January
2008
HAPPY NEW
YEAR!
1/1/08
Christmas
Evening--12/25/07--between 6:30 PM and 7:00PM my dark-blue 1979
Toyota 4X4 was stolen from my driveway. It was locked and parked
in my fully-lighted-drive. Its license number is 1U51703. It is
in excellent condition with some paint chipping here and there
and with 210,00 miles.
Any information should forwarded to Berkeley PD Auto Theft at
981-5738.
Sadly, it took Berkeley PD two-hours to respond to my call. I
reported the theft at roughly 7:10 and an officer arrived about
9:15 PM. The officer was courteous, efficient, well-informed and
young. Congrats on all that!
Council Woman,
Linda Maio emails
Sorry to
hear this Ron. Very sorry.
Linda
I've received
quite a few email saying how sorry the writers are. Well, Ok .
. . now what are we going to do about it?
Andy Kruse
emails
Ron- We are
sorry to hear about your truck. I will forward your email throughout
L.J. Kruse Co. We'll keep our eyes open for you.
Andy
A reader
emails from Albuqerque, NM
Sorry to
learn about this, Ron. . . . I looked at the crime
map for your zipcode, and was distressed to see how crime-ridden
your
area is. I know you're very attached to the neighborhood, the
people, history, etc., but with the crime and bad air quality,
have
you considered relocating . . . Just a thought. With my lungs
harmed from 47 years of
smoking, there's no way I could tolerate the air you live in.
. . . Also, while we have crime,
it's nothing like what you have there.
Our Councilman,
Darryl Moore emails
Ron
I just read
the email about your [vehicle] being stolen. I am very sorry to
hear this troubling news. If I can help in any way please let
me know. . . . I will look into the matter on the 2nd of January
when I return to work.
Darryl
1/2/08
As the rainy season begins
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.
Sooner than
later, some of my thoughts on the west-Berkeley Plan.
1/4/08
Darryl Moore,
our Councilman emailed yesterday
As you may
know, today's rain was the beginning of a rather large
storm headed our way, so I thought that it might be a good idea
to
send out the information below that might prove useful during
the
rainy season. Fortunately, although we are going to get quite
a bit
of rain, we are in the last quarter of the moon so we will not
have
the same tidal conditions that caused the disasterous flooding
in
winter of 2005 and the City has put a great deal of effort into
trying to keep the storm drains clear for this winter season.
But,
if you do see debris that is clogging up a storm drain inlet,
please
call the Streets & Utilities division of Public Works at (510)
981-6620 or if you see leaves clogging up the surface of a
stormdrain, please try and rake them out to allow the water to
drain. If you have any questions, please feel free to call the
office. Thank you and keep dry.
Sincerely,
Councilmember Darryl Moore
"Stabbing victim dies in hospital: Victim
of 2007 attack outside bar becomes first homicide victim of
new year"
reports Kristin Bender of our Times.
Berkeley
has logged its first homicide of the year after a man who was
stabbed in the neck outside a South Berkeley bar about two weeks
ago died early Thursday, police said.
Kent Washington
Evans, 44 of Berkeley, died at 8:30 a.m. Thursday at Highland
Hospital in Oakland, where he had been hospitalize since the stabbing
on Dec. 22, said Berkeley Police Sgt. Mary Kusmiss.
'This would
be the first homicide of 2008,' Kusmiss said."
"Hours after carjacking, police find Perata's
vehicle: Oakland Democrat's belongings were in state-issued auto
when Richmond officers found in late Saturday" report Kristin Bender and Harry
Harris of the Times.
A sharp-eyed
Richmond police officer on Saturday night located the candy-apple
red Dodge Charger carjacked at gunpoint earlier that day from
state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata.
Richmond
police found the 2006 state-issued car in a residential area at
Wiswall and Colette drives near the Hilltop Mall in Richmond at
11:11 p.m. Saturday.
Perata's
cell phone and other property were still in the car, which was
in good condition, said Lt. Michael Booker. The carjacking occurred
about 1:45 p.m. Saturday in North Oakland."
"Jury stuck at deadlock on tree sitters'
friend:No unanimous verdict reached on man who sent a bag of oranges
up to Berkeley protesters" reports Kristin Bender.
"A jury
has deadlocked on a misdemeanor charge against a man charged with
violating a court order by sending a bag of oranges up a rope
for the UC Berkeley tree sitters."
"City gearing up for next phase of bicycle
path:Plan is to extend the Ohlone Greenway to Strawberry Creek
Park"
reports the Times' Doug Oakley.
"Berkeley
is preparing to finish the second phase of a bike path that eventually
will connect the popular Ohlone Greenway to central Berkeley at
Strawberry Creek Park."
"Cooking oil useful for fries and fuel:Oakland's
Blue Sky Biodiesel is joining others in converting a waste product
to a truck fuel that's greener than diesel" writes the Times' Janis
Mara
Next time
you buy french fries at McAfee Coliseum, pat yourself on the back.
The oil that crisped your fries will soon be powering school buses
in this city, as well as trucks at the Port of Oakland, thanks
to a new local company.
