Eye on Berkeley

A Policy on Bullying Is Passed in Wake of School Gun Incidents

2012-01-27T17:32:00.000-08:00

By Doug Oakley

Staff Writer

Berkeley's school board unanimously passed an "anti-bullying" policy Wednesday night, an action with roots in last year's swarm of gun incidents at Berkeley High School.

The district overhauled security precautions at two high schools following seven arrests of students bringing guns on campus. In one incident, a shot was fired in a bathroom but no one was injured.

The new policy defines bullying as "systematic and chronically inflicting physical hurt or psychological distress" on students or employees and can be in person, online or via telephone. It also requires adults to report it if they see it and principals to investigate.

But it leaves it up to principals what punishment is appropriate.

The policy, which takes an every-situation-is-different approach, tells principals they must come up with a punishment for bullying that is "age appropriate and equal to the severity of the violation."

Suspension, expulsion and calling the police are possible outcomes.

The policy was first considered as part a package of security reforms at Berkeley High following the gun incidents but was spun off and given its own public forum.

Bringing a gun to school is at the extreme end of bullying behavior, said the school district's director of student services, Susan Craig.

"If you look at the continuum of bullying from an annoyance on up to something that is deeply pervasive, intimidating and violent, bringing a gun to school is at the top of the tier," Craig said.

On the flip side of that is students who bring guns to school for protection.

"Students who bring weapons to school often say they do so because they feel unsafe in the community or they feel threatened," Craig said. "But I don't want to make the connection that students who are bullied are likely to bring a gun."

School district superintendent Bill Huyett said during the meeting Wednesday night that bullying investigations should not be taken lightly.

"All interviews of the witnesses, the victim and the accused person should be done separately," Huyett said. "And we have an obligation to inform the aggressive parties that we will protect the victims. We are highly successful in doing that in our schools."

In addition, the policy forbids bullying around a person's "perceived sex, gender, transgender or gender-identity."

Judy Appel, executive director of Our Family Coalition, a group that promotes equality for lesbian and gay families with children, said she likes the policy.

"There is the belief that in order for our kids to learn they have to know they are in a safe and welcoming and inclusive environment," Appel said. "But the devil is in the details and we'll see how it gets implemented at the school site."

Craig said the district will train principals and vice principals first on the new policy, then notify parents via a newsletter and then principals will tell their staff about the new policy.

Each school also must make an annual report to school district administrators in June detailing bullying incidents at the school."

Doug Oakley covers Berkeley. Contact him at 510-843-1408. Follow him at Twitter.com/douglasoakley.

Grease Fire Causes $700,000 in Damage to Chinese Restaurant

2012-01-27T17:28:00.000-08:00

By Doug Oakley

Staff Writer

doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com

BERKELEY -- Flames from a heated wok at a downtown Chinese restaurant spread out of control Wednesday night, causing $700,000 damage and closing the eatery, a fire official said Thursday.

No injuries were reported.

The fire in the kitchen of Great China restaurant on Kittredge Street leapt into the chimney over the stove and ignited grease caked inside it, said Berkeley Assistant Fire Chief Gil Dong.

The fire then went into the roof and the ceiling of the restaurant's dining room and scorched the Oxford Plaza apartment building next to it, Dong said. Razan's Organic Kitchen next door also felt the heat but was not damaged, he said.

"The cook and several employees tried to put the fire out in the flu above the stove with fire extinguishers, but once it was inside there it got out of control," Dong said.

When firefighters arrived just after 9:20 p.m., they put the fire in the chimney out, but it took them another hour and a half to put out the flames that had spread to the ceiling and roof, he said.

"It's hard when you have to chase the fire through the walls," Dong said. "We didn't want it to relight."

Dong said Great China will remain closed until it can repair its ceiling and roof. Razan's Organic was given the OK to reopen Thursday morning, he said.

Dong said fire trucks had to block

the entrance and exit to an underground parking lot in the Oxford Plaza next door, so people who parked their cars there could not leave until after midnight when the fire department packed up and left.

Both restaurants were evacuated during the fire, although there were not many customers at that hour.

Doug Oakley covers Berkeley. Contact him at 510-843-1408. Follow him at Twitter.com/douglasoakley.

Occupy Protesters Claim Victory in Reinstating UC Berkeley Library Hours

2012-01-25T17:41:00.000-08:00

By Doug Oakley and Rick Hurd

doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com; rhurd@bayareanewsgroup.com

Protesters occupying the UC Berkeley’s anthropology library on campus claimed victory last Saturday night when university administrators signed an agreement meeting the protesters’ demands for a fully restored library schedule.

UC Berkeley’s Tom Leonard put his signature on the agreement with Occupy Cal members about 7:30 p.m., according to an email from Ronald Cruz, an attorney for By Any Means Necessary, a coalition that defends affirmative action and immigration. Cruz was one of the protesters who occupied the library 24-hours a day for four days.

The protesters decided to take over the anthropology library in Kroeber Hall after its hours were cut about 50 percent when school returned from winter break.

UC Berkeley police, who made national headlines last fall when they were taped beating students during Occupy protests at Sproul Plaza, were nowhere to be seen during the entire library occupation. Anthropology Department Chairman Terry Deacon said he stood between police and protesters by negotiating with university administrators.

Deacon said when he heard about the planned occupation for the library, he made a deal with UC Berkeley Executive Vice Chancellor George Breslauer to keep police away from the occupation with the understanding that he and other faculty members would stay the night with the occupiers.

“I negotiated with the administration to prevent police action because dragging students out of here would be detrimental to this space,” Deacon said.

Anthropology Professor Stefania Pandolfo, who addressed a meeting of the occupiers in the library, said she was speaking to clarify the role of the faculty in the protest.

“We are here as participants in the occupation,” Pandolfo said.

Deacon said the hours at the library were cut because one librarian quit his job there over the winter break and the school had not yet hired a replacement or moved another school employee into the position.

Under the agreement hashed out over the weekend, the library will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends, the same hours that were kept in the Fall 2011 semester.

As part of the agreement, administrators also will hire a full-time librarian to keep up with the demands.

Doug Oakley covers Berkeley. Contact him at 510-843-1408. Follow him at Twitter.com/douglasoakley

Berkeley Crime Report Jan. 9-19

2012-01-25T12:18:00.000-08:00

THURSDAY, JAN. 19

Residential Burglary

A construction contractor reported the theft of two skylights and three pieces of aluminum scaffold from a home he was working on in the 1600 block of Ward Street. He said he believed the burglar or burglars climbed in the house through the rear window.

DUI Arrest (No. 2 for this Young Man)

At about 2:35 a.m., a Berkeley police officer spotted a Buick driving too fast in front of her on Martin Luther King Jr. Way with a brake light out. The officer pulled the 22-year-old driver over, smelled alcohol and performed a field sobriety test, which the driver failed, followed by a blood-alcohol test which came up .139, police said. The legal limit of blood alcohol in California is .08. The driver had a suspended license and was on probation for a previous DUI conviction.

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 18

DUI Arrest

A woman driving a black Mustang ran a red light at Alcatraz Avenue and Sacramento Street at 1:45 a.m. The 44-year-old was pulled over on San Pablo Avenue, given a sobriety test and failed with a blood alcohol level of .215, police said. The legal limit is 08.

Auto Burglary

At about 6:40 a San Lorenzo man came back to his parked car in the 1000 block of Ashby Avenue and found that someone broke a window and took his backpack which contained his checkbook.

Identity Theft

A woman who lives on Creston Road reported that someone opened an account in her name on a website called BillMeLater.com and used her information to make purchases of more than $600.

Armed Robbery at Gas Station

A gas station attendant working in the 3400 block of Ashby Avenue reported an armed robbery of a small amount of cash.

About 15 officers searched the area for the suspect, who was described to police as a teenager about 5-feet-5 inches tall, thin, with freckles and wearing all dark clothes, a mask, gloves and carrying a handgun.

Despite searching for 90 minutes, police could not find the suspect.

Auto Burglary (Fur Coat Apparently Not of Interest)

A Piedmont woman who left her MacBook pro computer under her fur coat in her car, on The Uplands, just east of Claremont Avenue in Berkeley, reported someone smashed the right rear window and took the computer.

Arrest of Man With a Gun and Drugs Near Park

Berkeley Drug Task Force members spotted a 25-year-old Richmond man with a stay-away order from San Pablo Park. When the man saw the officers he took off running and ditched a loaded handgun, police said. Police caught him in the 1200 block of Burnett Street and said they found him in possession of 12 grams of marijuana. He was arrested on suspicion of gun offenses, possession of marijuana for sale, resisting and obstructing police and a felony probation violation.

MONDAY, JAN. 16

Auto Burglary

A woman told police that someone broke into her car in the 3000 block of Hillegass Avenue and took her iPod.

Drug Arrest After Foot Chase

At about 9 p.m. police stopped a bicyclist on San Pablo Avenue just south of University Avenue for riding his bike on the sidewalk. When the officer decided to search him, the man fled northbound on San Pablo Avenue, police said. Officers caught him in the 2000 block of 9th Street, where they said they found 14 individually wrapped pieces of crack cocaine in a bag he was carrying. The 23-year-old Richmond was arrested on suspicion of possessing a controlled substance for sale and resisting arrest.

Grand Theft of iPhone

A 25-year old woman walking near Haste and Ellsworth streets had her iPhone snatched by a man on a bicycle, police said.

TUESDAY, JAN. 10

Break in and Residential Burglary

A resident of the 2000 block of Hearst Street told police someone pried the lock on the front door of a home and stole a laptop computer, an iPod, coins and jewelry.

Identity Theft and Fraud on Elderly

An 83-year-old woman reported that someone stole her identity by opening a credit card account in her name using her Social Security number. The person then used the card to purchase items at Macy’s, police said.

Copper Pipe Theft

Someone stole 12-feet of copper pipe from a restaurant in the 1500 block of Shattuck Avenue, where it was to be installed as a railing, police said.

MONDAY, JAN. 9

Drunk in Public (No. 2 for this Man) and Probation Violation

At about 10:40 p.m., an employee of a grocery store in the 3000 block of Telegraph Avenue called police after witnessing a man steal beer. When officers arrived, the suspect became belligerent, aggressive and uncooperative, police said. While the employee did not want the police to arrest him, he was so drunk they did so anyway for being drunk in public. A records check revealed the 50 year-old Berkeley man was also on probation for a previous drunk-in-public offense and was violating his probation.

Strong Arm Robbery and Beating

At about 5:15 p.m., a 62-year-old San Francisco man was walking east on Woolsey Street playing a word game on his cell phone. A suspect approached him from his right, hit him with a hard object in the mouth, grabbed his black iPhone 4 and fled east on Woolsey.

The victim tried to chase the suspect but lost him in the BART parking lot near Tremont Street.

The victim was taken to a local emergency room for an injury to his mouth and a gash on his temple. The victim described the suspect as a male teenager wearing black clothes, about 5-feet-8 inches tall and about 160 pounds.

Fund Established for Baby of City Clerk

2012-01-19T10:26:00.001-08:00

By Doug Oakley

Staff Writer

doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com

Friends and family of Berkeley City Clerk Deanna Despain, who died Jan. 7 from a fall down stairs in her home, have created a fund for the health and education of her 10-month old daughter.
Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates annonced the fund at the City Council meeting Tuesday night, although it is not sponsored by the city.

Contributions can be mailed to the Deanna Despain Memorial Fund for Adele Hyland Dickson at 2342 Shattuck Ave. #886, Berkeley, CA 94704-1517. Checks should be written to the Deanna Despain Memorial Fund.

Despain was found by her husband at the bottom of her stairs in her Oakland home at about 2 a.m. Jan. 7. authorities said. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Authorities said there were no signs of foul play and that the couple’s baby was asleep in another room.

Preliminary findings of an autopsy indicated the fatal injuries she suffered were consistent with a fall, officials said. Despain was appointed city clerk in May 2009.

“January 7 was a terrible day for her family and our city,” Bates said during the City Council meeting before holding a moment of silence in her honor.

Doug Oakley covers Berkeley. Contact him at 510-843-1408. Follow him at Twitter.com/douglasoakley.

Woman Hit by Police Car to Get $170,000

2012-01-19T10:06:00.000-08:00

By Doug Oakley

Staff Writer

doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com

Berkeley is paying an El Cerrito woman $170,000 for injuries suffered when she was hit by a police car while riding her moped in the Marin Avenue traffic circle in 2009.

The liability payment from the city to an injured person is one of the highest in recent memory, City Attorney Zach Cowan said.

The City Council approved the payment at its Tuesday night meeting without comment. California Highway Patrol spokesman Sam Morgan said his agency investigated the accident and concluded the Berkeley police officer was at fault. The officer has since retired.

"The officer was found at fault, but was not cited," Morgan said. "It's not very common to cite individuals in a crash because there is usually not enough physical evidence. According to his statement he entered the roundabout but didn't see her until they collided."

Lisbeth Ann Bittle went flying over the handlebars of her moped when she was hit and landed on the pavement, said her attorney, Daniel Martinez de la Vega.

"That area is pretty notorious for accidents," Martinez de la Vega said. "People don't yield there."

He said Bittle had extensive scarring on her legs that recently needed surgery. After the accident she spent several weeks on bed rest and used crutches for several months, he added.

Cowan said it was a good thing Bittle was wearing a helmet.

"It's unfortunate all around, and we wish her the best," Cowan said. "I think we can safely say this was not on purpose."

Doug Oakley covers Berkeley. Contact him at 510-843-1408. Follow him at Twitter.com/douglasoakley.

Employees Returning to Abandoned Berkeley School Building

2012-01-12T19:30:00.001-08:00

By Doug Oakley

Staff Writer

doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com

A largely abandoned and dilapidated Berkeley school district building the size of a city block is undergoing a $22 million renovation and will bring at least 100 employees to the University Avenue neighborhood in March.

The West Campus building on University Avenue between Bonar and Curtis streets last housed the Berkeley Adult School and has been empty since 2004. Since its closing the building has collected garbage and attracted homeless people for eight years. A giant parking lot filled with weeds.

Now the parking lot is being repaved, sidewalks are being redone and several renovated buildings will house administrators, 13 charter school classrooms and a school board meeting room.

The administration building on the property is costing $14.5 million and is expected to be finished in March. The board meeting room will cost $1.75 million and is expected to be finished in December.

And 13 classrooms for the Realm charter school, at a cost of $6 million paid by the school district, are expected to be finished at the end of 2013. Fixing up the building and bringing more people into the neighborhood sounds like a good idea to some neighbors and surrounding businesses.

