Discoe has beautifully achieved this balance. His unique journey has taken him from growing up in Berkeley, California, to studying Zen to apprenticing in Japan and eventually returning to found Joinery Structures in California. Along the way he has become not only a master carpenter but also an ordained Zen priest."

"Fujitsu Teams with UC Berkeley to Author Paper on Use of Ethernet Switches to Power the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence" is a story on marketwatch.com.

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