Blue Sky
Bio-Fuels Inc., founded 18 months ago by brothers Patrick and
Ralph MacIntyre, collects kitchen grease from the Coliseum, UC
Berkeley and other local sources and makes it into biodiesel,
which
generates fewer harmful emissions when burned than conventional
diesel fuel.
'It's a win-win,'
said Ralph MacIntyre, a Sebastopol resident who fires up his 2003
Dodge truck, which runs on biodiesel, at 4:30 a.m. five days a
week to drive to the company's 49th Avenue location near
the Coliseum.
'We give
the restaurant owners free collection, and by selling within a
50-mile radius and keeping down our transportation costs we give
buyers a better deal, he said. Normally, the restaurateurs must
pay for the FOG (fats, grease and oil) to be collected.
Biodiesel
from Blue Sky sells for around $3.80 a gallon. The brothers make
50 cents to 75 cents a gallon in profit. They sold 30,000 gallons
in November and expect to make about 2.8 million gallons in 2008.
Eventually, the plant will ramp up to 20 million gallons a year,
Ralph MacIntyre said.
Blue Sky
has five employees and expects to have 30 once it hits full production
capacity. And the MacIntyres aren't the only ones in the biodiesel
business hereabouts."
Steve Smith
hipped me to this a couple of years ago--check back posts. Steve
drives two bio-diesel vehicles and often uses processed vegi-oil
in them.
Steve works
at Norheim and Yost and the little boy whose picture has been
featured on Scrambled Eggs is his son Jack.
1/5/08
Pete's Potter
Creek rain gauge showed 1.9 inches from Thursday to Friday morning.
Ryan Lau
forwards our Councilwoman, Linda Maio's email
The next major step pertaining
to Pacific Steel Casting is the presentation of their Health Risk
Assessment (HRA). The Bay Area Air Quality Management District
required Pacific Steel to conduct this assessment in response
to community and City concerns. The report has finally been delivered
and the Air District has issued the following announcement:
The Bay Area Air Quality
Management District's Community Meeting to Discuss Pacific Steel's
Health Risk Assessment
Wednesday, January 9, 2008 6:00 pm
West Berkeley Senior Center (1900 6th Street)
The Air District and Cal/EPA's Office of Environmental Health
Hazard Assessment have reviewed the HRA report and have preliminarily
determined that it was prepared in accordance with the statewide
Air District Hot Spots Health Risk Assessment Guidelines. The
HRA report will be presented to the City and the community, and
questions will be taken from the public.
Staff from the Air District
and Cal/EPA's Office of Environmental Health will present information
and answer questions regarding the HRA and risk assessment procedures.
The HRA report contains a
description of the Air District Hot Spots risk assessment process,
a comprehensive analysis of the emissions of toxic air contaminants
from Pacific Steel, an overview of air dispersion modeling, an
evaluation of the potential for human exposure, and a quantitative
assessment of potential health risks associated with modeled levels
of exposure.
The public review and comment
period for the HRA began on October 11, 2007 and the Air District
will accept comments on the HRA until January 31, 2008. Comments
regarding the HRA and/or requests for the HRA report on DVD should
be submitted to Scott Lutz, Manager of the Toxic Evaluation Section,
by e-mail at slutz@baaqmd.gov.
We expect that the technical
staff, including City toxics management staff, will do their best
to make the Health Risk Assessment decipherable by the average
person. Hope to see you there.
Linda Maio
1/6/08
Yesterday about Noon, Byron
and Milo pulled up into our drive with Byron rolling down his
window and exclaming "We found your truck! We found your
truck!"
Indeed they had.
Pretty tight Neighbor, west-Berkeley.
Geralyn reports Pete's Potter
Creek rain guage showed 1.75 inches from Friday AM through Saturday
late morning--for a total of 3.65 inches as of Saturday night.
Channel 2 NEWS reports that
our current storm is the strongest in 6 years, based on wind strength
and amount of rain fall.
From today's San Francisco
Chronicle's "Cook's Night Out."
"Joshua Pearle didn't have to wait for
the fusion trend to hit the American dining scene. The Bay Area
native grew up with a veritable smorgasbord of tastes and tidbits.
There was his mom's Norwegian
and Irish heritage, his dad's Russian and Austrian Jewish eating
traditions, and a host of other influences. His grandmother liked
to take young Josh to iconic late-20th century places such as
Dago Mary's and the Hot House, where she worked for a while, and
he often shared meals with a close Russian family friend who favored
the Eastern European establishments that used to flourish along
the Clement Street corridor.
Pearle, now chef and co-owner
of Berkeley's 900 Grayson, which serves breakfast and lunch, loved
it all, whether he was living with his mother in the North Bay
or his lawyer father in Berkeley. When we met for an interview
dinner between Christmas and New Year's, the chef was preparing
to leave for a family reunion in Carlsbad, N.M., that
included not only his parents and their current spouses but also
his ex-partner in life and business, chef Sophina Uong (who now
works at Maritime East), and their 5-year-old daughter, Roan."