Juha Pellinen, who lives across from the east side of the property on Addison Street, is glad the buildings are being renovated.

"There were homeless people jumping over the fences and sleeping in there before," Pellinen said. "It will be better for security in the neighborhood when the administrators move in."

Pellinen especially likes that the building now will have lights on the perimeter at night.

School district spokesman Mark Coplan said he thinks the construction also will be a plus for the area. He predicts there will be less stress on the neighborhood when buildings are in use.

"When the adult school was here there were 10,000 students registered and there were 300 people there on any given day or night," Coplan said. "So the impact will be far less than it ever was. And now neighbors will have some people here instead of a huge empty space."

Kimmy Tran, whose family opened the Four Seasons Salon eight months ago across the street on University Avenue, is hoping at least some of those new school district employees will come in for haircuts, nail work and waxing.

"I've been waiting for that building to open," said Tran "Business has been dead for a long time. "

Both Tran and Thanu Chaichana, who owns Your Place Thai Cuisine on University Avenue, said the construction already has discouraged the drug dealing in front of the building that was going on before.

"There used to be a lot of homeless and drug dealing in this area, but it's getting better now," Chaichana said. "I think it's going to be better for business. Long time ago, I did have customers who were teachers and students from the adult school."

Doug Oakley covers Berkeley. Contact him at 510-843-1408. Follow him at Twitter.com/douglasoakley.

Pepper Spray's Spotty Record in Berkeley Last Year

2012-01-05T11:51:00.000-08:00

By Doug Oakley

Staff Writer

doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com

Berkely police used pepper spray on combative people nine times last year, but officers found it effective in just five of those cases, according to reports published on the city’s web site.

Policy makers in Berkeley declined to talk about the reports, but the police department defended its use, saying anecdotal evidence over the years shows it can be an effective tool in crime fighting.

Although the police department has been required to submit reports on the use of pepper spray, a concentrated version of cayenne pepper, to the City Council and the Police Review Commission since 1997, the city only recently began publishing them on the Internet.

The issue of police use of pepper spray got hotter than a jalepeno in November when UC Davis police were shown on videos spraying non-combative protesters who were sitting and had linked arms during an Occupy protest Nov. 18. The school’s police chief and two officers involved in the Davis pepper spray incident remain on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation.

In Berkeley pepper spray is prohibited for crowd control and “incidents involving passive resistance,” according to a 2009 training bulletin.

While the reports show that pepper spray used by police in Berkley in 2011 was effective only 55 percent of the time, hardly anyone involved in making police policy is willing to talk about it.

Berkeley’s Interim City Manager Christine Daniel declined an interview as did the Police Review Commission’s interim officer Lillian Mayers. Police Review Commission Chairman George Perezvelez did not return phone calls nor did Cice Chair Michael Sherman.

Berkeley Police Spokeswoman Sgt. Mary Kusmiss did say the department has not discussed “re-consideration of the use” of pepper spray despite its spotty record in 2011 of bringing resisting suspects under control.

“The effectiveness of (pepper spray) on an individual varies so much depending on the dymanics involved,” Kusmiss said. “Some individuals react to it immediately, some are under the influence of a drug or intoxicant and in other cases the will to escape or not return to prison is greater than the effects of the spray, and suspects have various levels of tolerance.”

For example, in an Oct. 1 incident in which officers responded to a domestic violence call where they observed injuries to a female victim, police tried to arrest the male suspect who “was very hostile and attempted to barricade himself,” according to the report. When the man assumed a fighting stance an officer sprayed the man but nothing happened.

“The suspect charged me, punched me twice in the face and tackled me to the ground,” the officer said in his report.

In another case on April 2, a man suspected of stealing a backpack put up a fight when officers tried to arrest him. After fighting with the man for several minutes an officer sprayed him but he “continued violently resisting” and it took “six officers to subdue him,” the report said.

On the other hand, pepper spray has proved useful in some cases, according to the reports. In February a woman who was eventually taken for a psychiatric evealuation was swinging a razor blade box cutter at passersby and then lunged at a responding police officer with razor.

“I deployed my spray,” the report said. “I targeted the forehead...She dropped the razor and retreated to the sidewalk. The suspect was handcuffed.”

And in another case police responded to a call of a 235 pound man who was throwing potted plants into a roadway. When officers arrived the man jumped on top of a police car and started stomping on the rooftop, the report said. When they tried to pull him down, he started fighting. After hitting the man with a baton several times and not getting any response, “I sprayed him in the face for about one second,” the report said. “This ended the fight.”

Kusmiss said pepper spray is just one of the tools police have in fighting crime.

“If it is not effective, officers move to another force such as defensive physical tactics to bring the situation under control as safely as they are able,” she said.

While Berkeley police are not keeping a scorecard of when pepper spray is useful and when it is not, Kusmiss said anecdotal evidence proves that it is useful.

“Anectdotally, there are many instances in our collective memory where pepper spray has rendered suspects incapacitated enough that officers were able to handcuff them safely, thus reducing the likelihood of suspects, comunity members and officers getting injured,” Kusmiss said.

Doug Oakley covers Berkeley. Contact him at 510-843-1408. Follow him at Twitter.com/douglasoakley.

Berkeley Hills Fire Destroys a Home, Damages Another

2011-12-31T19:32:00.000-08:00

By Doug Oakley

Staff Writer

Bay Area News Group

doakley@bayareanewsgroupcom

Phil Goldsmith was watching television in his Berkeley hills home Wednesday night when his brother saw flames coming from the house just down the hill.

"He came in and said, 'Hey, there's a fire out there,' so we called the fire department and started spraying with two hoses from the deck," Goldsmith said Thursday morning as crews were mopping up the fire that destroyed one home and did extensive damage to another in the 1000 block of Miller Avenue. "The flames were shooting up in the air and I honestly thought our house would be engulfed."

Burned debris hangs from a Berkeley hills home destroyed in a Dec. 29 fire. (Photo by Doug Oakley)

Berkeley firefighter Jon Pique washes some hose after a Berkeley hills fire destroyed one house and extensively damaged another. (Photo by Doug Oakley)

The back side of a Miller Avenue home in the Berkeley hills that was destroyed by a Dec. 29 fire. (Photo by Doug Oakley)

While no residents of the two burned homes were injured, four of the 36 firefighters on the scene were taken to hospitals for injuries sustained battling the blaze, said Deputy Fire Chief Gill Dong. Two suffered from heat exhaustion, one hurt a knee and the other an ankle while fighting the fire in the houses and on the steep, rocky hill behind them that was thick with vegetation.
Six residents from the two homes damaged in the three-alarm fire have sought temporary housing.
Goldsmith said he thought the fire might have started in vegetation between the two homes. The fire department was trying to determine a cause and a damage estimate Thursday morning. The blaze was brought under control at 10:41 p.m., Dong said. It was first reported about 8:30 p.m. and a third alarm was called by 9:12 p.m.
Fifteen nearby homes were evacuated and firefighters were forced to find an alternate

water source after a power line fell on a fire truck, rendering it inoperable, Dong said.The windless evening helped firefighters contain the blaze. However, the intense fire kept officials scrambling.
Neighbors said flames stretched up to 60 feet in the air and sparks flew as high as 150 feet while swirling around redwood trees.
Fire investigators remained at the scene throughout the night searching for a cause and checking for hot spots, Dong said.
Toby McLeod also had a hose ready to go during the fire as he watched the flames.
"I swear these guys saved the whole hillside," said McLeod, who lives on Grizzly Peak, just above the homes that burned.
Robert Davis, 81, lives down the street and said he and his wife got their emergency kits and put them in the car.
He didn't leave, but he also didn't sleep much.
"I know there are a lot of big trees on the hill, so I'm just thankful it was a still night with no wind," Davis said.
Units from the Oakland and Alameda fire departments also responded, while units from the Alameda County Fire Department helped cover the rest of the city, Dong said.
He said there have been four house fires in Berkeley since Saturday.
"What happens during this time of year is it gets colder, and people are using their heaters and fireplaces more," which lead to more fires, he said. "So we want to remind people about their proper use and care."

Residents of Burned Building May Have a Long Wait for Insurance Payments

2011-12-31T19:04:00.000-08:00

By Doug Oakley

Staff Writer doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com Insurance payments for resident and business victimsof a Nov. 18 Telegraph Avenue fire may be a long time coming as the buildingowners and their insurance company investigate who is to blame.

Many of the 68 residents of the building losteverything they owned and nearby businesses report sales are down between 50percent and 75 percent since the fire.

If they are hoping for an insurance payout soon, theymay be disappointed. The owners, Kenneth and Gregory Ent, their insurancecompany and their lawyer are still trying to determine who bears the responsibilityfor the fire that the Berkeley Fire Department determined started in anelevator control panel, said the Ents' lawyer, John Podesta.

The building at Telegraph and Haste streets, at left, is a pile of rubble waiting to be cleaned up. (Doug Oakley/Staff)

Podesta said the Ents have liability insurance, but hewould not say how much.

In the meantime, the U.S. Small BusinessAdministration is offering loans to residents and businesses affected to getback on their feet.

"It could be that Paramount, the elevator company that had themaintenance contract for the building elevator, or the Ents are ultimatelyresponsible," Podesta said. "Or it could be a part maker or PG&Ewho caused a power surge that threw the whole thing off. Or it could be a casewhere an insurance company says, 'This is ours, and we're going to step up tothe plate.' "

Podesta said he and the owners are not "sloughinganyone off," they just need to find out who should take responsibility.

He said it's too soon to tell how much businesses inthe area have lost because of roads that were closed and a sidewalk in front ofthe building that is still closed.

"The best thing they can do is keep in contactwith us and make sure we have information about the claim," Podesta said."It's going to take a while for a store to put together all the lostrevenue. Hopefully, by the time the liability investigation is complete, thatinformation is gathered and presented to deal with the claims."

At the same time, a recent declaration of the area asa disaster zone has opened the way for the U.S. Small Business Administrationto offer the loans to residents and businesses in the area hurt by the fire.

The SBA has set up shop at 2539 Telegraph Ave. to take loanapplications. SBA Spokesman Alex Contreras said since Thursday, the agency hasgiven out five applications and one has been completed and returned.

The office will be open through Friday. It will beopen again on Jan. 9 through Jan. 13.

Renters affected by the fire can get a $40,000 loan at2 percent interest for 30 years to replace lost property. Businesses can getloans up to $2 million with a rate of 4 percent interest for property damageand economic injury.

Al Geyer, owner of a shop called Annapurna,which is two doors down from the burned building and who is director of theTelegraph Merchant's Association, estimates he lost $20,000 in sales so farsince the fire. But he's not interested in a loan.

"Why would I want take out a loan? It's not goingto help me," Geyer said. "If I got a loan, I'd have to pay itback."

Geyer said many business owners on Telegraph Avenue are reporting sales aredown about 50 percent since the fire.

The owner of a store called Gifts of Tara, which isright next to the burned building on Telegraph, said sales were down 95 percentfrom Nov. 18 through Dec. 12 and is down 75 percent since Dec. 12.

He would only take a loan, he said, if it was offeredat zero percent interest.

"If they wanted to offer real help, the loanwould be no interest," said Tagudh, who said he goes by one name."People see the fence in front of the building and all the rubble and itdrives them away. If this continues for a few more months, I can't run thisbusiness anymore."

Doug Oakley covers Berkeley. Contact him at 510-843-1408. Followhim at Twitter.com/douglasoakley.

Berkeley Schools Chief Retiring After Busy 4 Years

2011-12-16T11:42:00.001-08:00

By Doug Oakley

Staff Writer

doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com

A lot can happen in four years. Just ask Berkeley school superintendent Bill Huyett who recently announced his retirement after 38 years in education.

Huyett, 61, said he will leave June 30.

Huyett said he originally came to Berkeley to focus on California's largest disparity in test scores between white students and nonwhite students.

What he got was oh, so much more. And he's still smiling.

While he helped make progress in kindergarten through eighth-grade test scores, Huyett, who earns $238,000 a year, faced a number of controversies and crises during his tenure that brought national attention to the city a number of times.

In most instances he earned praise from people he worked with as someone willing to listen to those outside his inner circle, something not all his predecessors could do.

Earlier this year, he presided over a crisis at Berkeley High School and its alternative counterpart, Berkeley Technology Academy, where no less than seven students were arrested for bringing guns to school. While one shot was fired at Berkeley High, no one was injured in any of the incidents.

Since the district began making security changes and spending money on the problem, the gun incidents have ceased.

"We had a cluster of gun incidents, and it worried everyone," Huyett said. "The steps we took have made students and the community feel more secure. Sometimes out of bad comes good. Now we're working on a bullying policy that came out of that whole discussion."

Huyett also came into and presided over a district that seemed unworried about chronic truancy.

"In the high school they just didn't have the people or the systems to do it right," Huyett said. "Now we have a dean of attendance and three employees working on that."

Both the gun issue and the truancy issue earned criticism from different members of the Alameda County District Attorney's office. In both those instances, things have turned around.

Teresa Drenick, head of the Alameda County District Attorney's truancy office and the department's spokeswoman, once publicly called out the district for failing to keep kids in school where they could stay out of trouble. Her comments on the issue came after hearing years of excuses but no action from Berkeley schools.

"He owned up to it right away, and they worked really hard to put something in place to deal with problems in chronic absenteeism and now it has become a more visible priority for them at all grade levels," Drenick said.

Drenick said after the district was criticized by the district attorney's office for failing to keep track of high school students with criminal records and for attempting to cover up some on-campus crimes, the administration listened and came around.

"The superintendent has been open to working with members of the DA's office on issues including campus safety and truancy," Drenick said.

When administrators at Berkeley High School tried to cut advance placement science lab time and put the money into other programs for lower achieving students, angering parents of well-achieving students and grabbing headlines nationwide, Huyett stepped in.

"I felt we had a pretty good compromise on that issue," Huyett said. "We kept the lab science programs and offered an elective program for all the other students. When I saw the idea to cut out the labs, I said 'that's not good.'"

If voters are any indication of how a person is doing in his job, Huyett seemed to have gotten the thumbs up when he managed to get a property tax and bond measure passed by city voters that brought in about $210 million. As a result of that and previous measures, the district now has about $250 million of construction projects planned for the next 10 years. Julie Sinai, former chief of staff to Mayor Tom Bates who worked with Huyett on the achievement gap issues, said Huyett is the kind of guy who allowed input from people outside the school district, which is not always the case with educators, she said.

"The difference is he came to the table ready to partner, versus ready to brace for an attack," Sinai said. "He encouraged partnerships with people in the city and others that hadn't been done before. He really wanted to work together."

