December
2008
after 12/7,
here
after 12/16, here after 12/20/08
here after 12/25/08,here
12/2/08
my thoughts
on a completely new
Potter Creek Association
We don't need one?
Potter Creek is too diverse
for one association?
One Potter Creek assocation
is one too many?
Potter Creek needs an association
not a political action group?
secret associations aren't
transparent?
one member, one vote, democracy?
under the stake-holder system--a
Berkeley concept de jour, those who have more atstake have
more votes?
one member, one vote, democracy?
oh, I asked that already.
more to follow
12/3/08
"Mixed day for rookies in Legislature"
by Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle
Sacramento Bureau.
" 'If you asked why
I ran six months ago or what I intended to do - it's a different
day,' said Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley. Skinner, who
served on the East Bay Regional Parks Board and was a longtime
Berkeley City Council member, said there can be nothing left off
the table in terms of looking for budget cuts, but she said that
she and her East Bay colleagues will work toward one goal: 'Do
the least amount of harm.' "
our Angela emails about graffiti
Hi Ron,
Sending out troops for the public right of way (traffic signs,
trees, electrical boxes) and your addresses are helpful for me
to forward onto the right city staff.
I will be going out to get the address for 8th and Parker today
to get address. A helpful hint when people call in grafitti
and for city staff to get out to public right of way sooner is
to have the address in hand when you call in to 981-6620.The address
is needed to direct staff (even though it might be obvious when
we get there/ but also to log in into database for tracking) and especially
important for when it is on private property to send property
owner letter to remove.
thanks again for your continued work...
Angela
Ryan Lau emails
Hello Everyone,
I know that there are many people who are concerned about the
situation with the 2240 9th Street, what is more commonly referred
to as "The BOSS House." I have attached a memo
from the City Manager's office as to the City's plans for the
use of this property. As of right now, there have not been
any decisions made about who or what type of use will be located
at this property once it has been cleaned, and before any decision
is made, there will be some sort of public process to solicit
the concerns that the community. We will be keeping everyone
posted once we have more information and have been able to make
arrangements for a community meeting. Thanks everyone, and
we will be in touch.
Sincerely,
Ryan Lau
Council Aide
Councilmember Darryl Moore, District 2
"Fund provides move-in money for blind
woman" reports Elizabeth
Fernandez, Chronicle Staff Writer.
"First her right eye
went. Then, a few months later, just as abruptly, she lost vision
in her left eye and Sheila Grant Bolanos became a blind woman.
That was last year.
She could no longer drive
or use a computer, and had to give up her job in San Francisco
as a manager of therapeutic recreation helping senior citizens.
Since then, she has spent
little time bemoaning her profound loss - brought on by diabetes,
a condition she had suffered from most of her life. Rather, she's
devoted herself to learning to cope, to relearning how to use
a computer, to acquiring the skills necessary to navigate daily
life."
"Cal seems set for Emerald Bowl" reports Rusty Simmons, Chronicle Staff Writer.
"It looks like the Cal
football team might be home for the holidays.
Emerald Bowl executive director
Gary Cavalli said Sunday he's 'optimistic' that he can reach an
agreement to leap-frog the Las Vegas Bowl and grab the fourth-place
Bears for the Dec. 27 game at AT&T Park."
"UW to get close look at Jeff Tedford" reports the Seattle Times.
"Tyrone Willingham will
coach his final football game for Washington at California on
Saturday, against a coach on the other sideline who has been mentioned
as a potential successor.
Tyrone Willingham will coach his final football game for Washington
at California on Saturday, against a coach on the other sideline
who has been mentioned as a potential successor.
But Jeff Tedford, in a conference
call with Seattle-area reporters to preview the game, said he
had not been contacted by UW and indications are that he won't
be a candidate."
The LA Times has a
story about a Cal alumni in "Muncie,
who spends much of his time at his Bay Area home in Emeryville,
also spearheads a mentoring program for athletes at his alma mater.
'Whenever we call, he makes
himself available,' says Dr. Bill Coysh, director of sports medicine
for the Cal athletic department. 'That's what's incredible about
him. This is not a paid position. He does it because that's how
he is.'