Well Ok then!
1/8/08
David Snipper emails
Hi Ron,
I'm looking forward to dinners
at 900. What with the Bowl and our now famous eatery, the neighborhood
is finally beginning to come into it's own. Of course it's a mixed
blessing but progress has its price. Now if only we had a decent
local barbershop life would be perfect.
Great news about your truck. Alas, a virgin no more, hope it wasn't
overly abused.
Best of the season,
David
Paul D'Orlean, one of the
founders of the U.S.Velocette Owners Club, is a good friend of
Potter Creek's Camille.
Camille owns
magnet, 2508 san pablo ave
510.848.1966
www.magnetboutique.com
Paul is also one of the organizers
of the Velocette owner's Montana Summer Rally which is covered
in this January's Cycle World.So check out
"Never Give Up:1000 miles through Montana
by Mark Hoyer.
"There are a lot of
kinds of crazy in this world. There is the really whacko kind
of nuts that leads to crime or politics. And then there is the
kind of crazy you back into slowly, without really knowing it.
So when my neighbor walked
up as I was loading my 1954 Velocette into the back of the CW
van and asked what I was doing and I said that I was headed to
Montana to ride 1000 miles, his reply of 'Are you crazy?!' probably
wasn't a rhetorical question. I must admit that it did give me
pause, but I knew I was sane because I was headed to Montana with
40 other like-minded maniacs from the American arm of the Velocette
Owners Club for the annual Summer Rally."
"Fatal Berkeley fire may have started from
candle lit for storm outage"
reports Katy Murphy of our Times.
"Richard Dury, a well-liked
Berkeley grocery-store fixture, was inside his home early Saturday
morning, shielded from the strong rain and winds that toppled
big-rigs and knocked down trees and power
lines throughout the day.
But a candle lit by a caretaker
during a power outage may have started a fire that killed the
61-year-old developmentally disabled man, Berkeley fire investigators
reported."
"Nostalgia without the Sand:El Cerrito's
Playland-Not-at-the-Beach revives a midway"
reports Shelly Meron of our Times.
When Richard Tuck and his
business partner bought a building on San Pablo Avenue in El Cerrito
about a decade ago, they agreed that a small portion would be
used for their executive recruiting firm. The rest, according
to Tuck, would be used 'for fun.'
Today, while some employees
crouch over paperwork and answer phones in small cubicles, a few
volunteers work nearby, helping realize Tuck's dream of preserving
a piece of old-fashioned amusement parks. After almost 10 years
of putting this place together, and getting through all the necessary
red tape, Tuck is about to open Playland- Not-at-the-Beach, pending
a final city inspection this month.
'We've been disappointed
that it's taken this long,' Tuck said. 'But it also meant we could
build a lot more than we planned.'
The 'fun' part of the building
turned out to be half-museum, half- play area, a tribute to places
such as Playland at the Beach and the Sutro Baths in San Francisco,
both of which have long been closed."
"Tedford continues shakeup: He hires the
49ers quarterbacks coach as Cal's new play caller"
writes the Times' Jonathan Okanes.
"The next time Cal football
coach Jeff Tedford has a teamwide issue to deal with, he'll have
one less duty to worry about.
Tedford gave up his role
as play caller Sunday by hiring Frank Cignetti as offensive coordinator
and quarterbacks coach. Cignetti spent last season as the 49ers'
quarterbacks coach and has 19 years of coaching experience on
the college and professional level."
"Bey never repaid city loan for business:
Your Black Muslim Bakery CEO borrowed more than $1 million for
health care company"
report Cecily Burt and G.W. Schulz of the Times.
"Buffett buys into industrial company:
Tycoon's firm gives 'vote of confidence to nuts and bolts businesses'"
reports the AP's Samantha Bomkamp.
When tycoon Warren Buffett's
investment company said Tuesday that it would pay $4.5 billion
for a 60 percent stake in industrial conglomerate Marmon Holdings
Inc., he gave the U.S. industrial segment a much-needed vote of
confidence.
Marmon has more than 125
manufacturing and service businesses and is owned by trusts of
the Pritzker family of Chicago, which developed the Hyatt Hotel
chain. The company has its collective hands in businesses across
the transportation, energy and construction markets, with products
ranging from railroad tank cars to metal fasteners."
Lee Iacocca has a newish
book, Where Have All the Leaders Gone? Here are some excerpts.
"Had Enough?
Am I the only guy in this country who's fed
up with what's happening?
Where the hell is our outrage?
We should be screaming bloody murder. We've got a gang of clueless
bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got
corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean
up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead
of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when
the politicians say, 'Stay the course.'
Stay the course? You've got
to be kidding. This is America, not the damned Titanic. I'll give
you a sound bite: Throw the bums out!
You might think I'm getting
senile, that I've gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone
has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore. The
President of the United States is given a free pass to ignore
the Constitution, tap our phones, and lead us to war on a pack
of lies. Congress responds to record deficits by passing a huge
tax cut for the wealthy (thanks, but I don't need it). The most
famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in
handcuffs. While we're fiddling in Iraq, the Middle East is burning
and nobody seems to know what to do. And the press is waving pom-poms
instead of asking hard questions. That's not the promise of America
my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for. I've had enough.