Sinai said that was evident when Huyett stepped in and helped revise and downsize a plan to fix up the abandoned school district building on University Avenue called the West Campus.

"The district was all over the map with the administrative building there, the neighbors were freaked out and he came in and re-engaged the community, scaled back the project and it happened," Sinai said.

All that has happened in the district since Huyett took over didn't stop him from working on what he was most interested in: closing the achievement gap.

He said students in kindergarten through eighth grade have seen "significant point gains since 2007" because of work done with his staff and community members. That was done by revising curriculum to make it more clear and consistent, making it accountable to recognized standards, making the curriculum build on lessons from the previous year, tracking students and fostering more teacher collaboration.

While that has worked in the lower grades, the high school is still a problem.

Huyett said part of the reason that Berkeley has the largest gap in test scores between white and nonwhite students, called the achievement gap, is that the white students do so well. And he's not sure the test results are accurate because it's been hard to get the high school students to even take the tests.

"In the high school we've unfortunately gone through a phase where we didn't get the students to participate in the tests," Huyett said.

While Huyett emphasizes the quality of the teachers, the principals and the district staff as being key to some of his successes and compromises, others in the community say it couldn't have been done without a good leader.

"I definitely want to say something good about him," said Bates. "He's been a fantastic superintendent. The cooperation between the city and the school district has never been better. Working together we've made tremendous strides in working on the achievement gap and health disparities. It will be very difficult to replace him."

Doug Oakley covers Berkeley. Contact him at 510-843-1408. Follow him at Twitter.com/douglasoakley.

UC Berkeley Tries to Cut Middle Class Families a Break with Financial Aid

2011-12-16T11:39:00.000-08:00

By Doug Oakley

Staff Writer

doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com

UC Berkeley is launching a new financial aid program for middle-class students that caps yearly tuition and housing for families earning from $80,000 to $140,000 a year.

The Middle Class Access Plan, announced by Chancellor Robert Birgeneau on Wednesday, caps tuition and housing at 15 percent of income for families who fall in the range. University spokesman Dan Mogulof said the plan should benefit about 6,000 students or one-quarter of the student body. He said about 90 percent of students who qualify for the cap will be California residents.

Currently, families making less than $80,000 a year pay no tuition through an existing financial aid program, he said.

In addition to the family income requirements,families must have less than $200,000 in assets, excluding the value of a home or retirement savings.

In-state students who live on campus pay about $33,000 a year, including $13,000 for tuition. Out-of-state students pay about $55,000 a year.

The plan received guarded and skeptical response from some UC Berkeley students who have been agitating for change in the university system through protests under Occupy Cal.

"I'm skeptical because it feels like a small patch on a much larger and deeper problem," said graduate student Eva Hagberg, 29. "It sounds like a great break for students whose parents make $80,000 to $140,000, but it feels very minimal in comparison to the truly devastating state of public education funding in

California today. There's a crisis in state funding at all levels of education."

Zak Manfredi, a graduate student in rhetoric, said the plan shows that massive protests are getting leaders' attention, but it's not enough.

"It does show us that people are paying attention, and they will be responsive if we keep up mass mobilization, which we intend to do," Manfredi said. "But I think people would say it probably falls short in reducing the debt burden students face."

In announcing the program, Birgeneau said in a statement that the school has been committed to helping low-income families, but that middle-income families need help, too.

"We see early signs that middle-income families who cannot access existing assistance programs are straining to meet college costs," Birgeneau said.

The program will start next fall and cost between $10 million and $12 million a year.

The money will come from philanthropy and an increase in out-of-state students who pay the higher tuition.

Doug Oakley covers Berkeley. Contact him at 510-843-1408. Follow him at Twitter.com/douglasoakley.

Occupy Berkeley Faces Crackdown from City

2011-12-16T11:34:00.000-08:00

By Doug Oakley

Staff Writer

doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com

Fed up with the violence, crime, drugs, dog bites and filth, officials are increasing the pressure on Occupy Berkeley at Civic Center Park with threats of more arrests and citations.

Councilman Jesse Arreguin, whose district includes the park, wants to start issuing stay-away orders to troublemakers. He also said closing down the camp, previously off the table, has emerged as an option but as a last resort.

The city manager's office on Wednesday handed out a four-page memo to campers saying that "the situation in the park is unacceptable" and put them on notice that more arrests and citations, including for unlicensed or unvaccinated dogs, are on the way.

Earlier in the month, Berkeley High School's principal sounded the alarm to parents with a letter that said the camp across the street from the school is making it more difficult to police his 3,000 students at lunch and after school.

The notice released Wednesday details some of the 23 crimes recorded by police related to Occupy campers since Oct. 23.

On Dec. 10, an Occupy camper arrested on suspicion of stealing alcohol from a nearby Safeway was found in possession of a machete, a hammer, a gas mask and a BB gun and was on probation for battery.

On Dec. 6, there was a fight in the park involving 30 campers that stemmed from an earlier "fight between a man and a naked woman where the man dragged the naked woman out of his tent and slammed her to the ground," the notice said. When police arrived, the crowd started chanting, "(Expletive) the police."

Also on Dec. 6, a person was hit in the head with a two-by-four, and the suspect who was arrested was in possession of methamphetamine, police said.

Berkeley spokeswoman Mary Kay Clunies-Ross said the notice speaks for the city manager's office.

"It's what we've been saying the whole time," Clunies-Ross said. "We're monitoring it on a day-to-day basis."

Jake Lee, 20, who is from Michigan, said he came to Berkeley after participating in Occupy Portland and Occupy San Francisco, both of which were shut down. He said those truly interested in the Occupy movement are not the troublemakers.

"There's nothing wrong with the city not wanting guns or big-time drugs here," Lee said. "And there are a number of people here who just don't care about the movement."

Arreguin said he had meetings this week with the city manager, the chief of police and the city attorney about using stay-away orders for people arrested in the park.

"It's not OK for someone to be beaten up with a two-by-four, and it's not OK for a woman to be sexually assaulted there," Arreguin said. "This is not something the city government wants to happen."

Arreguin said he spoke to the city attorney, who told him the use of stay-away orders probably could be used against offenders in the park.

"We issue those for people who have threatened city staff or have come to City Hall and done things," Arreguin said. "Occupying as a form of political expression doesn't give you the right to beat someone up or do drugs and have dangerous weapons."

Doug Oakley covers Berkeley. Contact him at 510-843-1408. Follow him at Twitter.com/douglasoakley.

UC Berkeley Fuel Spill Sickens Office Workers

2011-12-16T11:27:00.000-08:00

By Doug Oakley

Staff Writer

doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com

A diesel spill into Strawberry Creek at UC Berkeley on Saturday night sickened two employees at an office downstream when they went to work Monday, the office director said.

A malfunctioning backup electrical generator spilled about 1,650 gallons of fuel at Stanley Hall on the campus, and about 1,290 gallons was pumped into Strawberry Creek, which flows three miles from the campus to San Francisco Bay, officials said.

"Two people went home feeling sick to their stomachs and I was feeling sick, too," said Susan Friedland, executive director of Affordable Housing Associates, whose office is right next to the waterway at Strawberry Creek Park in Berkeley. "Everybody was back Tuesday. Today it still smells but it's not as toxic as it was."

Diesel fuel continued flowing into the bay as late as Wednesday, five days after the spill. The oil was pumped into a storm drain from Stanley Hall, then into the creek, which flows all the way to the bay at the foot of University Avenue in Berkeley.

UC Berkeley spokeswoman Janet Gilmore, who was speaking for the university and responding agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Coast Guard and the state Department of Fish and Game, said no wildlife had been reported harmed.

According to a UC Berkeley website dedicated to Strawberry Creek, the waterway is home to three kinds of fish, newts, crawfish, slugs and snails. The creek runs above ground on campus and below ground through Berkeley except for a short stretch in Strawberry Creek Park.

Agencies responding to the spill put absorbing booms in the bay to soak up the fuel and assigned two security guards to keep people away from the area 24 hours a day. The booms also were placed in the creek on campus, in Strawberry Creek Park and at Aquatic Park, where part of the creek drains before it ends in the bay.

In addition to the absorbing booms, Gilmore said two private contractors hired by the university have been vacuuming diesel from the bay.

"It was an accident and we're doing everything we can to mitigate the damage and clean it up as soon as possible," Gilmore said.

A spokeswoman for the environmental group Save the Bay said that though the diesel fuel will do harm to fish and wildlife and their habitat in the bay, it's important to keep in mind that 1,290 gallons is a drop in the bucket compared with how much oil goes into the bay each year.

"These spills are harmful, but there are more oil and fuel and car pollutants that find their way into the bay each year to the tune of 3 million gallons," Amy Ricard said. "It's important to remember with 7 million residents in the Bay Area, a lot more oil gets into the bay than we know. Everything that comes off our streets goes into storm drains, into creeks and into the bay."

Stanley Hall, the largest research building on campus, reopened to faculty members and students early Monday after air-quality tests determined the building was safe, Gilmore said.

The spill was reported Saturday night after a mechanical failure caused a tank that stores diesel for Stanley Hall's emergency backup generator to overflow. Some of the diesel was contained on the first basement level where the storage tank is located but nearly 1,300 gallons flowed to the third basement level and into the building's sump pump.

Doug Oakley covers Berkeley. Contact him at 510-843-1408. Follow him at Twitter.com/douglasoakley.

Student Sex Harassment Lawsuit to Settle; Counselor Must Keep Door Open, District Pays Student $57,500

2011-12-11T09:13:00.001-08:00

Doug Oakley

Staff Writer

doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com

A Berkeley High School counselor must keep his door and office blinds open when he is with female students, according to a tentative agreement in a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by a former student.

Attorney Michael Sorgen, who represents the student who sued her counselor in April, said Thursday the Berkeley Unified School District will also pay the 18-year-old woman $57,500.

The woman alleged in her lawsuit in U.S. District Court in San Francisco that counselor Anthony Smith subjected her to "severe and pervasive" sexual harassment in 2010 that included spanking, caressing and unwelcomed sexual comments. She also said he summoned her from classes to talk about issues not related to counseling.

In January 2010, the woman alleged Smith asked her what she wore to bed. "Oh, you don't sleep naked?" he allegedly responded.

Smith's attorney Mark Davis said the proposed settlement, which is subject to approval by the school board, includes no admission of guilt by Smith.

"There are conditions on counseling female students," Davis said. "But I don't think they are necessary given the absence of any similar complaints in the year since this issue arose."

Davis said having the blinds and door open while Smith counsels female students will protect him from "future allegations" but it will "probably restrict the ability of many students to have private conversations with their counselor."

Smith was placed on administrative leave in spring 2010 after the woman complained but later went back to work.

The school district investigated her complaint and found his behavior was inappropriate and unprofessional but refused to remove him from his counseling duties as she had asked.

Sorgen said he asked during negotiations that Smith be barred from counseling female students altogether but "they refused that."

"They also agreed that any time he pulls a female out of class, he would have to get administrative authorization first," Sorgen said.

Davis said Smith felt like he was set up.

"She came to Mr. Smith with significant emotional and academic problems and sought him out for numerous counseling sessions and he helped her," Davis said. "That was her best year academically. When, in response, she turns around and sues him, he was understandably upset."

Berkeley school district Superintendent Bill Huyett said in a statement Thursday the school district also admits no guilt.

"We do a thorough investigation in all cases, and we take the appropriate action when it is warranted, and furthermore, the school district does not admit to any wrongdoing in this case," Huyett said.

Doug Oakley covers Berkeley. Contact him at 510-843-1408. Follow him at Twitter.com/douglasoakley

Occupy Berkeley a Growing Concern for City's High School Students

2011-12-06T14:53:00.001-08:00

By Doug Oakley

Staff Writer

doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com

Supervising 3,000 high school kids at lunch has never been easy, but it's even harder now at Berkeley High School as a growing Occupy Wall Street camp across the street raises issues about crime and drug use, the principal and elected officials say.

While the park has always had its share of urban problems, an increase in crime there shows it's time for the movement to move beyond camping, according to city leaders. Since Oct. 23, Berkeley police have logged six cases of battery, one assault with a deadly weapon, one case of brandishing a firearm and one case of lewd conduct and false imprisonment.

A young man walks through Civic Center Park in downtown Berkeley where the number of Occupy Berkeley tents is nearing 100. The camp has steadily grown as other cities have shut theirs down. The principal at Berkeley High School, which is across the street, has warned parents that supervising his 3,000 students at lunch is now more complicated because of the camp. (Photo by Doug Oakley)

Civic Center Park in Berkeley has a large Occupy tent city going at a time when many Bay Area camps have been closed down. (Photo by Doug Oakley)

Guruprem Khalsa, right, and Jonathon Khaleel, left play a game of chess at the Occupy Berkeley camp in Civic Center Park. (Photo by Doug Oakley)

While other Occupy Wall Street camps around the Bay Area have been dismantled, Berkeley's encampment at Civic Center Park has quietly grown in recent weeks and is nearing 100 tents.

Last week, Berkeley High Principal Pasquale Scuderi sent a letter to parents warning the camp "has complicated our supervision" of kids.

"We've seen clusters of kids in the park who, right or wrong, seem to think it's a rule-free zone and we're trying to tell our kids that is not the case," Scuderi said on Friday as he watched over students in the park at lunch. "I've also seen an increase in the number of pit bulls here. We can't say the park is now off-limits, but we do have a responsibility to let the parents know what's going on."

Assistant Berkeley City Manager Jim Hynes said there has been a "significant increase in crime and sexual assaults" in the park.

Yasmeen Mussard-Afcari, 15, who was eating lunch in the park away from the tents last week said she doesn't see the camp as a "big concern."

"Crazy people have always hung out in the park," she said. "Now there are protesters who may or may not be crazy."

But her friend Elsa de Becker said she doesn't feel safe.

"I think it definitely feels different when the tents are there," de Becker said. "I guess I feel a little less safe."

Berkeley City Councilman Jesse Arreguin, whose district includes the park, said he has given the issue much thought and concluded that while the park has always been a place where Berkeley High students go to smoke pot and cut class, he nevertheless feels people in the tent city have to start thinking about their next move.

"There have been issues in terms of safety where the tents are," Arreguin said. "This is an issue the Occupy people are going to have to think about. When is it going to end? When is the camping going to end and we move to direct action and advocacy? There have been issues about sanitation and crime and the larger it gets, the more issues we have."