If a similar program had been in place when Muncie played at Cal,
the former running back says, 'It would have made all the difference
in the world.'
Or maybe not.
'Back in the '70s,"
says Muncie, noting that he started using cocaine in college,
'everything was about experimentation and Berkeley was a different
place than it is now. It was a different time, and we didn't have
the education we have now on drug abuse, so it's kind of hard
to compare. It's apples and oranges.' "
"California's Ashley Walker Named U.S.
Bank Pac-10 Women's Basketball Player of the Week" is a story at pac-10 org.
"Leading the #3/3 Bears
to a 3-0 week at the Paradise Jam over the Thanksgiving weekend,
CALIFORNIA's Ashley Walker was selected the U.S. Bank Pac-10 Women's
Basketball Player of the Week, Commissioner Tom Hansen announced.
A senior F/C from Modesto, Calif., Walker averaged 22.7 points,
6.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists over three games at the holiday tournament
in the Virgin Islands, also earning the event's Most Valuable
Player distinction for the Reef Division."
"California, here she comes - Marin sailor
Shana Bagley crews in around-the-world race" is a report by Michelle Slade in the Marin
Independent Journal.
"The story of Marin
native Shana Bagley being selected to crew the yacht California
as the first West Coast entry in the prestigious Clipper Round
The World 09-10 race is fascinating in itself. But there's more
to her than meets the eye."
"UC Berkeley MBA Students Partner With
National Lab Scientists to Commercialize Clean Tech" is a press release at newswire.ascribe.org.
"Bringing clean tech
innovations into the market place faster is the purpose of a new
partnership launched this fall between scientists at the Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and students of the Berkeley
Energy and Resources Collaborative (BERC), an interdisciplinary
organization founded by MBA students at the University of California,
Berkeley's Haas School of Business."
"Is empty nest best? Changes in marital
satisfaction in late middle age"
is a story on physorg.com.
"The phrase 'empty nest'
can conjure up images of sad and lonely parents sitting at home,
twiddling their thumbs, waiting for their children to call or
visit. However, a new study, reported in Psychological Science,
a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, suggests
that an empty nest may have beneficial effects on the parents'
marriage.
University of California,
Berkeley psychologists Sara M. Gorchoff, Oliver P. John and Ravenna
Helson tracked the marital satisfaction of a group of women over
18 years, from the time they were in their 40s to when they were
in their early 60s.
The results of this study
revealed that marital satisfaction increased as the women got
older. Marital satisfaction increased for women who stayed with
the same partners and for women who remarried."
"Epigenetics: Plants Display 'Molecular
Amnesia' " reports
Science Daily.
"Plant researchers from
McGill University and the University of California, Berkeley,
have announced
a major breakthrough in a developmental process called epigenetics.
They have demonstrated for the first time the reversal of what
is called epigenetic silencing in plants."
You know, I was just wondering
about this, yesterday.
"Companies push biking to work" is a report on USA Today.
"More and more companies
are offering financial incentives for employees to ride bikes
to work. In New York City, commuter cycling increased by 35% between
2007 and 2008, according to a 2008 report by the city's Department
of Transportation.
Julie Sheu, an employee at the Clif Bar food company in Berkeley,
Calif., started biking to work this year, thanks to a one-time
benefit her company offers to its employees: $500 to either buy
or repair a bike if they pledge to use the bike a minimum of two
times per month.
'It was the incentive and support I needed to get a bike that
allowed me to get to work faster and do errands on weekends,'
she said.
The program started in April. Almost half of the company's 227
employees take advantage of the bike program, company spokeswoman
Sue Hearn said."
"It's painful to watch passing parade of
change" reports
Carl Nolte at sfgate.com.
"When times start to
get tough, you begin to notice that some of the businesses and
people you thought would always be around are starting to fade
away.
Two old companies made big changes this month. One is a new car
dealer on Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco for nearly 60 years.
The other is a ship company that has been operated out of either
San Francisco or Oakland since the Gold Rush."
"UC Berkeley prof. speaks on microfinance" is a report by Colette Shade on vermontcynic.com.