How about you?
I'll go a step further. You
can't call yourself a patriot if you're not outraged. This is
a fight I'm ready and willing to have.
My friends tell me to calm
down. They say, 'Lee, you're eighty-two years old. Leave the rage
to the young people.' I'd love to as soon as I can pry them away
from their iPods for five seconds and get them to pay attention.
I'm going to speak up because it's my patriotic duty. I think
people will listen to me. They say I have a reputation as a straight
shooter. So I'll tell you how I see it, and it's not pretty, but
at least it's real. I'm hoping to strike a nerve in those young
folks who say they don't vote because they don't trust politicians
to represent their interests. Hey, America, wake up.
These guys work for us."
Jan Leigner emails
Jan was a manager at Scharffen
Berger before it was sold to Hershey.
Hi Ron,
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I had the occasion to be
in Berkeley for New Year's Eve and, in what I found to be a much
livelier than expected debate, I was put to task as to whether
or not the Berkeley Bowl is actually approved to be built and
open it's doors.
Our host was adamant in that
oh-so-Berkeley way that the BB2 was not actually going to happen.
I tried to tell her that
I was keeping my thumb on the pulse of Potter Creek (she didn't
know the neighborhood name) via a local "insider source",
and that I've seen the "Berkeley Hole" in person but
her fervor grew to such a pitch that I eventually ceded to her
with a "well, maybe you're right" just because I didn't
want to end 2007 in a land-use debate.
Now that I live back innacity,
I'd almost forgotten about the rambunctiousness of the Berkeley-ite...
The exchange reminded me
of this passage from Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton:
"If you argue with a
madman, it is extremely probable that you will get the worst of
it; for in many ways his mind moves all the quicker for not being
delayed by the things that go with good judgment. He is not hampered
by a sense of humour or by charity, or by the dumb certainties
of experience. He is the more logical for losing certain sane
affections. Indeed, the common phrase for insanity is in this
respect a misleading one. The madman is not the man who has lost
his reason. The madman is the man who has lost everything except
his reason. The madman,s explanation of a thing is always complete,
and often in a purely rational sense satisfactory. Or, to speak
more strictly, the insane explanation, if not conclusive, is at
least unanswerable. He is in the clean and well-lit prison of
one idea: he is sharpened to one painful point."
So, as you like to say, well
Ok then!
Is the Bowl a go? Or no?
When is the projected opening date?
I am glad to read that your
truck was recovered. I hope it is still in good working order.
Take care,
Jan Leigner
Our Councilman Darryl Moore
emails
There is a Consumer Home
Mortgage Town Hall & Resource Fair
Saturday, January 12, 2008
10AM-1PM with registration 9:30, Oakland City Hall, 1 Frank Ogawa
Plaza, 3rd Floor, Oakland CA 94612
Credit counselors, loan services,
and lenders will offer on-site assistance and information on available
options with your mortgage.
Please bring your loan documents
and other relevant financial information to the event.
Sincerely,
Council member Darryl Moore
Why were the pollster estimates
off 10-15 % in the New Hampshire Democratic Primary?
Simple . . . racism.
White-folks lied about who
they were going to vote for, either to the pollsters or to themselves.
Get a grip, this is still
America.
1/10/08
"Air
monitor placed near steel plant" reports Kristin Bender
in our Times.
The Bay Area Air Quality
Management District is spending about $750,000 over the next year
or so to monitor the air near Pacific Steel Casting, the West
Berkeley steel foundry that neighbors say emits a foul odor and
hazardous toxins.
Last month, the air district
put the mobile air monitoring trailer at Sixth and Camelia streets,
about three blocks from Pacific Steel, in the wake of a bevy of
problems related to the foundry.
'It's long overdue,' said
Berkeley community activist L A Wood.
The foundry's problems have
included three lawsuits regarding odor and emissions in the past
few years and dozens of complaints from residents about headaches,
nausea and tightness in their chests because of a foul odor.
'The goal here is to locate
these trailers in various impacted communities over time so we
can better quantify air quality issues in those areas,' said air
district monitoring manager Eric Stevenson. The district has 31
air-monitoring sites in the Bay Area.
Stevenson said the cost of
the trailer, a white boxy structure on wheels, was $250,000. Staff
time and other costs for 12 to 18 months -- the length of time
the trailer will stay in West Berkeley -- could run an additional
$500,000.
The trailer is equipped with
air monitors on top and computerized monitoring equipment inside.
It is surrounded by a barbed wire fence."
"Hydrogen plans hit the brakes:Third agency
turns down state funds to build vehicle fueling station"
reports Kimberly Kindy in the Times.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's
vision of a 'hydrogen highway' -- 100 fueling stations by 2010
that would make it practical for California motorists to use non-polluting
hydrogen-powered fuel-cell vehicles -- has hit a roadblock."