Debi Mills, an Occupy camper at the park, said she was living in her van in Santa Barbara before she came to Berkeley. She said the campers want to work with the police, whose headquarters are across the street.

"There is a level of crime here, like attempted rape for example, and we want the police to come and pluck this person out of here," Mills said. "We're trying to work with the police. We just had a meeting with several officers this morning."

Berkeley police spokeswoman Sgt. Mary Kusmiss said the department has seen an increase in crime in the park.

"There has been a slight increase in the last two weeks in battery cases," Kusmiss said. "It's very likely things are happening, but there also are instances of calls for battery and crimes in which the victims and witnesses refused to cooperate."

When asked about the issue of Berkeley High students and campers, Guruprem Khalsa, a camper who also has a home in Berkeley, said the campers can't be responsible for them.

"This is a public park and if parents are concerned, they need to keep a better eye on their kids," Khalsa said. "This was never a safe park anyway."

Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates said city officials are watching the camp closely, but did not say the city is considering a raid.

"We think the letter the principal sent is appropriate and we're concerned about the growth of the camp and the health and safety issues," Bates said. "We're seeing a lot of people from other cities, particularly from Oakland. The character of the demonstration has somehow become something other than what it was originally intended."

Doug Oakley covers Berkeley. Contact him at 510-843-1408. Follow him at Twitter.com/douglasoakley

Berkeley Christmas Fantasy

2011-12-06T13:54:00.001-08:00

A family of gnomes, bottom center, watches the Tilden Park Merry Go Round in Berkeley in December. The Christmas Fantasy runs every evening through Dec. 23. (Photo by Doug Oakley)

Rudolph at the Christmas Fantasy. (Photo by Doug Oakley)

Two Berkeley youngsters get the cold hard facts about Christmas from Santa at Berkeley's Christmas Fantasy in Tilden Park which runs through Dec. 23. (Photo by Doug Oakley)

Dody Silver, right, celebrates her 68th birthday, with Bonnie the double humped camel at the Christmas Fantasy at the Tilden Park Merry Go Round. At left is Terri Oyrazun, who runs the concession at the merry go round. (Photo by Doug Oakley)

Just part of the Christmas light display at the Christmas Fantasy. (Photo by Doug Oakley)

Trouble Before the Fire

2011-11-30T16:11:00.000-08:00

By Doug Oakley

Staff Writer

doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com

Electrical problems, an elevator that occasionally worked and a fire escape to nowhere plagued a Berkeley building before a Nov. 18 fire destroyed the homes of about 70 people, say tenants who met Monday night to consider legal options against the owners.

"This fire did not happen all by itself," Berkeley City Councilman Kriss Worthington told a packed classroom of tenants of 2441 Haste St. during the meeting at UC Berkeley. "We need to make sure the city investigates what caused the fire. I think there is an enormous liability with this landlord. If you all don't stick together and document the problems, you'll probably get next to nothing."

Tuesday morning, the owners of the building began tearing it down but with a signed agreement that they would preserve a 25-foot area around the elevator electrical room where fire officials believe the fire may have started.

Lisa Wang, who lived in the building, said Monday night that when she used her microwave oven or opened her refrigerator door, the lights in her apartment would dim. Same for PJ Hamidi, whose electric tea pot caused lights to go low.

"As soon as I turned it on, the lights would dim, and when the water was done, the lights would go back up," Hamidi said.

When resident Hooman Shahrokhi plugged in his laptop in 2006, sparks flew from the electrical cord, destroyed his computer and burned a hole in his bedspread, leading to a small claims court judgment against the building's owners, Kenneth and Gregory Ent, Shahrokhi said.

And on the night of the fire 11 days ago, Pourya Kahdemi and another tenant used a fire escape they thought would bring them to safety. Instead the fire escape ended on a second floor rooftop with no way to get down. If it hadn't been for employees of the restaurant below who found a long ladder for them to climb down to the ground, Kahdemi said he might not be here today.

"We would have burned up or had to jump," Kahdemi said.

The building manager and the fire department knew about the fire escape to nowhere from a previous fire in the building Feb. 22, but nothing was done, Kahdemi said.

"I personally walked a fireman and the manager to that spot and showed them, and the fireman told the manager 'you need to install a ladder there,' but he didn't do it," Kahdemi said.

Berkeley Deputy Fire Chief Gil Dong said he didn't know anything about the fire escape problem, but the department is researching its records to find out if there were any problems with previous yearly fire inspections. "I don't recall this building being a problem property," Dong said. "But it doesn't mean there were not previous inspection problems."

Dong said there may well have been electrical and other problems in the building that the landlords did not pay attention to, but if tenants did not report it to city officials, there's nothing the city could have done.

"You can't fix a problem if nobody in the city knows about it," Dong said.

Gregory Ent, co-owner of the building, declined to comment Monday.

Berkeley spokeswoman Mary Kay Clunies-Ross said the city's rental housing safety program did not have any records of complaints at the building.

As tenants begin the process of documenting problems in the building and what they lost in order to take legal action against the owners, the fire department will continue its investigation as soon as the owner demolishes the top two floors of the building.

Worthington said the agreement the owners signed to preserve the area of investigation shows the city does not trust the landlord.

"The fire marshal has put more restrictions on this landlord than I have ever seen following a fire," Worthington told the tenants. "The city is actually making him reinforce the building so they can find out what happened. I think this tells you someone in the fire department is thinking we can't leave this up to anyone else."

Marc Janowitz, an attorney with the East Bay Community Law Center, told tenants they have a variety of avenues of legal recourse to consider with the landlords, but their job now is to document previous problems and what they lost from the fire.

"You should think about what you had, what you lost," Janowitz said.

"I've heard about an elevator that didn't work, I heard about someone who sued over an electrical fire and won. You have a lot of rights here, but we can't tell how much because we don't yet know the extent of the wrongs."

Doug Oakley covers Berkeley. Contact him at 510-843-1408. Follow him at Twitter.com/douglasoakley.

UC Regents Cancel Meeting Over Potential Danger; UC Berkeley Investigates Police Brutality Allegations

2011-11-15T06:46:00.000-08:00

By Doug Oakley

Staff Writer

doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com

The University of California Board of Regents is canceling a meeting this week in San Francisco after law enforcement officials warned of "a real danger of significant violence and vandalism."

And in a move related to allegations of police brutality at UC Berkeley during demonstrations last week, UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau on Monday ordered an immediate review of police action last Wednesday when police clashed with Occupy Cal protesters who refused to remove tents set up on Sproul Plaza.

The statement from Birgeneau comes on the eve of a student strike set for Tuesday, also organized by Occupy Cal.

In a statement Monday, UC Regents Chairwoman Sherry Lansing and President Mark Yudof said regents will reschedule their bimonthly meeting and possibly hold it at another venue. Students upset about tuition increases were set to protest the Wednesday and Thursday meetings on UC San Francisco's Mission Bay campus.

Lansing and Yudof say law enforcement officials advised them that "rogue elements intent on violence and confrontation" with campus police were planning on attending planned peaceful demonstrations.

At the UC Berkeley campus, Birgeneau said videos showing students being beaten by police Wednesday were "very disturbing." During that protest, students stood and linked arms in front of police who were trying to take down tents set up on Sproul Plaza.

"These videos are very disturbing," Birgeneau said. "The events of last Wednesday are unworthy of us as a university community."

Birgeneau also offered amnesty under the Student Code of Conduct for any Berkeley student who was arrested and cited "solely for attempting to block the police in removing the Occupy Cal encampment."

Birgeneau said he had been out of town on a trip to Asia during the Wednesday demonstration and only had a chance to look at the videos on Sunday when he returned.

The police review, he said, will be undertaken by the school's Police Review Board. Birgeneau said University Police Chief Mitch Celaya ordered a separate review that will be headed by "a senior member of the command staff at one of our sister UC campuses."

Interviewed last week about the videos, Celaya said: "I would have preferred there would not have been confrontation or acts of violence on behalf of the protesters. The protesters had a choice to move, and they chose not to, and they chose physical confrontation."

In addition to the Tuesday strike at UC Berkeley, former Labor Secretary Robert Reich will deliver a lecture on class warfare on the steps of Sproul Plaza at 8 p.m.

Reich, a professor of public policy at the school, is giving the 15th annual Mario Savio Memorial Lecture, which honors the man who was the spokesman for the free speech movement in 1964.

The speech had been set for a ballroom at UC Berkeley. Occupy Cal asked Reich to transfer the event to the plaza, where they will be rallying during the day.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact Doug Oakley at 510-843-1408. Follow him at Twitter.com/douglasoakley.

City Leaders Refuse Aid Agreement with UC Berkeley Over Police Brutality, Free Speech Concerns

2011-11-10T09:27:00.000-08:00

By Doug Oakley

Staff Writer

doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com

Citing excessive force and free speech violations by police during protests in Oakland and at UC Berkeley, the Berkeley City Council this week refused a mutual aid agreement with university police and nixed agreements with other police agencies on regional domestic surveillance.

(Check out this crazy footage from Nov. 9!!!)

Council members used news reports of police using excessive force at the Occupy Oakland protests and at previous protests at UC Berkeley as reason for not renewing the agreements that usually are approved each year without fanfare.

In addition, the council did not renew an agreement with the federal government on detaining illegal immigrants at the city jail.

The 8-0 vote, with Mayor Tom Bates abstaining, means the council will revisit those agreements at a later date after scrutinizing them more thoroughly.

Other mutual aid agreements with police departments around the Bay Area included in the 900-plus page document before the council were approved as part of the vote.

The two-way mutual aid agreements allow other police departments to call on Berkeley police for help during demonstrations, natural disasters and other big events and for Berkeley to do the same when it needs help.

"Some of my constituents believe the right to demonstrate is something we should respect," Councilman Jesse Arreguin said. "That's my issue with the UC police department, and I don't know how we address that."

A UC Berkeley police spokesman did not immediately return a phone call for comment.

Although the council approved the mutual aid agreement with Oakland, in the future it will be discussing changes to general policies that govern all such agreements, including the types of incidents that qualify as real emergencies, Arreguin said.

Arreguin said he has no problem with the majority of agreements the Berkeley police department has with other agencies, but "my concerns are with specific agreements."

"I think our police do an exceptional job of protecting people's civil liberties," Arreguin said. "We do a much better job than Oakland."

Referring to recent charges of excessive use of force on Occupy Oakland protesters when Berkeley police have been called to Oakland to help, Bates asked Berkeley police Chief Michael Meehan, who is in charge in such situations.

"We always send a command level officer, and they are in control of our force," Meehan said.

"When Oakland or someone says we need to move these people out and use force and tear gas and all that, how do our people react? Can we say no?" Bates asked.

"If it's a violation of our policy, we can say no," Meehan said.

Meehan said the mutual aid agreements are important because Berkeley needs help from time to time.

"It's a two-way street," Meehan said after the meeting. "If we don't have these agreements, most of the agencies might be reticent to provide mutual aid to us."

Councilman Max Anderson said he believes Berkeley police are "head and shoulders above the rest" when it comes to protecting civil liberties.

"But I don't see that kind of commitment in other agencies," Anderson said. "Someone who aims a tear-gas canister at someone's head, shoots and fades back into the crowd, I have a problem with that.

"It's true anonymous mobs do bad things, but most people are out there proudly carrying signs and doing nothing more than exercising their rights. If we turn on people like this, this country is in huge trouble."

Councilwoman Susan Wengraf cautioned her colleagues that Berkeley is going to need help sooner or later from other police departments.

"This is a city with an earthquake fault running through it, we're next to a park where a wild fire is going to come from, and there have been gas line explosions in neighboring areas, so we need these agreements," Wengraf said.

Councilwoman Linda Maio said holding up the mutual aid agreements is sending a message.

"We need to let people know we are listening, watching and we are going to react," Maio said.

Doug Oakley covers Berkeley. Contact him at 510-843-1408. Follow him at Twitter.com/douglasoakley

Moms and Kids 'Occupy" Oakland Wells Fargo, Close Accounts

2011-11-07T12:09:00.000-08:00

By Doug Oakley

Staff Writer

doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com

Angry that Wells Fargo took federal bailout money and is now posting record profits, a group of moms and their children rallied at an Oakland branch Friday and closed their accounts.

The "Colorful Mamas of the 99 Percent" tried to enter the bank, but the doors were shuttered soon after the protest began about noon at the branch on Franklin street.

The group of 40 marched from Snow Park nearby with about 10 strollers and kids in their arms and carried a banner that said: "Teach Big Banks to Share: We're Moving Our Money."

The first mom to close her account, Mimi Ho of Oakland, brought one of her two children into the bank strapped to her chest and was surrounded by television and newspaper photographers as she filled out the paperwork.

At least three moms closed their accounts before the bank locked its doors.

Wells Fargo, which took federal bailout money during the economic crisis, posted a profit of $15.18 billion for the 12 months ending in September, its highest number for any one-year period.

Alejandro Soto-Vigil, of Berkeley and an aide to Berkeley City Councilman Kriss Worthington, helped organize the rally.

"I'm upset because the feds bailed out the banks and left the families behind," Soto-Vigil said. "Two of my cousins lost their homes but the bankers haven't lost their bonuses."

The moms said they were closing their accounts because the bank should pay more taxes that eventually make it to social services that are being cut, like schools.

Prishni Murillo of Oakland brought her children to teach them that the principals of sharing should apply to big banks. She wants Wells Fargo to pay more taxes and contribute more to the community.

"Taxes go to schools and in Oakland we're closing five schools and 25 are on the chopping block," said Murillo. "We want to contribute the voices of moms of color and present to the public the people who are carrying the brunt of a failed economy, which is our children."

But a Wells Fargo spokesman, Ruben Pulido, said the San Francisco-based bank donates money to charity and pays lots of taxes.

He said in 2010 the bank donated $210 million to charitable organizations nationwide and has paid $30 billion in income taxes in the last 10 years.

Also in 2010, he said, the bank donated $20.7 million to nonprofits and schools in the Bay Area and gave $450,000 to public schools in Alameda and Contra Costa counties.

"People who are closing their accounts should ask the institutions they are going to how much they are giving to local schools," Pulido said.

The group at Friday's rally in Oakland supports both the Occupy Wall Street and Bank Transfer Day movements.

Outside the bank, group leaders yelled on a bullhorn "You're not fair, pay your share" and "Time out, pay your share."

Nikki Pooshs, 70, of Oakland is a grandmother of one of the children who went to the Wells Fargo on Friday. She liked the idea of the rally because of the children.

"With the kids, it shows the other side of the coin and that is if we don't do something now about our economic situation, our kids are going to suffer," Pooshs, said. "Things are going south in America and it's time we find our voice and not be so complacent."