" 'We do it cheap/hide
our money in a heap ... I got family, a friend in need,' M.I.A.
raps on her 2007 album "Kala.'
'Cheap Moroccan got no credit
... y'all got less credit than me.'
M.I.A. may well be referencing
the difficulty individuals in impoverished countries have obtaining
credit.
While M.I.A.'s music may
be well-recognized among UVM students, modern-day solutions to
third-world poverty are much less familiar.
Dr. Ananya Roy, a professor
at University of California, Berkeley, came to speak to students
about this very issue on Monday, Nov. 17."
"A European-style tax? Get ready for it" is a story at cnn.com.
"Like it or not, there's
only one way we're going to be able to pay for our ballooning
deficit: a value-added tax.
It's highly possible, if not inevitable, that Americans will soon
live under a radically different tax system - one that the pundits
and politicians aren't talking about.
It's called a value-added
tax, or VAT, and it's been used for decades to pay the bills and
sustain the immense growth of governments around the world, from
France to Mexico to Australia. Created in 1954 by a French economist,
the VAT is the most potent, efficient machine for revenue generation
yet invented."
"Peet's Coffee &
Tea, Inc. to Present at Wedbush Morgan Securities Ninth Annual
California Dreamin' Management Access Conference" is a report
at marketwatch.com.
". . . the premier specialty
coffee and tea company in the U.S., announced that it will present
at the Wedbush Morgan Securities Ninth Annual California Dreamin'
MAC: Management Access Conference for
Micro-Small-Mid-Cap Companies,
at 9:30 a.m. PT on Tues., Dec. 9, 2008, at the Fairmont Miramar
Hotel in Santa Monica, Calif."
From Alaska's Radio Kenai we hear " I never
thought I'd live to see the day when having a bake sale would
mean breaking the law. And it's all because some over-zealous
nutrition nuts think they have the right to tell you how you should
eat. Can you imagine the day when the almighty government
dictates what you can and can't eat? But back to the bake sales.
According to Dr. William Douglas, the California state legislature
sometime ago passed new nutritional guidelines to limit the kinds
of snacks that would be available for sale on public school premises,
limiting sugar and calories. The true target of the guidelines
were the vending machines at the schools, which used to contain
the usual coin-operated fare of candy bars, chips, and sugary
drinks. But part of the collateral damage of the law was the innocent
tradition of the school bake sale. The left wing is turning the
public school system into another battleground in their ongoing
war against the 'evils' of poor nutrition under the guise of 'protecting
the children.' And like all 'logic' from the left, it's driven
to the extreme, with absolutely no exceptions. Honestly: who else
other than an agenda-driven leftist lunatic could reasonably suggest
that laws targeted at vending machines should be extended to short-term
bake sales?"
12/4/08
Mayor Bates threw his annual
Holiday party last night at our Viks.
a few more photos
here
I tell ya, Da Boz hosted
one hell-of-a buffet, . . . which Viks
prepared with little apparent regard to cost.
Delicious!
. . . loved the
Taj Mahal beer.
Lüchow's German restaurant,
on 14th St. in New York City was, in the late 1800s and early
1900s, a gathering place for musicians, artists, writers and not
a few business men and politicians. They gathered for a little
good food, good talk and companionship. Here the likes of Rachmaninoff,
O. Henry, Helen Traubel, Toscanini, Mack Sennett, Lillian Gish,
Theodore Roosevelt and others exchanged ideas, socialized and
ate. William Steinway and his senior staff were regulars at the
noon lunch. Gus Kahn wrote "Yes Sir, That's My Baby"
there, on a table cloth, in 1912. There, in 1914, Victor Herbert
and some friends founded "The American Society of Composers,
Authors and Publishers," and J.P. Morgan and Andrew Carnegie
held dinners at Lüchow's that made culinary history. Fritz
Kreisler and his wife dined regularly at Lüchow's and among
their favorite desserts were German pancakes. Here's the recipe:
LÜCHOW'S GERMAN
PANCAKE
PFANNKUCHEN
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups sifted flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 pint milk
1/2 pound butter
Powdered cinnamon in shaker
Sugar in shaker
Juice 1 lemon
Preisselbeeren, huckleberry jam, cooked apples or chocolate sauce
Jamaica rum, kirschwasser (optional)
Beat eggs lightly;
beat in flour, salt, and sugar, then milk. Beat five minutes in
all. The batter should be thin and smooth. Melt enough butter
in a wide frying pan to coat bottom and sides. When hot, pour
in 4 to 5 tablespoons batter. Turn and slant pan to make batter
spread to form large, thin, flat pancake. Cook until batter bubbles:
turn, bake other side.