"Mortgage firm sees more late payments:Uncertainty
continues to circle hard-hit Countrywide as housing
struggles press on"
writes the AP's Alex Veiga.
Countrywide Financial Corp.,
its stock pummeled this week by rumors of bankruptcy and lackluster
housing market forecasts, said Wednesday the percentage of borrowers
who missed payments on home loans last month rose, signaling worsening
trouble for the nation's largest mortgage lender and for the entire
mortgage sector.
The company also reported
that it had funded $23.5 billion in loans in December -- a steep
decline from $42.8 billion in the year-ago period.
'Their new business is down
roughly 50 percent,' said Sean Egan, managing director of independent
ratings firm Egan-Jones Ratings Co. in Philadelphia.
'The market is fairly concerned
whether the company is going to be able to correct the fundamental
problems that it's faced with,' he said.
The new figures drove Countrywide
stock down by more than 15 percent at one point in the day before
it recovered to end down 6.4 percent, or 35 cents, at $5.12."
1/12/08
Our Councilman Darryl Moore's
aid, Ryan Lau emails
As some of you may already
know, the parking lot at 7th Street and Dwight Street will soon
be closing, compounding the pre-existing parking issues in West
Berkeley. We have been able to negotiate with Bayer, the owners
of the lot, and they have been gracious enough to extend the lease
through January and we are still in discussions about a possible
further extension. Please come to our community meeting on Monday,
January 14th to discuss West Berkeley parking issues and help
us resolve parking issues in West Berkeley.
Who: Councilmember Darryl Moore, a Berkeley Transportation Planner,
a representative from Bayer and concerned community members
What: A community meeting to discuss solutions to the parking
issues at 8th Street and Dwight Way
When: Monday, January 14th, 2007 at 6PM
Where: The Sawtooth/Kawneer Building, Bay 1, 2525 8th Street (the
entrance closest to Dwight Way)
Sincerely, Ryan Lau
Our Libby emails
Ron,
Foggy Gulch's first CD, "Fogged In" is now available
at
http://cdbaby.com/cd/foggygulch
We encourage you to buy it there, but
you can also buy one (or more!) from any band member, or email
eric@foggygulch.com for
information on how to get a copy.
Foggy Gulch will be playing at Julie's Coffee & Tea Garden
in Alameda
on the evening of January 29th and at The Music Store at 66 West
Portal
Ave in San Francisco on the afternoon of February 9th.
Libby
I bought my copy from Libby,
the groups' lead vocalist and the receptionist at École
Bilingue--she's at the Grayson Street campus. As of this morning,
I've listened to it a half-dozen or more times. I love Bluegrass
and Country and this is what these folks sing and play. Simply,
it is the most musical production I've heard in years--even for
a first effort. Filled with melody and played and sung with feeling,
this CD is AMAZING!
Buy a copy!
Then check them out live
at Julie's.
(More about these folks later.)
Consolidated is now printing
our election ballots--a big job that has gone on for weeks, regularly
requiring a couple of shifts.
"Pacific Steel Health Hearing Packs Center" reports our Planet's Richard Brenneman.
"Berkeley Mayor Tom
Bates and City Councilmember Linda Maio vowed Wednesday night
to reopen Pacific Steel Casting's use permit to force action on
odors emanating from the company's West Berkeley plant.
Their promises came during
a public hearing on a Health Risk Assessment report prepared by
the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (AQMD) and the state
Office of Environ-mental Health Hazard Asses-sment.
Wednesday night's hearing
provided the public a chance to register their views before the
public comment period ends Jan. 31. And comment they did, to the
standing-room-only crowd packing the West Berkeley Senior Center."
"Berkeley man gets 56 years for trying
to kill police officer" reports Kristin Bender of our Times.
"A Berkeley
man who was convicted of attempting to murder a Berkeley police officer more
than two years ago was sentenced to 56 years and four months to
life in prison on Thursday.
Alameda County
Superior Court Judge Joseph Hurley sentenced Howard Street, 38,
for shooting Officer Darren Kacalek on the morning of May 17,
2005, while Kacalek was chasing him in the area of Sixth and Delaware
streets in Berkeley."
"Pedestrian's death riles council members:Three
officials intend to seek information that will lead to =20
measures for reducing traffic accidents, fatalities" writes Doug Oakley in the Times.
"Home market stifles furniture dealers" reports the Times' George
Avalos.
"The
collapse of the housing market has begun to produce some collateral
wreckage, with the shutdown or downsizing of some home furnishings
stores in the East Bay, including Thomasville Furniture.
Furniture
Brands International Inc. has closed three Thomasville stores
in the Bay Area, including two in the East Bay. Heritage House
Galleries has shut its doors in Concord. Levitz Furniture has
declared bankruptcy, is liquidating its operations and has decided
to close its furniture stores, including five in the East Bay
and one in San Joaquin County. Furnishings Concepts will close
one of its two Pleasanton stores.
The housing
troubles also have forced some developers to shift the focus of
their retail centers. A shopping complex in Pleasanton has a number
of home furnishings retailers, and the developer is seeking different
kinds of tenants for some spaces."