Doug Oakley covers Berkeley. Contact him at 510-843-1408. Follow him at Twitter.com/douglasoakley

10,000 Occupiers Shut Down Port of Oakland Wednesday

2011-11-03T10:50:00.000-07:00

I worked the 4-midnight shift Wednesday reporting from the field and shooting photos. I rode from Berkeley to Oakland on my bike and soon joined a group of about 300 bicyclists who were on their way to the port, so I phoned my editor who said: "go with them."
They cruised around downtown Oakland blocking intersections and then went to the port and were the first ones to shut down it down. They blocked the first entrance to the docks by simply parking in the intersection. In the next two hours thousands and thousands of people from little kids to old folks streamed into the port.
For the most part, the truckers were supportive. The truckers caught in the huge swarms of people just turned off their engines and enjoyed the show. Some were mad too and yelled at the protesters. There were at least a dozen bands playing and people dancing.
The day and night was not without tension and mischief, however. People broke windows on downtown banks and trashed a nearby Whole Foods. And at about 7:30 an angry motorist driving a Mercedes at 11th and Broadway in downtown Oakland drove into a crowd crossing the street and seriously injured two people. I came upon the carnage seconds after it happened. The two people who were hit looked like they were in bad shape. It was ugly. When I got there a woman was sitting in the driver's seat, but witnesses said the man was actually driving but switched places with her after he hit the pedestrians.

All in a night's work.

Sunset portrait session on top of a stranded truck in the Port of Oakland Wednesday Nov. 2, 2011..
(Photo by Doug Oakley)

For two hours on Wednesday Nov. 2. 2011 a four-lane road into the Port of Oakland was clogged with protesters streaming in. (Photo by Doug Oakley)

Truckers let protesters climb on top of their rigs. Bands played on Wednesday Nov. 2, 2011. (Photo by Doug Oakley)

People climbed on top of a railroad bridge and on top of train cars in the Port of Oakland Wednesday Nov. 2, 2011. (Photo by Doug Oakley)

People were everywhere in the Port of Oakland Wednesday Nov 2, 2011. (Photo by Doug Oakley)

Dancing on top of the stranded trucks Wednesday Nov. 2, 2011. (Photo by Doug Oakley)

Witnesses said a man driving this Mercedes in background deliberately ran over two demonstrators in downtown Oakland Wednesday night Nov. 2, 2011. (Photo by Doug Oakley)

Trucks stranded, protester jumping from one truck to the other on Wednesday Nov. 2, 2011. (Photo by Doug Oakley)

People climb up the back of a truck in the Port of Oakland on Wednesday Nov. 2, 2011. (Photo by Doug Oakley)

Occupy protester in Port of Oakland on Wednesday Nov. 2, 2011. (Photo by Doug Oakley)

Getting a better look at the masses of protesters on Wednesday Nov. 2, 2011. (Photo by Doug Oakley)

Marching with a banner in the Port of Oakland on Wednesday Nov. 2, 2011. (Photo by Doug Oakley)

Lots of interesting costumes at Port of Oakland Wednesday Nov. 2, 2011. (Photo by Doug Oakley)

Stranded trucks and tons of people in the Port of Oakland on Wednesday Nov. 2, 2011. (Photo by Doug Oakley)

Dock worker trying to drive through a crowd of 10,000 protesters at Port of Oakland on Wednesday Nov. 2, 2011. (Photo by Doug Oakley)

(Photo by Doug Oakley)

Fake Gun Scare Closes Berkeley High Briefly Monday

2011-11-01T18:48:00.000-07:00

By Doug Oakley

Staff Writer

doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com

Berkeley High School officials closed the campus Monday afternoon when a 17-year-old boy police were chasing in the park across the street tossed what appeared to be a handgun under a parked car.

The gun turned out to be a fake. Berkeley High Principal Pasquale Scuderi, in a note to parents, said "we temporarily closed our perimeter, restricting any entry to the campus for approximately five minutes. We did not activate a full campus lockdown as the incident appeared to be well contained by officers on the scene ..."

Berkeley police said a bicycle officer had observed a drug deal between two teenagers in the park. When he approached the two and told them to sit down, the 17-year old took off running and tossed the fake gun. Police chased him and arrested him. He is not a Berkeley High student.

The other teenager, a 15-year-old female Berkeley High student who was attempting to buy marijuana from the boy, also was arrested, police say.

Doug Oakley covers Berkeley. Contact him at 510-843-1408. Follow him at Twitter.com/douglasoakley

Professor Apologizes for Berkeley Earthquake Rumors

2011-11-01T18:41:00.001-07:00

By Doug Oakley

Staff Writer

doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com

A San Francisco State University professor apologized Monday evening for starting an e-mail rumor that federal geologists were predicting a 6.0 magnitude earthquake in Berkeley in the next two to three weeks.

The professor, Genie Stowers, who is chair of the Department of Public Administration at the university, originally sent an e-mail to family and friends about the purported quake prediction following a swarm of quakes centered in the hills above Berkeley.

The email said one of her students, who works as an assistant to a Berkeley's City Council member, told her class that geologists were informing the council that the recent swarm of quakes indicated a bigger quake was coming.

After Stowers' e-mail made the rounds, and after four earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or greater hit the region since Oct. 20, Berkeley's deputy city manager and the director of the Berkeley Fire Fighters' Association sent out their own e-mails saying no such briefings had occurred and that anyway, geologists are not in the business of making earthquake predictions.

In an apology sent to Berkeley City Councilman Kriss Worthington on Monday, Stowers said she had only sent the e-mail to family, close friends and colleagues with a message that "preparedness is good."

"It is unfortunate that this email instead went viral and has caused great concern among many in the Berkeley area ... It was a mistake and I regret that it happened."

Stowers said beyond her apology, she would make no further comments.

When contacted before Stowers issued her apology, Keith Knudsen, deputy director of the U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Science Center in Menlo Park, said "I don't know of any scientific organization that wold make a statement like that. We didn't."

Doug Oakley covers Berkeley. Contact him at 510-843-1408. Follow him at Twitter.com/douglasoakley

Berkeley Gets Its Pride On

2011-11-01T18:18:00.000-07:00

Susan Chacin of Berkeley shows off her Halloween costume with a play on the US military's Don't Ask Don't Tell policy at the Berkeley Pride 2011 celebration on Sunday Oct. 30, 2011. (Photo by Doug Oakley)

Phylis Phylis came to Berkeley's gay pride celebration dressed as a corpse bride on Sunday Oct. 30, 2011. (Photo by Doug Oakley)

The group Mamma's Boyz performed at Berkeley's gay pride celebration at the David Brower Center on Sunday Oct. 30, 2011. (Photo by Doug Oakley)

Dog Shot 38 Times, Left in Parking Lot

2011-10-24T08:53:00.000-07:00

Daphne was shot 38 times with a pellet gun, had her ears cut off halfway and was abandoned in a Berkeley parking lot. Officials at Berkeley Animal Care Services are hoping someone will recognize her, so they can begin an investigation. (Photo by Doug Oakley)

An x-ray of Daphne shows pellets from a pellet gun inside her body. (Photo Courtesy of Berkeley Animal Care Services)

By Doug Oakley

Staff Writer

doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com

What kind of person would shoot a dog 38 times and cut off its ears? Officials at Berkeley Animal Care Services would like to know, and they're asking for the public's help.

Kate O'Connor, manager of Animal Care Services, said the department is caring for the 1-year-old pit bull left in a nearby parking lot Sept. 27 at the corner of Bolivar Drive and Addison Streets.

"When we got her, she was shy and shut down, nervous around people, and cowering somewhat," O'Connor said. "At that point, I didn't know why, but I do now."

O'Connor said she sent the dog she named Daphne over to Berkeley East Bay Humane Society to have her spayed. The veterinarian noticed something odd, a bump under her skin.

"So they X-rayed her and found 38 pellets from a pellet gun inside this dog," O'Connor said. "Someone was shooting her."

In addition, the dog's ears were halfway cut off, "a horrid" procedure, according to O'Connor, but something some vets will do for looks. It is also done sometimes to fighting dogs so there is less to bite, O'Connor said.

"But at this point, there are no scars on her, so I don't think she was a fighting dog," O'Connor said.

But the story doesn't end with Daphne. When she saw Daphne, O'Connor immediately remembered two other dogs that came to her in March that also were left at the same parking lot. By the looks of them, she is sure they are Daphne's sisters.

"They were very shy, they both had ears cropped, and one had a couple of pellets we removed just below the eye," O'Connor said. "We didn't think much more about it, and off they went to adoption."

O'Connor said she has contacted the owners of Daphne's sisters, so they can get X-rays to see if they have more pellets in them. As for Daphne, the veterinarian at Berkeley East Bay Humane Society was able to remove nine of the pellets, but left the others inside her, O'Connor said.

Daphne is also looking for a new home.

O'Connor hopes someone will recognize Daphne so they can investigate what happened. She said she is open to explanations, but suspects plain-old cruelty.

"My initial thought is someone was using these dogs for target practice, but it could also be a neighbor shooting at the dogs," O'Connor said. "We don't know where they came from."

O'Connor said in addition to hoping to get some leads on who left the dogs in the parking lot, she is asking for donations to help pay for Daphne's medical care.

"We see a lot of neglect, but downright cruelty is something else," O'Connor said. "It's a very sick thing to shoot a dog 38 times."

Anyone with information can call 510-981-6600.

Doug Oakley covers Berkeley. Contact him at 510-843-1408. Follow him at Twitter.com/douglasoakley

Four Arrested, One Injured in Fight, Robbery at Berkeley High School

2011-10-18T14:41:00.000-07:00

Eleven police cars, an ambulance and a crime scene investigation van responded to Berkeley High School on Monday Oct. 17, 2011. (Photo by Doug Oakley)

By Doug Oakley

Staff Writer

Bay Area News Group

doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com

Four juveniles were arrested and one injured at Berkeley High School Monday afternoon in connection with a fight and a strong arm robbery, police said.

Police do not know if the incidents were related, but dispatchers received 911 calls on both incidents in short succession.

A middle school student was treated for facial cuts and released by Berkeley fire department paramedics on the Berkeley High campus.

Police believe the fight at Berkeley High evolved from an altercation at nearby Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School. A boy was assaulted at the middle school. He then rode the bus to Berkeley High where a second fight started involving the boy and high school students, police said

Shortly after police received the 911 call about students fighting, a second call came in about a strong arm robbery involving a cell phone, said.

Berkeley High Principal Pasquale Scuderi confirmed that at least two of the juveniles arrested were Berkeley High students.

Eleven patrol cars, an ambulance and a crime scene investigation van converged on the campus within minutes of the emergency calls.

Berkeley High officials have increased security on campus this fall after several incidents in which students were arrested for carrying guns to school.

Doug Oakley covers Berkeley. Contact him at 510-843-1408. Follow him at Twitter.com/douglasoakley

Groups Urge Berkeley to Ban Plastic Bags

2011-10-12T16:40:00.000-07:00

A giant inflatable sea turtle and a plastic bag monster were among the crowd at a UC Berkeley rally urging Berkeley to ban plastic carryout bags. At right Berkeley City Councilman Kriss Worthington talks to Julia Ritchie of Environment California. (Photo by Doug Oakley)

By Doug Oakley

Staff Writer

Bay Area News Group

doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com

Environmentalists, students, a U.S. poet laureate, and a local politician turned up the pressure on Berkeley Wednesday to ban plastic carryout bags.

The group held a rally at UC Berkeley's Sproul Plaza backed by a giant inflatable sea turtle, one of the animals affected by plastic bags that fall into the ocean.

"This isn't a very complicated issue," said Robert Hass, the U.S. poet laureate from 1995 to 1997 and 2009 Pulitzer Prize winner.

"There were no plastic bags in the United States before 1950, we got along just fine without them, and now tons and tons of them are in the ocean. The destruction is enormous to sea birds, turtles and jelly fish."

UC Berkeley students with the California Public Interest Research Group announced they have 3,000 signatures on a petition for the Berkeley City Council to pass a plastic bag ban. Thirteen other California cities have bans in effect.

A new law being drafted by the Alameda County Waste Management Authority, which has the power to pass environmental legislation, will be unveiled in November, a spokesman said. The law will either be a mandatory ban for all cities and unincorporated areas of the county or will be optional.

Berkeley has been considering a ban for about three years but has balked because officials are afraid of litigation by plastic bag manufacturers. The companies have been successful in court against cities like Oakland on the grounds that they have not considered the environmental impacts of increased paper bag use caused by a ban.

But a recent victory at the California Supreme Court by the city of Manhattan Beach, which was sued by plastic bag backers, has made the legal environment more favorable, said Berkeley City Attorney Zach Cowan.

"Everyone has been waiting for the Manhattan Beach case to be decided," Cowan said. "It wasn't a magic bullet though, and it doesn't say every city can ban plastic bags without qualifications."

Julie Sinai, chief of staff to Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates, said the city also has been waiting for the county waste management authority to finish an environmental impact report so Berkeley can use the report as legal backup if it passes a law.

"As soon as the results come from the EIR, we'll have a clearer understanding of moving forward," Sinai said.

The draft of the EIR says a ban would have no negative environmental impact. The report concludes that more truck trips would be required to transport paper bags but because paper bags are larger there is "no reason to assume the same number of paper bags would be needed."

Most bag bans around the state include a charge, say 10 cents, for each paper bag in order to deter their use and to get customers used to bringing reusable bags to stores.

Berkeley City Councilman Kriss Worthington, who attended the Wednesday rally, said the city is "way too late in banning plastic bags." "We need to catch up with the other cities, so it's too late for us to be first," he said.

Worthington cited "inertia, fear of lawsuits and bureaucracy," as reasons why the city has not banned plastic bags.

Julia Ritchie, an oceans associate with Environment California, a Sacramento based environmental group, said that plastic bags harm marine life when they land in the ocean, are eaten by fish that "end up on our dinner plates," and cost California millions of dollars each year in coastal cleanup costs.

Doug Oakley covers Berkeley. Contact him at 510-843-1408. Follow him at Twitter.com/douglasoakley

A Mother's Grief and a Killer on the Loose

2011-10-06T13:00:00.000-07:00

Maria Bravo cries in the Berkeley intersection at Emerson and Adeline streets where her son was shot and killed during an early morning robbery a year ago. Bravo, who is from Chile, visited the site where her son was murdered for the first time Oct. 4. She is asking that anyone who may have seen anything to contact police. (Photo by Doug Oakley)

It's been a year since Chilean national Adolfo Ignacio Celedón Bravo was killed on the streets of Berkeley but his family and authorities still hope his killer can be found.