Slip onto hot plate. Makes 4 to 6 pancakes.
Walter Damrosch was one of
the early conductors of the New York Philharmonic as well as a
conductor of the Metropolitan Opera.
He ate regularly at Lüchow's and a favorite dish of his was:
LÜCHOW'S
BEEF STEAK TARTAR
2 pounds fillet of beef
4 slices freshly buttered toast
4 fresh raw eggs
8 sardellen
2 tablespoons capers
Remove all fat
from beef. Grind meat fine. Arrange on toast; serve raw egg on
top of each slice. Garnish with sardellen and capers. Serves 4.
Dr. Damrosch enjoyed the
German red wine Assmanshauser with his Beef Tartar.
The recipe is from Lüchow's German Cookbook, Jan Mitchell
(Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Co., 1958).
John and Suzana's friend,
JungHae Kim emails
Dear friends and colleagues,
I would like to invite you to an exciting concert with New Century
Chamber Orchestra Dec 11-14th, 2008.
I hope to see you there!
JungHae
New century Chamber Orchestra
with new director Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg performing
Handel: Solomon,
Overture and Entrance of the Queen of Sheba
Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, No 5 and selection of holiday
music.
Nadja Salerno-sonnenberg,
violin
Melody Moore, soprano
Laura Griffiths, oboe
Jan Ketchum, flute
Bill Williams, trumpet
JungHae Kim, harpsichord
http://www.ncco.org/holidays.htm
Thu, Dec. 11 at 8pm, St.
John's Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave, Berkeley, CA
94705 SOLD OUT
Fri, Dec. 12 at 8pm, First United Methodist Church, 2727
College Ave, Berkeley, CA 94705
Sat, Dec. 13 at 8pm, Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness Avenue,
San Francisco, CA 94102
Sun, Dec. 14 at 5 pm, Osher Marin JCC, 200 N San Pedro
Rd, San Rafael, CA 94903
Tickets: please visit www.cityboxoffice.com.
Tel 415.392.4400
Rick Ballard emails about
his Groove Yard, 5555 Claremont Avenue Oakland, CA 94618 (510)
655-8400
I just bought a nice stash
of jazz LPs. Lots of saxophone players.
Looking for a gift for a favorite jazzhead but don't know what
they already have? Want jazz records or CDs for Christmas but
your peeps don't know your tastes or what you already have? I
have gift certificates. Lots of them. All you or they have to
do is fill in the names and amounts.
Born on this day [12/3/08]:
Barry Finnerty, Connie Boswell, Herbie Nichols, Joe Thomas, Lester
Koenig. Happy Birthday!
This Day in Jazz: 1963-saxophonist Booker Ervin recorded The Freedom
Book with Jaki Byard on piano.
They Said It: Eubie Blake "If I'd known I was going
to live to be a hundred I'd have taken much better care of myself."
There is one CD by a local artist among the new CDs
in stock at Groove Yard.
*Live at Yoshi's is the latest
CD by poet/spoken word artist Avotcja & Modupue. Members of
the group are Francis Wong, Sandy Poindexter, Jon Jang, Val Serrant,
John-Carlos Perea, Jimmy Biala, Coto Pincheira, Hafez Modirzadeh,
Shirley Kazuyo Muramoto, Sandor Moss, Ronnie Stewart and Tito
Gonzalez. All tracks written by Avotcja except for those composed
by Sun Ra, Francis Wong, Richard Rodgers, Jon Jang, Shirley Kazuyo
Muramoto, Glenn Horiuchi and Coto Pincheira.