And "Analysts
disect Countrywide buyout" writes Barbara E. Hernandez.
"Bay
Area mortgage professionals said Friday they believe Bank of America's
$4 billion purchase of Countrywide Financial may be good for the
financial well-being of the industry, but reduced competition
could be bad for consumers."
1/14/08
Richard of
Eighth Street emails Richard's Rain Totals
From Sep
21 - 07 to Jan 9 - 08
9.8" of rain on the north side of House.
From 1-3-08 to 1-9-08
3.0" of rain on the north side of House.
The north side gets a little less than the south side.
"Berkeley seeks pedestrian protection:Council
members, upset by death of woman in crosswalk, look for
ways to protect residents from speeding drivers" reports the Times' Doug
Oakley.
"The
Dec. 31 death of a 61-year-old Berkeley woman hit by a car while
crossing the street was "the last straw" for Councilwoman
Dona Spring, who wants some changes made to protect pedestrians
and
bicyclists from errant drivers.
Spring said
she and council members Laurie Capitelli and Betty Olds plan to
introduce an item at their Jan. 29 meeting asking the city for
statistics and locations on all the pedestrians and bicyclists
who have been hit by cars in the past three to five years.
Spring said
the information will help the council determine what kind of new
safety measures the city can take to reduce accidents and deaths.
Four pedestrians
were killed by cars in the city in 2007, according to Berkeley
police. There were no pedestrians killed by cars in 2005 and 2006."
Well, Ok
then.
My experience
is that many drivers in the west of Berkeley are courteous above-and-beyond,
stopping fro pedestrians at crosswalks--even stopping for cross-traffic-cyclists
when the car has the right of way. On the other hand, Berkeley
cyclists and pedestrians are often very assertive even careless
when crossing the street. And then there are those few who believe
street-crossing is a political statement against autos, the auto-makers
and Capitalism.
"Air board targets pollution at ports"
Agency proposes its first comprehensive rule to reduce emissions
at
Bay Area facilities" reports Denis Cuff of our Times.
Worried that
air pollution from ports is threatening neighbors' health, the
Bay Area's clean air agency has proposed its first comprehensive
rule to reduce emissions from the ports of Oakland, San Francisco,
Richmond, Benicia and Redwood City.
The requirements
are likely to stir plenty of debate and questions.
Because ports
are magnets for such a wide variety of mobile pollution sources
-- ships, trains and trucks -- it's not clear yet what is practical
and politically feasible to limit.
The Bay Area
Air Quality Management District Board, however, is determined
to curb emissions from ports, especially at Oakland, a hot spot
for concentrations of toxic diesel soot that can aggravate the
risk of asthma attacks and heart and lung problems, regulators
say."
1/15/08
Over the
weekend, one of Merryll's buildings was broken into and a workman's
tools were stolen.
Yesterday,
sidewalks were laid at Ruth and Marvin's.
Yesterday
Acme's new-flour-silo was installed with the help of a large crane--Pete's
photo to follow.
Around 3:00
PM yesterday, there was a police action at 7th and Carleton. Lipofsky
counted 9 patrol cars plus a Berkeley FD pumper and ambulance--details
to follow.
Pete's next
Alternate Tunings is this Wednesday, January 16th, at 9:00 AM
on KALX. The program is co-hosted by Eliza Smith and is about
the music of Harry Partch.
Lipofsky
did a show with Partch at the University of Illinois in The Day.
Pete's Potter
Creek rain totals--January 4, 1.9 inches; 5th, 1.25 inches; 6th,
.85 inches; 7th, .20 inches; 8th, .50 inches; 10th, .10 inches.
1/16/08
Foggy Gulch's first CD, "Fogged
In" is now available at
http://cdbaby.com/cd/foggygulch
We encourage you to buy it there, but
you can also buy one (or more!) from any band member, or email
eric@foggygulch.com for
information on how to get a copy.
Foggy Gulch will be playing at Julie's Coffee & Tea Garden
in Alameda
on the evening of January 29th and at The Music Store at 66 West
Portal
Ave in San Francisco on the afternoon of February 9th.
I bought my copy from Libby,
the groups' lead vocalist and the receptionist at École
Bilingue--she's at the Grayson Street campus. As of this morning,
I've listened to it a half-dozen or more times. I love Bluegrass
and Country and this is what these folks sing and play. Simply,
it is the most musical production I've heard in years--even for
a first effort. Filled with melody and played and sung with feeling,
this CD is AMAZING!
Buy a copy!
Then check them out live
at Julie's
So much for the gentler sex.
Monday-afternoon's police
action at 7th and Carleton was a fight between two women. "Over
half-dozen radio-cars, a fire-engine and an ambulance for that"
I asked. "Apparently they were very aggressive" replied
my compact, rather-than-small, female source.
"Price trumps taste buds:Researchers find
that cost of wine is a factor in how much pleasure
drinkers derive from it"
reports Denise Gellene of the Los Angleles Times.
"When it comes to wine
tasting, pleasure is in the price.
Using brain scanners to monitor
the minds of wine drinkers, scientists found that people given
two identical red wines got more pleasure from tasting the one
they were told cost more."