Celedon's family was in Berkeley this week to confer with police on the case. Monday night they planted flowers near the spot on Adeline Street where he was gunned down the night of Sept. 12, 2010.

Celedon, also known as Fito, was attempting to protect his girlfriend, Amber Nelson, when he was shot while the couple was returning from a party.

The family hopes their visit will jog the memory of anyone who may have witnessed their son's death.

A reward for information in the case has been raised to $20,000 with the help of Chilean authorities.

Anyone with information is asked to call the police department's Investigations Division -- Homicide Detail at 510-981-5741 or the 24 hour non emergency number 510-981-5900. Callers who wish to remain anonymous can phone Bay Area Crimes Stoppers (BACS) at (800)-222-TIPS (8477). All calls are confidential.

Berkeley Man Proves Understanding of Universe Is All Wrong, Takes Nobel Prize in Physics

2011-10-05T15:14:00.000-07:00

By Doug Oakley

Staff Writer

doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com

A UC Berkeley astrophysicist received the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics Tuesday for proving that the universe is expanding at an ever increasing rate, rather than shrinking toward an eventual collapse, a concept even other scientists have difficulty wrapping their heads around.

Saul Perlmutter, 52, who works at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and is a professor of physics at UC Berkeley, took one half of the $1.5 million prize, while the other half is shared by competing researchers Adam Riess, 41, of The Johns Hopkins University and Brian Schmidt, 44 of Australian National University.

Both Perlmutter and the other two scientists were working on the same problem at the same time.

Perlmutter said during a Tuesday press conference that he and other scientists proved the universe is expanding at an increasing rate by examining streams of light coming from exploding stars, or supernovae, billions of light years from earth.

The stretched-out streams of light, which change color as they come across the universe, were picked up by telescopes and used as yardsticks to measure the accelerating expansion of the universe.

“Because we had developed a technique to find supernovae using computers and cameras in a more organized way, we tried to find supernovae father away that could act as markers,” Perlmutter said, “In the end all we had to do was plot the stretch of the universe (by studying) the light.”

He said a scientist can tell how far away an exploding star is by how faint the light is.

“Then you can say, ‘this one has been traveling 2 billion years and that one 4 billion and this one is farther away than that one,’” Perlmutter said. “Light leaves supernovae looking mostly blue, but by the time it reaches us it has changed and has been stretched along with the rest of the universe.”

The concept is contrary to previous ideas in which scientists believed that the universe initially expanded after a big bang and that the expansion started to slow, or de-accelerate. From that belief they theorized that it would then start shrinking and collapse on itself.

But what Perlmutter found and what Robert Cahn, head of the cosmology department at the lab, called “the biggest discovery in the history of science,” is the exact opposite.

“You might expect the expansion would be slowing down because all the stuff in the universe is attracted to each other,” Perlmutter said. “Would it then slow down and come to a halt and collapse and the universe would come to an end?”

The answer, he now knows, is no.

Even other scientists scratch their heads when they think of the concept for which Perlmutter was awarded the prize.

David Schlegel, a senior scientist in the physics division who works down the hall from Perlmutter, said the concept is “just weird” and counterintuitive, even to the brainiest.

“It’s like you take an apple and throw it up in the air and rather than seeing it fall back down to Earth, it zooms off into infinity,” said Schlegel. “At the time of the first discovery on this, I didn’t believe it. I just thought they had done something wrong.”

He added that “we have not yet figured out,” how it affects people on Earth.

Don DePaolo, associate director of the lab, said Perlmutter proved “the exact opposite of what was expected.”

“We hope this award sparks the imagination of young would-be scientists everywhere who look up into the night’s sky and wonder what they see,” DePaolo said.

Perlmutter’s work brings up other unanswered questions about dark matter and dark energy.

“There are two vast unknowns we have identified in cosmology,” Perlmutter said. “One is that 20 percent of the universe is dark matter, and we know it exists because it holds galaxies together. And 73-75 percent of the universe is dark energy that is responsible for causing the universe to expand faster and faster, but we have no good tie between them, so we’re looking for a theoretical concept there.”

Perlmutter also didn’t know how his discovery could be used here on the ground, but he does know scientific discoveries are often used to solve problems in completely unrelated areas.

“We have no idea whether or not we will be able to use this knowledge to do something magical,” Perlmutter said. “But in the past we have been able to do more with our discoveries. It’s the only way we can proceed as scientists.”

Doug Oakley covers Berkeley. Contact him at 510-843-1408. Follow him at Twitter.com/douglasoakley

Berkeley Prepares for Influx of Electric Cars

2011-09-30T13:18:00.000-07:00

Tom Kelly of Berkeley charges his electric car in his garage in September. He hopes the city adopts rules making it easy to own electric cars the same way it did with solar panels for homes. (Photo by Doug Oakley)

By Doug Oakley

Staff Writer

doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com

The electric car is coming and Berkeley is bracing for an onslaught.

City leaders are moving quickly on policy options to both encourage their use but also make sure city sidewalks don't turn into a web of extension cords leading from homes to thirsty cars on the street.

The problem may be more acute in urban areas such as Berkeley where not all houses have garages or even driveways to charge their cars.

And the influx of electric cars is expected sooner than most people think.

Electric car sales from Bakersfield to the Oregon border are projected to grow by some 2,566 percent this year, from just 150 in January to 4,000 in December said Vivek Narayanan, electric vehicle product manager for Pacific Gas & Electric. PG&E is notified every time someone buys an electric car at the owner's discretion, he said.

By 2020 Narayanan said the same area will have between 200,000 and 850,000 electric cars on central and northern California the roads -- and all of them will need a charge.

Judging by the number of Toyota Prius electric hybrids buzzing around the streets of Berkeley, residents here likely will be voracious "early adopters" of electric cars like the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt, said Timothy Burroughs, climate action coordinator for the city of Berkeley.

"We need to be a leader in this field," Mayor Tom Bates told the Berkeley City Council last week. "I don't want us to wait. We need to push the envelope." The council briefly heard reports from three city commissions and voted to continue the discussion at an upcoming meeting.

Bates said he wants to encourage and educate the populace about the benefits of electric cars and figure out a way people can safely charge them.

"We want to make it as convenient as possible for people to install private charging systems at home and get them through the permitting maze," Bates said. "And people without garages are going to have to figure out how to charge in some privately installed place or some publicly installed place." Extension cords running to the street, he said, are not a good idea.

A new city of Berkeley brochure on electric car-charging, available at its permit center and online, says: "To protect public safety, cords and connector equipment are not allowed to extend across sidewalks or any public rights of way. Charging your (electric car) at home requires a privately owned parking space or garage with access to an electric circuit."

Residents who don't have garages could get around that by running electrical conduit from their home, under the sidewalk to a dedicated outlet at the curb, some residents suggest, but what if someone else parks in that spot?

"Our big concern is the street is a public right of way and what if we begin privatizing it in small chunks?" said Margo Schueler, chair of Berkeley's Public Works Commission.

Burroughs agreed.

"We recommend not using the public right of way for exclusive (charging or parking) use," Burroughs told the Council. "We want to use it in the most equitable way." At the same time, "We don't want to exclude people who don't have off-street parking," said Sachu Constantine, chair of the city's Energy Commission.

Felix Kramer, founder of the California Cars Initiative, which promotes plug in hybrid cars, told the City Council he has a solution. He wants to install a solar powered charging station in front of his home at the curb that anyone can use free of charge.

"I don't want to exclude anyone, I want to make it free," Kramer, who owns a Chevy Volt and a Nissan Leaf said. "I'm not going to put a sign up saying 'you can't park here' but I want to offer a community amenity that is solar powered and free."

Bates, who also is chair of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, said the district recently got a $5 million grant to help pay for high powered public charging systems placed on private property that people can use with a credit card.

The grant will help pay for the half the cost of the stations, which Bates said cost about $60,000 each.

The trouble is, PG&E is prohibited from getting into the business and Bates said the city isn't interested at in doing it either. Until entrepreneurs or other government entities like BART start installing the stations on their own properties, owners will be left to charge their cars at home.

Berkeley resident Tom Kelly, director of Kyoto USA, an organization dedicated to reducing greenhouse gasses, has an electric car that he charges in his garage. But he recognizes that many people in Berkeley don't have garages. He said Berkeley was on the ball when it came to streamlining the permitting process for residents who wanted to install solar panels on their homes and he hopes it will do the same for electric cars.

"There's got to be a fix for charging and it's really up to the cities to figure it out," Kelly said.

Doug Oakley covers Berkeley. Contact him at 510-843-1408. Follow him at Twitter.com/douglasoakley

5-Year-Old Cancer Survivor Raises Money for Research

2011-09-29T19:46:00.000-07:00

Frances Abu Shenab, 5, center, with a couple of pals at school. (Photo by Doug Oakley)

By Doug Oakley

Staff Writer

Bay Area News Group

doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com

For some, cancer is a destroyer, a sinister seed that seems to grow out of nowhere, leaving lives in shambles. For those who survive, it can be a wake up call to put things in perspective and start living.

Five-year-old Berkeley resident Frances Abu Shanab, who recently emerged on the winning side of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, is living.

After 26 months of needles, injections, steroids, spinal taps and chemotherapy through a "port" in her chest, the little girl is all giggles and fun as she plays with her first grade friends at school.

Her mother, Sarah Abu Shanab, said her daughter's ordeal changed the way she sees the world.

"It was the most difficult thing we've ever been through in our lives," Abu Shanab said. "It makes you put things in perspective about what's truly important. We get so caught up in our day-to-day lives and our jobs, and it turns out those are not so important. What is important is sharing time together, because your life can be taken away just like that."

Although mom is not sure her daughter grasps all that at her young age, she does know Frances is just happy to have the catheter in her chest removed. She still sports little kid bandages in the place where chemicals entered her body to kill the cancer.

"She's really proud of having it out and she's definitely excited about being done with treatment, although she'll still have to go to the doctor and get blood tests for the next several years," her mom said.

To celebrate the end of her ordeal, Frances raised $800 for cancer research this month with a lemonade stand at Cordonices Park in the Berkeley hills. The money she raised went to an organization called Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, named for 8-year-old Alexandra Scott, who died in 2004.

In 2000, when Scott was 4, she held a lemonade stand to raise money for other children with cancer. Since then the foundation has raised over $45 million for cancer research.

Sarah Abu Shanab said her daughter decided to do the lemonade stand after she saw some doctors having one at University of California, San Francisco Medical Center where she was getting treatment.

"This is one of the things we tried to instill in her from the beginning, that we are really fortunate to have people who helped us and we need to give back," said Abu Shanab said.

The word 'cancer' coming out of a doctor's mouth is just about the last thing any parent or adult wants to hear. The doctors told Abu Shanab's that her daughter's particular kind of cancer was "standard risk." According to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, 90 percent of kids under 5 who get it survive. Survival rates for all ages are 66 percent.

"Resilient is the only way I can describe her," said her kindergarten teacher Stacey Norman. "This is all she knew for this period of her life. It was her whole life. That girl could take a needle, injections, everything. I never heard her complain either."

Although the treatment is over and the Abu Shanab's are getting back to more mundane things, mom is aware there is a possibility the cancer could some day come back.

"But I'm extremely optimistic it won't," she said.

Doug Oakley covers Berkeley. Contact him at 510-843-1408. Follow him at Twitter.com/douglasoakley

Berkeley High to Report Campus Robberies to Police After Years of Handling Crimes in House

2011-09-14T12:22:00.000-07:00

By Doug Oakley

Staff Writer

Bay Area News Group

doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com

When Ginny Roemer's son was robbed of his $400 iPhone 4 at Berkeley High School directly under a surveillance camera last year, she figured it would be easy to catch and discipline the perpetrator.

Instead, security staff at the school simply told the former San Francisco assistant district attorney that "my son was not in danger," she said and that was the end of the story.

Not satisfied, her son pointed out the perpetrator to a Berkeley police officer at the school who arrested the student. Turns out the student security officials said was not a threat also had a warrant for his arrest in a separate, more violent robbery.

Now due to Roemer's persistence and pressure by the Berkeley police, the school district has changed its practice and is reporting all campus robberies to police, said Susan Craig director of student services for the school district.

Craig said the practice of doing little about robberies at Berkeley High may have affected safety in the city as a whole over time.

"One of the areas of concern in this community is robberies and home burglaries, some of which are done by youth and sometimes during school lunch hour," said Craig.

"We hope to send the message that the district and the police are unified in community safety."

Craig said in addition to reporting campus robbers to the police, who will make a determination of whether to issue a citation or make an arrest, kids who steal from others will be referred to a new intervention program.

"Our intent is not to criminalize more students, but to set a tone and say we are looking at interventions to turn behavior around," Craig said. "It's a middle path and through our intervention programs we are not just going to lock them up." Craig said the district changed the nonreporting practice at the urging of Berkeley Police Chief Michael Meehan and "community members who shared stories of their kids being victims of robberies who were concerned about our practice that not all robberies were reported to police."

Berkeley Police spokeswoman Sgt. Mary Kusmiss declined to comment specifically about how the department persuaded the district to start reporting.

"There was thoughtful dialogue about the process and the district was very receptive," Kusmiss said.

With a new consequence introduced to those who steal at Berkeley High, Craig said she hopes reporting to police will stop make students think twice.

"Perhaps there can be an earlier intervention that will help turn a student around who may be on a path of stealing an iPhone this week or breaking into a house and stealing a computer the next week and other serious things," Craig said.

The new policy is a relief to people like Elizabeth Scherer, whose son had his jaw broken by several youths following a dance at Berkeley High six years ago.

She was able to find video surveillance footage of the Shattuck Avenue attack and asked Berkeley High administrators to help her identify the attackers. But they refused to even look at the tape, she said.

"The school wouldn't look at the videotape, they wouldn't work with the police and the police wouldn't work with the school," Scherer said. "Now I'm hopeful, but I'm definitely skeptical." Roemer agreed.

"I'm guardedly thrilled," Roemer said. "It makes so much sense. And it doesn't even cost any money for God's sakes." Roemer said when she started pressing district administrators about why they wouldn't work with police, she was "full of disbelief."

"I was told point blank that the students had a constitutional right to privacy and any information about their misconduct would not be shared with law enforcement," Roemer said. "I think there was this concern about locking up kids who are underprivileged and it may have been mishandled. Being able to get away with robberies is not any help at all."

Craig said that school district lawyers had been advising the district in the past not to report the robberies.