I have an open copy of this CD. Ask to hear it next
time you're in the store.
[and Rick has for sale]
The Jazz Idiom: Blueprints,
Stills and Frames
The Jazz Photography of Charles L. Robinson; Poetic Takes and
Riffs by Al Young
Jazz Idiom showcases the intimate photography of Charles L. Robinson.
A friend to many of the jazz musicians photographed, he often
caught them in moments of candor: Charles Mingus, goateed and
pensive, hunched over a Steinway, phrases dancing in his head.
The legendary Earl "Fatha" Hines, in the groove-the
original cool cat in sunglasses, famous for breaking piano strings.
We see Muddy Waters and Jimmy Rushing backstage, talking about
sometime back in the day. We see Milt Jackson and Dizzy Gillespie
sharing a joke.
California Poet Laureate Al Young riffs, scats and bebops along
with the photographs as he and Robinson provide poetry, anecdotes
and insight into the players and moments in question. A beautiful
medley of music, photography and poetry, Jazz Idiom pays homage
to one of the most exciting times in American music history.
For the month of December, I am offering it at 20% off the list
price. I should also mention that Charles L. "Chuck"
Robinson is a longtime and valued customer of Groove Yard.
The Chronicle mentions our Art Walk Open House.
A sale of jewelry, paintings, fiber art, glassware and other wares
by artists and craftspeople in Berkeley. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sat.-Sun.
ActivSpace, 2703 Seventh St., Berkeley. (510) 845-5000.
"Allegedly
tortured Tracy boy's aunt is arrested" reports Henry
K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer.
"The aunt of a 17-year-old
boy who escaped from a Tracy home where he had allegedly been
held captive has been arrested in connection with the case, police
said today.
Caren Ramirez, 43, pleaded
no contest in a child abuse case last year, but authorities say
the teenager wound up living with her in a Tracy home owned by
Michael Luther Schumacher, 34, and his wife, Kelly Layne Lau,
30. The couple were arrested Tuesday on suspicion of kidnapping,
torture and other felonies.
Ramirez was found at a home
on the 2600 block of College Avenue south of UC Berkeley about
8:45 p.m. Tuesday, said Berkeley police Lt. Diane Delaney. Tracy
police took her back to San Joaquin County, where she was being
interviewed."
"Chabad-Lubavitch offers Jews abroad a
home" reports Matthai
Kuruvila, Chronicle Religion Writer.
"Members of the Bay
Area's Chabad-Lubavitch community mourned Tuesday as the bodies
of two brethren killed in the Mumbai terrorist attacks were buried
in Israel.
Lubavitchers, as they are
sometimes called, have made a modern mission out of creating havens
for Jewish religious practice in far flung corners of the world
- a tradition whose early roots include the Bay Area.
"Central Bank Devalues Ruble Twice During
Course of Week" reports
Tai Adelaja of Russia's St Petersburg Times.
"The Central Bank on
Friday allowed the ruble to depreciate for the second time in
a week and said it would raise key interest rates in an effort
to reduce capital outflows.
The trading corridor of the dollar-euro basket was widened by
1 percentage point, or 30 kopeks, for the third time this month,
continuing on a track of gradual devaluation widely criticized
for encouraging speculation and depleting foreign currency reserves."
12/7/08
"Burden of multiple pollutants new focus
of regulators" reports
Suzanne Bohan of the Times.
"The health burden of
the cumulative effects of environmental pollutants takes center
stage at a community forum sponsored this evening by the Contra
Costa County Hazardous Materials Commission.
The gathering reflects the
growing momentum by regulators to factor in the combined effect
of various pollutants in their decision-making process, rather
than just consider one at time.
'Right now, we are still
regulating and managing pollutants mostly one at a time, without
thinking too much about what happens when these things are close
together or near vulnerable populations,' said Amy Kyle, an associate
adjunct professor at the University of California, Berkeley's
School of Public Health, who will join the forum's panel.
Many pollutants, she explained, affect the same or similar biological
pathways. By considering only one at time, the real health
effects of the combined chemical cocktail can be missed. As
an example, Kyle cited endocrine disrupters found in pesticides,
plastics and other products and pollutants. These can act like
hormones in the body, causing a cascading effect on multiple systems
and organs.