"Retailers try to pick up the pieces:After
a lackluster holiday shopping season, stores search for ways
to rebound quickly"
writes Sue Stock in our Times.
"The 2007 holiday shopping
season is history, but the effects of the mediocre period will
reach far into 2008.
Because of lower-than-expected
sales, retailers are trimming costs, and that likely means less
selection in stores, fewer employees to help customers, some store
closings and fewer new stores this year.
Several chains, including
Talbots, Macy's and Ethan Allen, have announced that they will
close unprofitable stores to focus on high-profit areas."
Why Racism is f#%ked.
Racists got it wrong from
the very beginning. White people are really pink, black folks
more often are brown, brown folks are tan, yellow people are really
white and red folks sure as hell aren't red. No wonder it sucks
as a concept.
1/17/08
1/15/08--3:20
PM--SERIOUS irritant in front room, lights flicker. 5:23 PM--
irritant in front, cough, eyes smart. 6:43 PM--SERIOUS irritant
in front room, lights flicker, leave.
"Native pickleweed offers a taste of the
wild:Succulent thrives in salt marshes and adds punch to salad" reports our S.F Chronicle.
"What
grows wild all along the edge of San Francisco Bay but fetches
more than $5 a pound at the Berkeley Bowl grocery? That would
be pickleweed, a remarkable native plant, a key component of the
tidal marsh ecosystem and a tasty salad besides."
"Dozens in Texas Town Report Seeing UFO" reports the AP's Angela
K. Brown.
"In
this farming community where nightfall usually brings clear, starry
skies, residents are abuzz over reported
sightings of what many believe is a UFO.
Several dozen
people - including a pilot, county constable and business owners
- insist they have seen a large silent object with bright lights
flying low and fast. Some reported seeing fighter jets chasing
it."
1/18/08
West-Berkeley
pedestrians do, however, ignore my mom, Gladys' simple childhood
advice "Ronnie, be sure to look both ways before crossing
the street."
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/us/
It's time to open the west-Berkeley
Plan FULLY to the light of the 21st Century
"Wild turkeys running afoul at Berkeley
lab" muses
Doug Oakley of our Times.
"They
are breaking windows, defecating on public property and intimidating
workers. Now scientists at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory are calling
them a public safety problem.
Who would
have thought that a bunch of wild turkeys could cause so much
trouble?
At least
60 of them are reproducing like rabbits, raising concern among
officials at the lab that someone is going to get hurt.
The hubbub
started this past spring when the growing group of gobblers got
bigger. At the time, they were a cute sideshow, occasionally interrupting
a meeting with loud gobbles and chasing people on Segway transporters
used to get around the hilly campus.
Then the
real trouble started. In June, a wayward turkey wandered inside
the lab's cafe and decided to exit through a plate-glass window.
After that, another window in an adjacent building was smashed."
"County moves toward a ban on pot clubs:Marijuana
dispensaries have not been allowed to open since a temporary moratorium
in 2006"
reports the Times' Ryan Huff.
"Contra
Costa supervisors took the first step toward prohibiting medical
marijuana dispensaries in unincorporated areas of the county on
Tuesday, aiming to pass a new ban by March.
Such facilities
have not been allowed to open since the county approved a temporary
moratorium in April 2006. That moratorium lapses April 10, the
reason supervisors have asked county attorneys to draw up an ordinance
that bans land uses that violate state or federal law -- including
cannabis clubs.
The only
legal medical marijuana business in the unincorporated county
-- MEDelivery of El Sobrante -- will be allowed to remain open
since it applied for a land-use permit before a moratorium two
years ago, supervisors said. However, it would be closed if it
tried to expand.
Using marijuana
-- even for medical purposes -- is illegal under federal law,
according to a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. This conflicts
with state law, which allows residents with certain medical conditions
to use marijuana with a doctor's recommendation.
'There's
a strange dance going on with medical marijuana laws in California,'
said Contra Costa District Attorney Robert Kochly."
"Median home price sinks in Southern California:Research
firm reports lowest sales for December in the past 20 years" reports the AP's Alex
Veiga.
"The
median home price in a six-county region of Southern California
plunged more than 13 percent in December from a year ago, as the
national housing slump kept eating away at home values, a real
estate research firm said Tuesday."
"Citigroup loses almost $10 billion in
quarter:Nation's largest bank slashes dividend and jobs, records
huge write-down"
writes the AP's Madlen Read.
"Citigroup
Inc. lost almost $10 billion in last year's final three months,
the largest quarterly deficit in its 196-year history, and slashed
its dividend and 4,200 jobs as it recorded a mammoth write-down
for bad bets on the mortgage industry.
The nation's
largest bank wrote down the value of its portfolio by $18.1 billion
and said it was setting aside $4 billion to cover U.S. consumer
credit defaults. It signaled further problems in its consumer
businesses as deflated home prices, high energy and food costs,
and rising unemployment weigh on people's ability to keep up with
their payments.