"We checked with our legal council, who shared with us there were some legal cases where school districts had gotten in trouble for profiling students and over reporting," Craig said.

She emphasized that the school district does not want to "criminalize students.

``We want to intervene and find the correct point where we are assuring safe schools and for those making poor choices we want to correct the behavior rather than just expel, report to the police and say 'you're out of here.'"

Craig said the issue of campus robberies and cooperation with the police came to a head last spring when the school started holding safety meetings following a wave of arrests at Berkeley High for gun possession.

"The firearms were a real wake up call for the district," Craig said. "It brought to light a lot of issues around guns, bullying, robberies and a lot of things we are taking a close look at."

Doug Oakley covers Berkeley. Contact him at 510-843-1408. Follow him at Twitter.com/douglasoakley

Rape Suspect Sought Following Violent Assault

2011-09-13T13:29:00.000-07:00

By Doug Oakley

Staff Writer

doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com

UC Berkeley police are on the lookout for a man suspected of a violent attempted rape last week a few blocks south of campus.

Police are looking for a black man about 6 foot 4 inches tall, 150 pounds with shoulder-length dreadlocks "who smelled like he had not had a shower in a while," according to a UC Berkeley Police crime alert.

The Sept. 8 assault comes three weeks after police arrested three separate men in groping incidents on and around campus.

A homeless woman was asleep in the rear courtyard of a building at 2515 Hillegass Street when she awoke with the man on top of her, said UC Police Capt. Margo Bennett.

He had partially pulled down her pants and underwear, police said. When the woman screamed, the man put his hand over her mouth and punched her.

The woman was able to fight the man off by punching and kicking him, and he fled. UC police responded shortly afterward and searched the area, but did not find the man.

The woman was not seriously injured police said.

Before sleeping in the courtyard, the woman had been moved out of People's Park by UC police when the park closed for the evening,

Anyone with information on the crime can call UC police at 510-642-6760.

Doug Oakley covers Berkeley. Contact him at 510-843-1408. Follow him at Twitter.com/douglasoakley

Woman Arrested, Charged with Puncturing Tires on 74 Cars

2011-09-08T13:39:00.000-07:00

By Doug Oakley

Staff Writer

doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com

Police arrested a 33-year-old woman this week on a felony vandalism charge for allegedly puncturing tires on 74 cars in Berkeley and Oakland on Aug. 31.

Berkeley police arrested Mandisa Monroe of Berkeley on Tuesday. In addition to puncturing tires, police said she also spray-painted messages on some of the vehicles during her alleged vandalism spree.

Police said surveillance video shows Monroe puncturing tires on one of the cars. A search of her home revealed a "number of items that connected Monroe to images on surveillance videotape," police said in a statement. During a police interview, Monroe denied puncturing the tires "but did explain the phrases that had been tagged on the cars," police said.

On the morning of Aug. 31, residents on a one-mile stretch of California Street from Blake Street all the way to 62nd Street in south Berkeley and Oakland found tires on their cars punctured, police said. Punctured tires also were discovered on Julia, Russell and King streets, police said.

Berkeley High Rolls Out New Safety Measures to Keep Guns Out; Bill Comes to $180,000 a Year

2011-09-08T13:32:00.000-07:00

Berkeley High has locked four of its eight entrances and placed newly hired "campus monitors" at the remaining four in an attempt to cut down on the number of guns being brought on campus. (Photo by Doug Oakley)

By Doug Oakley

Staff Writer

doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com

Berkeley High School is making a fresh start at school safety this year, and will spend $180,000 a year on new employees to keep the peace.

The school district spent an additional $25,000 over the summer on training to bring school security guards into compliance with state education law, said Susan Craig, director of student services for the Berkeley Unified School District..

The district has hired two more security guards at Berkeley High, bringing the number to 12 and is hiring four new campus monitors who watch for potential problems at the school entrances, said Craig.

Earlier this year, five Berkeley High students were arrested and expelled for bringing guns to school. In one incident, a gun was fired in a restroom but no one was injured. And one student at the district's alternative high school, Berkeley Technology Academy, was arrested and expelled for gun possession.

"We've had a good opening this year given what happened last year," said Berkeley High Principal Pasquale Scuderi. "The security measures we've added are a positive step, but it has not given us reason to be complacent. With campus safety we're always having to play defense."

Craig said there was a "melee" in the park across the street on the first day of school last year.

But now a beefed up security guard contingent, Berkeley police and other school employees make regular sweeps of the park to get students who shouldn't be there back in school and make sure nothing bad is brewing, she said.

On campus the school has closed down four of eight entrances and has placed temporary monitors there until permanent employees are hired.

Those monitors are there to "make sure no outsiders come in, they check identification and make sure students don't just walk off campus," Craig said.

"One of the best things about the monitors," Scuderi said, "is that a student has to pass an adult on the way into school. That's a really good way of setting the tone for the day."

Over the summer the security guards went through training on how to investigate crimes, how to deal with an active shooter on campus, how to handle guns and how to deal with a student who may have a gun. The security guards will not handcuff or disarm a kid with a gun, Craig said.

That task would go to a Berkeley police officer who is on duty at the school five days a week now, up from four days a week last year.

Craig said now the school security guards are up to date on their training as required by state education law.

"I can't say all of them went through training before and that they all had the certification," Craig said. "I just didn't have the assurance that everyone had gone through it."

In addition to state mandated training, four of the security guards and 30 other administrators and counselors got additional training in "mentoring and support for high-risk youth who are involved in criminal activity," Craig said.

That training teaches administrators to intervene in the lives of kids who "may be caught up in violence and running around with friends committing robberies," Craig said.

One of the central themes of the training is to ask these kinds of students to look at their friends and determine "who in your life leads you to danger and who leads you to safety, and a lot of times there is no one who is safe," she said.

That kind of intervention at least gets the students thinking about what could happen to them if they continue, she said.

Uniforms for school security guards are on order are so that students and police can identify the guards from others who may be on campus when there is a problem at the school. "The security guards' main concern about uniforms is they didn't want to come across like law enforcement, because it is really important that students feel comfortable in coming to talk to a guard," Craig said.

Berkeley High also plans to lock the main entrance to the school and install a buzzer system to let people in one by one so that parent volunteers at the front desk can determine who should be on campus.

"That's something I feel we really need," Superintendent Bill Huyett said. "I think it's important to have a secure perimeter around your campus. We're not searching kids, but if there is just the presence there, it makes you think, gee I should follow the rules a little more."

Craig acknowledged that the cost of the new measures, mostly in hiring new employees, is high.

"You can't put a price on someone's life, so I think it's money well spent," Craig said.

Doug Oakley covers Berkeley. Contact him at 510-843-1408. Follow him at Twitter.com/douglasoakley.

Budget Knife Cuts Shelter for Homeless Youth; Fundraiser Set for Oct. 9

2011-09-08T12:53:00.000-07:00

By Doug Oakley

Staff Writer

doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com

Berkeley's only homeless shelter for young adults is at a funding crossroads and is asking the public for donations.

The 30-bed shelter, called Youth Engagement Advocacy and Housing had one of its three contracts with the city of Berkeley cut in half. A city report noted that a program contract to do outreach to those on the street "did not have a significant impact on transitioning youth to greater stability" and the contract was reduced "to reflect the reduced caseload and varied level of services being provided."

The shelter then declined the remainder of the $100,000 contract because it couldn't live up to the city's expectations for the number of people it could then serve with half the money, said director Sharon Hawkins Leyden.

At the same time, the shelter, which also does case management for mentally ill homeless youth, will reduce the number of beds from 30 to 20 or 15. Even though it will lower the number of beds on any given night, the move will allow it to be open year round, instead of just during the rainy months which it has been the case for the last nine years.

"Ultimately we probably will end up serving more youth per year but we'll also have to turn more people away," Hawkins Leyden said.

The shelter is having a fundraiser at Pizzaiolo in Oakland Oct. 9 with dinner, a silent auction and guest speaker John Scharffenberger of Scharffenberger Chocolate. The shelter hopes to raise $30,000.

Hawkins Leyden said the shelter still has two contracts with the city for about $240,000.

Berkeley Assistant City Manager Jim Hynes said cutting one of three contracts with the shelter was not easy.

"The bottom line is we have to be really wise here," Hynes said. "We have diminished revenues and we have layoffs of city employees, really serious stuff. When contracts don't perform, we have to act fiscally responsible."

Hynes said the contract was cut because "they weren't serving the numbers we expected."

Hawkins Leyden said the city simply needed to balance its budget.

"We served more kids than we said we would, and we never had a contract with the city that said by giving us this money there will be no more youth on the street," Hawkins Leyden said.

Hawkins Leyden estimates Berkeley's homeless population is about 1,200 and about 225 homeless youth age 18 to 25. The average age they become homeless is 15, she said. Of that group, 73 percent are drug or alcohol users, 36 percent have mental health problems, 50 percent have not graduated from high school and 79 percent have no money.

Hawkins Leyden said with the restructuring, the shelter is "going back to our core mission of shelter," instead of trying to do more case management of kids to get them stable.

"We've been trying to go year round for nine years and now we're really going to do it," Hawkins Leyden said.

"Our board is committed, our staff is committed and we're going to do it."

Doug Oakley covers Berkeley. Contact him at 510-843-1408. Follow him at Twitter.com/douglasoakley

Man Lives in Tree to Protest Harassment of Counter Culture Youth

2011-09-01T13:11:00.000-07:00

A man who goes by the moniker Moonshadow is living in a cedar tree in Berkeley's People's Park. (Photo by Doug Oakley)

By Doug Oakley

Staff Writer

Bay Area News Group

doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com

A 26-year-old man who calls himself Moonshadow has taken up residence in a cedar tree in UC Berkeley's People's Park to protest harassment of counterculture youth everywhere, he said.

UC Berkeley police have been trying to get him to come down in a scene reminiscent of a 2008 protest at the site of a new student athletic training center. Tree sitters were then protesting the elimination of trees in construction plans, but eventually came down. The university cut down the trees and started work on the center.

Moonshadow declined to give his real name, saying because he is afraid federal authorities will use the Patriot Act to detain him.

UC Berkeley police have contacted him before about trespassing and say he is in violation of a "campus exclusion order."

On Thursday after the police unsuccessfully tried to get him to come down, he was sitting on a limb writing a letter to university and local business leaders protesting treatment of the homeless who live in the park by day and sleep on sidewalks surrounding the park at night.

He said the police take their belongings and constantly harass them. He is also enraged by ongoing efforts by UC to carry out landscaping chores in the park.

"I've seen the same thing in Arcata and Santa Cruz where counterculture youth hang out," Moonshadow said. "Wherever we are, (authorities) start cutting down trees in the name of landscaping. It's like they're taking out their aggression on mother earth."

UC Berkeley police spokesman Marc DeCoulode said the department will continue monitoring Moonshadow but has no plans to remove him.
"We haven't cited him because he hasn't come down," DeCoulode said. "While he is breaking the rules about being in the tree and trespassing in the park at night, he doesn't appear to be a threat to public safety so we're going to continue to monitor the situation."

Moonshadow said he is originally from Colorado and has been working on his teaching credential at Colorado State University. He's been on the West Coast, however, for about a year and a half and has been in the Berkeley tree for four days now.

Moonshadow said University of California police have tried to get him down several times, but not by force.

"The truth is, I'm sitting up here peaceably, and they come out here with nine to 12 officers in the middle of the night and to try and intimidate me," he said.

Moonshadow said he probably would come down if the police just ignored him, but he will stay as long as they continue to make his presence an issue.

Doug Oakley covers Berkeley. Contact him at 510-843-1408. Follow him at Twitter.com/douglasoakley

Berkeley 'Party Patrol" a Buzz Kill for Underage Student Drinkers

2011-09-01T12:55:00.000-07:00

UC Berkeley police officer Brendan Tinney confiscates a flask full of booze from a 19-year-old student on Friday Aug. 26. (Photo by Doug Oakley)

UC police officer Gabby Jacobs, foreground, leaves a fraternity party in Berkeley on Friday Aug. 26. (Photo by Doug Oakley)

UC Berkeley police officer Brendan Tinney, left and Berkeley police officer Jessica Nabozny talk to a young man about fighting and drinking on Friday Aug. 26, (Photo by Doug Oakley)

By Doug Oakley

Staff Writer

Bay Area News Group

doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com

It's a balmy Friday night in Berkeley and UC Berkeley students, some away from home for the first time, are partying like crazy.

The corner of Channing Way and Piedmont Avenue at 11 p.m. is packed with students on their way to one party or another. They appear to be having a lot of fun. School has just started and studying can wait.

Two blocks up the street at Channing and Prospect streets, three obviously drunk young men holding each other up walk right by two police officers, oblivious to the presence of the law.

Here in the heart of fraternity land, UC police Officer Brendan Tinney and Berkeley police Officer Jessica Nabozny are up to their ears in alcohol-related violations.

But they take their time, knowing they are only two cops in a vast sea of underage revelers.

Together, Tinney and Nabozny make up half of the Joint Southside Safety Patrol, two teams of Berkeley and UC police charged with keeping parties under control and making sure students, especially those on campus for the first time, don't overdo it.

As the drunken trio passes, Tinney, using some very loud verbal cues, finally gets their attention. He separates one student and in no time confiscates a flask full of alcohol.

"You can't just go crazy here like Vegas," Tinney says as he begins writing up a Student Conduct Incident Referral form -- which has boxes to check for alcohol, drugs, disturbing the peace, disorderly conduct and other violations.

"I'm not trying to cause trouble, I don't cause trouble," the young man pleads.

As he talks to the officer, the student's friends are watching in fear that they could be next. The drunken scholar keeps trying to talk his way out of it. His slurring words don't help his case.

"This literally never happens to me," the young man whines.

"I have a zero-tolerance policy," Tinney says firmly.

"Can't you just, like, dump it out and give it back and we'll go home?" he says.

“No.”

While Tinney may have slowed these three down, other revelers were not so lucky. Over the weekend at least five students were taken to area hospitals by ambulance for "alcohol related illnesses," UC Berkeley police said.

But word about the police presence does get around and officials say the increased pressure and education is making a difference.

On top of losing his beloved flask, the 19-year-old's Student Conduct Incident Referral could really hurt. It is something that could affect his standing at one of the top-rated universities in the world. It's just one of the tools police and the fire department have at their disposal in a program, now in its second year, aimed at reducing excessive drinking and loud house parties.

On this evening, police cited six students for open container violations, one for being a minor in possession of alcohol, one for disorderly conduct, and two for public intoxication. Those numbers don't include citations from the California Department of Alcohol Beverage Control, which had plainclothes officers giving out citations, or those written by other Berkeley police officers.

The coordinated effort between UC Berkeley police, the Berkeley police and the Berkeley Fire department to share information and intervene before young people get hurt came as a necessity.

A long history of noise complaints, deaths from binge drinking, and violent crimes including sexual assaults prompted authorities to come up with a more focused program, said Berkeley police spokeswoman Sgt. Mary Kusmiss. She said the two agencies were sometimes doing enforcement side by side but not sharing information or resources.

"We all wanted a way to combine efforts and have better communication," Kusmiss said. "And what better communication is there to have two agencies in the same car seeing and documenting the same thing?"

A noise complaint call at Lambda Phi Epsilon brought out officers and Berkeley firefighters.

First on scene were the police, who noticed fire code violations and called the fire department -- for which the fraternity will be billed $75. An inspector found mattresses over some exit doors and windows which could have been deadly in the event of a fire.

Last year authorities received 312 calls for loud parties and issued 143 warnings for noise. The students apparently got the message because out of the 143 warnings, just 16 of the party houses got a second noise complaint, with fines from $750 to $2,500.

But it's not just noise that the two departments are trying to stop. They're also hoping to slow down the booze intake of inexperienced drinkers, some who are away from home for the first time.

"This program really does work," said Nabozny, who has been part of the team for two years. "Just by our presence we've seen a decrease in the number of calls to loud parties and a change in behavior. If they can maintain their parties, it's OK, but I don't want to be the one who has to make that horrible call to a parent at 2 a.m."

In the last 10 years, Kusmiss said the department has filed reports of "about a half-dozen deaths or very serious life-threatening injuries as a result of extreme alcohol use."

"People have fallen off roofs, they've fallen and hit their heads," she said. "And the statistics nationwide are staggering in terms of acquaintance and date rape in the first three weeks of school when alcohol is involved."

Although both departments are focused on keeping parties under control so surrounding neighbors can get a little bit of sleep, Nabozny said students are still allowed to have fun.

If police come upon a party where students have a permit and things seem relatively calm, the officers go on their way.

"But when I go to a call and I can hear the party from a couple of blocks away, if I see what I call the tunnel, where you have intoxicated kids bumping into each other and they are flowing into the street and I see fire code violations, then we're going to shut it down and issue some citations," Nabozny said.

Doug Oakley covers Berkeley. Contact him at 510-843-1408. Follow him at Twitter.com/douglasoakley.

Vandals Puncture Tires on 50 South Berkeley Cars Along One-Mile Stretch of Street

2011-08-31T17:09:00.000-07:00

Geoff Logan of Berkeley fixes a fat tire on his BMW 2002 on Wednesday Aug. 31. Both of his tires on his car and tires on two other family cars were punctured by vandals Wednesday morning.

By Doug Oakley

Staff Writer

Bay Area News Group

doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com

Tires on about 50 cars in south Berkeley were punctured by a vandal or vandals early Wednesday morning on a one-mile stretch of California Street, police said.

Residents awoke to find one or more tires on their cars flattened from California and Blake streets all the way down to 62nd Street, police said. Tires were punctured on Julia and King streets as well.

Berkeley Police Spokeswoman Sgt. Mary Kusmiss said four police officers and a supervisor spent five hours checking for punctured car tires in the area Wednesday morning.

"We have seen a fair amount of anger, frustration, disbelief and surprise out here this morning," said Kusmiss.

Geoff Logan of Berkeley, who owns a BMW, had two of his car's tires punctured on California Street. He said his father came outside at about 5:30 a.m. and noticed three of the family's cars had flat tires.

Police have no suspects.

"This kind of crime can be committed so quickly under cover of darkness," Kusmiss said. "But we hope someone will call in and tell us they saw someone doing it and give us a description."

Doug Oakley covers Berkeley. Contact him at 510-843-1408. Follow him at Twitter.com/douglasoakley

Berkeley High Graduating More than State, County and Fewer Dropping out But Test Scores Need Improvement

2011-08-24T12:01:00.000-07:00

By Doug Oakley

Staff Writer

doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com

Berkeley High School has more students graduating and fewer dropping out compared with schools statewide and in Alameda County, recent data from the state Department of Education show.

But at the same time, Berkeley High School 11th-graders are doing worse in English and math than schools statewide and in Alameda County.

The good news is that elementary school students in Berkeley have improved their scores in English and math.

Eighty-four percent of Berkeley High students graduated this year, compared with 74 percent who graduate statewide and in Alameda County. Berkeley's dropout rate is 14.4 percent compared with 18 percent statewide and 19 percent for Alameda County.

"I'm pleased that our numbers are good relatively, but our standard is to get everybody graduated," Berkeley schools Superintendent William Huyett said.

Huyett credits Berkeley High's small school programs, which assign 3,400 students to several small learning environments, and a more personal approach toward students, for the graduation and dropout rates.

"You have to give the staff a lot of credit for making students feel that they belong," Huyett said. "And part of it is our small school program. There is quite a personalization going on at Berkeley High that is keeping kids there and making them feel like they belong."

In the testing arena, Berkeley 11th-graders are doing worse than their counterparts in Alameda County and the state in math and English. Elementary school kids in Berkeley are showing improvement over years past, Huyett said.

For example, in math, 21 percent of 11th-graders in Berkeley were "far below basic" compared with 5 percent in the same category statewide and 6 percent in Alameda County. Twenty-three percent were proficient in math compared with 33 percent statewide and in Alameda County.

In English, just 15 percent of Berkeley 11th-graders were proficient, compared with 24 percent statewide and 23 percent in Alameda County.

Huyett said that is because many high school students in Berkeley are more focused on college entrance examinations than they are on the California Standards Tests and don't try as hard on the state tests. The high school has made progress, he said, and 10 percent more students took the test this year than in the previous year.

"It's been problematic in making sure all our students take the test and take it seriously," Huyett said.

Huyett said it's not fair to single out the 11th-grade results and have them speak for the entire district.

"You have to look at all the grade levels and look at them over time," Huyett said. "The school district has made a lot of progress in getting kids to reach proficiency in the kindergarten through eighth-grade program."

For example, in grades 2 through 7, the percentage of those proficient in math has grown from 60 percent in 2008 to 72 percent this year, Huyett said.

And in English in grades 2 through 5, the percentage of kids proficient went from 53 percent in 2008 to 64 percent this year.

Doug Oakley covers Berkeley. Contact him at 510-843-1408. Follow him at Twitter.com/douglasoakley

Berkeley Mom, Citing Family Values and Apple Pie, Seeks License to Sell Medical Marijuana in Albany

2011-08-05T08:16:00.000-07:00

By Doug Oakley

Staff Writer

Bay Area News Group

doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com

Medical marijuana is as American as apple pie, and Albany is the perfect place for a more wholesome kind of dispensary, according to a Berkeley mom who hopes to set up shop there.

Debby Goldsberry, a co-founder of the 11-year-old Berkeley Patients Group who left that organization in January, applied in July for Albany's single license to dispense medical marijuana.

She has joined forces with former Berkeley Land Use Planning Manager Mark Rhoades and Berkeley developer Ali Kashani.

The new entity, called the United Cannabis Collective, is hoping to set up shop at 544 Cleveland Ave. in Albany's industrial area, a site nestled between two freeways.

"Medical marijuana is Middle America apple pie and it fits well in a place like Albany," said Goldsberry.

"I'm a single parent and I really think there is a place for it. Albany has a really great vibe. People in Albany are solid family types, and it fits well in a place like that."

Goldsberry said she envisions a dispensary with a low number of daily visits with a maximum membership of 2,600.

Unlike other dispensaries this one will not allow smoking or eating marijuana food products on site, the application said.

Neighborhood opposition killed a plan to open a medical marijuana dispensary on San Pablo Avenue earlier this year in Albany.

The Planning and Zoning commission denied an application from VitalGen because it was within 1,000 feet of a youth-oriented facility, one of the provisions of the city's medical marijuana law. VitalGen is now suing the city over that denial, said Jeff Bond, Albany's planning and zoning manager.

Bond said United Cannabis Collective's proposed site is one of the few places in the city that satisfies Albany's location requirement.

"This is one of those locations that probably will work," Bond said. "There are not all that many vacant commercial spaces in town. There are some landlords that don't want to have anything to do with medical marijuana and some that do but are in the wrong place."

Bond said Albany police are currently doing background checks on Goldsberry and her cohorts and if they pass, there will be "preliminary discussion by the planning and zoning commission" with time for public comment. Then the application will go back to the planning commission for a vote. It does not have to go to the City Council for approval, he said.

Goldsberry said she approached Rhoades and Kashani to help with the dispensary because of their expertise in land use and planning and because they believe in medical marijuana.

She said she knew Rhoades from working with him during his time as a Berkeley city official when she ran Berkeley Patients Group. Goldsberry met Kashani when he was fighting against a Berkeley Patients Group plan to move to a new site on San Pablo Avenue in Berkeley where one of his properties would have shared a parking lot with the dispensary.

"We came to agree with him while working with him," Goldsberry said. "And it turns out he's a really great guy."

In addition to Kashani and Rhoades, Goldsberry said she is hoping to recruit four more board members for the new Albany venture.

She said feels her application will be successful despite VitalGen's rejection in Albany.

"I think the voters really want a dispensary in Albany," Goldsberry said. "They passed a law five years ago, then a second one that increased the business tax, so I think it's just a matter of finding a good location.''

Doug Oakley covers Berkeley. Contact him at 510-843-1408. Follow him at Twitter.com/douglasoakley

Kids at Berkeley's Black Repertory Group Put on The Wiz

2011-07-25T13:31:00.000-07:00

Alexandria Hamilton, 8, at right, Plays Miss One and Ayanna Harrison, 16, at left plays Dorothy during a rehearsal of the Wiz put on by the Black Repertory Group in Berkeley on July 22. The show, put on by kids ages 3 through 18 runs July 27 through Aug. 14. For more information visit www.blackrepertorygroup.com. (Photo by Doug Oakley

Ayanna Harrison, 16, at left plays Dorothy and Caleb Crayton, 13, plays the Scarecrow during a rehearsal of the Wiz put on by the Black Repertory Group in Berkeley. The show runs July 27 through Aug. 14. For more information, visit www.blackrepertorygroup.com. (Photo by Doug Oakley)

Ayanna Harrison, 16, center, talks to munchkins during a rehearsal of the Wiz at the Black Repertory Group in Berkeley. The show runs July 27 through Aug. 14. For more information visit www.blackrepertorygroup.com. (Photo by Doug Oakley)

After Losing $85,000 Loan to Restaurateur with Bad Credit, No Collateral, Berkeley Revamps Program

2011-07-21T12:23:00.000-07:00

By Doug Oakley

Staff Writer

Bay Area News Group

doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com

Berkeley has revamped its small business lending rules following the default of an $85,000 loan given to a failed pizza parlor owner who, in retrospect, had little chance to make any dough.

The city also is redoubling its efforts to find assets held by the owner of Spud's Pizza who defaulted on the loan from the city and closed the business in August of 2009. City staff went ahead with the loan even though Andrew Beretvas had bad credit and no collateral, according to a city report.

Beretvas filed bankruptcy the same month and a bankruptcy judge in Oakland ruled he had no assets to repay the city, said a report to the City Council by Michael Caplan, the city's manager of economic development.

"It's not unusual for one of these loans to go belly up in a tough economy," said Caplan.

"One of the criteria for receiving these loans is to be turned down by a conventional lender. They fill a slot in the credit market to provide financing or small loans for people who otherwise can't get capital. There is risk, but there's a question of how much risk there is to take."

Caplan recommended the City Council write off the loan at Tuesday night's City Council meeting but Councilmember Darryl Moore removed it from the agenda until September so city staff can look for more assets to recover.

"That's a lot of money to be taking out of that loan fund," Moore said.

Caplan, who was not the director of economic development when the loan was made in 2004, defended the city's track record on small business loans. Out of 34 loans made from the South Berkeley Revolving Loan Fund since 1984, just eight have been written off, Caplan said.

And since the fund was started with a $500,000 grant from the federal Economic Development Administration, the balance has grown to $672,000 despite the city writing off $350,000 in bad loans.

Still, Spuds Pizza had more than it's share of problems.

In addition to having bad credit and little prospects for success, according to the report, during the course of its five years in business, Spuds had three Alcoholic Beverage Control violations, Beretvas was in danger of losing his liquor license and he was reluctant to make any changes in his business strategy.

Beretvas was not available for comment. A phone number listed in his name was disconnected.

Wary of losing the loan, the city went out of its way to help him. In the spring of 2009 the city paid a consultant, Dorothee Mitrani-Bell, owner of La Note restaurant, about $2,000 to study Beretvas' business plan and give advice to get him out of the red.

The report cited the alcohol penalties with the possibility of having his liquor license revoked, poor cash flow and no personal funding available by the owner, an unclear menu and layout, and a confusing restaurant concept as challenges.

"We tried so hard to help him," Caplan said. "But he was a stubborn, independent entrepreneurial guy and he wasn't willing to adapt or rethink his concept and that really hurt him."

Elizabeth Delgado, community development project coordinator in the office of economic development, said partly as a result of the Spuds Pizza problem, the office has not made any more loans since 2008.

Caplan's report and Delgado noted that the city's Loan Administration Board, which gives direction to the economic development office, voted to give Beretvas the loan despite warnings from their office.

"There was no motivation to make stupid loans," Delgado said of the board. "This one fell through. The current loan board realized we need to put in new policies to safeguard the program." Caplan added that in the past, the staff of the economic development office "overwhelmingly" yields to recommendations of the board, even though the board sits in a purely advisory capacity.

Delgado said the program now has a loan cap of $35,000 and an application fee of $200. In addition, borrowers must have "some skin in the game" as Delgado put it, with a personal guarantee of 20 percent of their own equity when opening a new business.

And the program has been expanded to the entire city from just south Berkeley, Caplan said.

"It's a shame to have to write off anything," Caplan said. "We hope this is a learning experience and hopefully we'll move forward from here."

City Council member Max Anderson, whose district includes the corner at Adeline and Ashby streets where Spuds was located, said the city really wanted to make business come alive in that area.

"In hindsight, the city manager is probably saying they shouldn't have made the loan," Anderson said. "At the time we were trying to make sure the businesses on the corridor were viable, but it was an investment that didn't pan out."

Doug Oakley covers Berkeley. Contact him at 510-843-1408. Follow him at Twitter.com/douglasoakley.