The reduction
of 4,200 jobs in the fourth quarter is in addition to 17,000 layoffs
announced in the spring, and Chief Financial Officer Gary Crittenden
said during a conference call that more job cuts would be on the
way."
And "IndyMac
to slash workforce by 24%:Mortgage company will lay off 2,403
employees, including vendors in India, to cut costs" writes Alex Veiga.
"Mortgage
lender IndyMac Bancorp Inc. said Tuesday that it will slash its
workforce by 24 percent, laying off 2,403 employees in a bid to
cut costs as it tries to weather the worsening housing slump and
sagging demand for home loans."
ABC NEWS
reported Thursday morning that housing starts nation wide in 2007
were down almost 25% from 2006.
BUT "
'Hidden' jobs aren't that hard too find:Experts say the job market
is still in pretty good shape, especially for those who put some
extra wisdom into their search" reports our Times' Janis Mara.
"Recent
college graduate Maureen Nelson of Pleasant Hill is looking for
her first job in a new career, but she's not worried. Nelson is
sure her nearly 300 contacts, online skills and determination
will see her through.
Nelson is
one of many East Bay residents who made finding a new job their
New Year's resolution. The chance of succeeding isn't bad, experts
say, especially if you take advantage of available resources and
use the right approach."
1/19/08
6:24 AM--SERIOUS
irritant in warehouse front and front of warehouse, cough, eyes
smart, light head, warehouse lights flicker/voltage drop. 9:43
AM--irritant in warehouse front room and immediately in front
of warehouse. 4:26 PM--lights flicker/voltage drop. 5:08 PM--SERIOUS
irritant in front room, lights flicker/voltage drop.
Our Janine
Johnson emails
Hi everybody!
I have a fun and interesting house concert coming up,
which I hope you'd like to attend! I am playing all of J.S. Bach's
Inventions and Sinfonias, but with a bit of a twist. Along with
the
relatively unadorned versions of these pieces we know so well,
I am
augmenting the program with additional performances of many of
these,
using known student ornamentation and also Bach's own from his
final
autograph. Juxtaposing the simple and ornamented versions to me
is
fascinating and also is a rare window into Baroque performance
practice. Some versions are rather lavish, and others more discreet.
Come and hear for yourself!
I am giving
two performances on Saturday Feb.2, 10:30 AM (with coffee
and cookies), and Sunday Feb. 3rd at 3:00 PM (wine and cheese).
. . .
Suggested donation is $10.00, with CDs for sale at the concert
for
$12.00. Please RSVP so I know how many chairs to
set up. Thanks!
Tak Eshima
emails
Hey Penndorf:
'Just found you on my email file. The big thing is That I saw
a photograph of you in todays Chronicle and was blown away. My
first thought
was that another candidate for President. You look real good.I
was having breakfast at Café 817 yesterday as a matter
of fact. I hadn't been there for some time and I had some business
back in my old office so I dropped by the
old haunt. Not the same. So you found another favorite place for
breakfast.
I'll have to drop by and check some recordings. Take care and
good hearing about you.
Best, Tak
&
Tak Nakamoto
emails
Ron,
[Does anyone]
know the person(s) who operate the Berkeley Crime Log site? It
appears to not have been updated with fresh data since 12/06/07.
I
tried the site's email address and no one has replied.
Saw your
mug in the SF Chronicle the other day. Janet and I must be
the only people from around here that haven't eaten at 900 Grayson
yet.
Tak Nakamoto
Yep, my half-page,
color photo appears in the Chronicle's Thursday 96 Hours
section above a story about 900
GRAYSON. If you
look closely you can see I'm reading a copy of our Daily Bolshevik,
aka Daily Planet. I think I was checking out my 'scope.
"Outrage Over Alcohol Inspection Fees Forces
City to Halt Plans"
reports our Planet's Judith Scherr.
"Faced with some two
dozen irate small business owners, the Berkeley City Council reversed
itself Tuesday, backing away from a December decision to charge
bars, restaurants and liquor stores $467 each year to inspect
for substandard conditions-graffiti, sidewalk drinking, sales
to minors and the like."
And Judith Scherr reports
"City
Council Questions, Approves Green Corridor.
The mayors of Berkeley, Oakland
and Emeryville, along with the UC Berkeley chancellor and the
director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, met under
the TV cameras' glare in early December to unveil the East Bay
Green Corridor Partnership.
At its meeting Tuesday night,
a unanimous Berkeley City Council voted to sign onto the partnership
that promises support for green industries and 'green collar'
jobs."
"Lawmakers' flashy, fuel-sucking cars on
road at the expense of taxpayers" reports John Simerman of our Times.
"When armed carjackers
last month relieved state Senate Pro Tem Don Perata of his state-owned
vehicle, it raised two eyebrows -- one for the brash daylight
crime on a North Oakland street, the other for the flash of Perata's
ride."
When I was a kid growing
up in Milwaukee, our Mayor, Frank
Ziedler, rode the bus.
Well, Ok then.
1/20/08
and following are
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:
Officer Andrew
Frankel, Berkeley PD - 981-5774 AFrankel@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