In addition, Kyle said researchers
have realized that 'many environmental contaminants have effects
at far lower doses than we thought before, especially for
susceptible populations like infants and children, or the elderly.' "
underlining mine!
As long as five to ten years
ago, I told this to whoever would listen and to some who wouldn't,
including local "environment experts" .
I was met by polite smiles
or dismissed with psuedo-science.
"The Energy Challenge:Energy Goals a Moving
Target for States"
is a story by Brian Harkin in the New York Times.
"In hopes of slowing
global warming and creating 'green jobs,' Congress and the incoming
administration may soon impose a mandate that the nation get 10
or 15 percent of its electricity from renewable sources within
a few years.
Yet the experience of states
that have adopted similar goals suggests that passing that requirement
could be a lot easier than achieving it. The record so far is
decidedly mixed: some states appear to be on track to meet energy
targets, but others have fallen behind on the aggressive goals
they set several years ago."
Kubik emails
Just two comments on
the sculpture recently erected on our beautiful bridge.
The bridge is a fine example of engineering and artistic simplicity
- the sculpture is busy and awkward. They just don't fit together.
The sculpture seems intended to commemorate important events in
Berkeley's history, but it ignores the discovery and isolation
of plutonium, the birth of the modern giant, corporate university,
and the torture-memo by John Yoo - all from UC Berkeley.
Carol Whitman emails of the
sculpture
Hear, hear. What were
they thinking?
"San Pablo Condo Project Defaults, Forced
Sale Scheduled"
is a superb report with background by our crackerjack Richard
Brenneman of the Planet.
"The latest chapter
in one of Berkeley's more hotly contested buildings will unfold
on the courthouse steps in Oakland at high noon on Dec. 16.
That's when the condo building
at 2700 San Pablo Ave. will be sold at auction to pay for the
$10.8 million incurred by its owner, Carleton Place, LLC, in May
2006.
Developer Charmaine Curtis
told a writer for Apartment Finance Today magazine in April that
the total cost of the project had been $14 million."
What Brenneman misses is
that basically this project is of mediocre design and execution--Kubik
commented after a tour that it reminded him of a cheap apartment
building. And sadly, it blends in with the still slightly seedy
part of San Pablo Ave--a more creative, innovative design could
have changed the it.
The project is in a block
often frequented by whores, their pimps, and drug dealers. So,
imagine a prospective middle-class buyer of a more than half-million-dollar
condo, after some difficulty finding a parking place, getting
out of her car, and on her way to the condo office, walking past
a whore strutting-her-stuff. I talked to one such woman who confessed
only "Well, it's awful noisy there."
Then there's the racist component,
never spoken or written of, that even I'm not getting into here
and now.
our mayor emails
The Bates Update--News From
Mayor Tom Bates
here are excerpts
Berkeley's Solar Financing Program Hits Target in Nine
Minutes
The City of Berkeley's innovative solar financing program, Berkeley
FIRST, began accepting on-line applications on November 5th at
9 am. Nine minutes later, 40 applications had been received.
By the close of the application period, the number of applications
reached 77.
The 40 properties selected for participation were the first five
applicants in each of the City's eight Council districts.
Interest in the program has been high, with more than 300 property
owners attending public workshops in October.
For more information:
Contact Gail Feldman, Sustainable Energy Programs Manager
(510) 981-7494 or visit the City of Berkeley's FIRST Program website:
www.cityofberkeley.info/sustainable
MTC Honors Berkeley for its
Contributions to Bay Area Transportation
City CarShare and the city of Berkeley's AccessMobile received
the Doris Kahn Accessible Transportation Award for providing the
nation's first wheelchair-accessible car-share van. The AccessMobile,
funded by a $25,000 award won by the city of Berkeley and matched
by City CarShare, provides a new mobility option for wheelchair-bound
residents. The van can transport two individuals using wheelchairs,
plus three additional passengers and a driver. The AccessMobile
launched in Berkeley on Earth Day, April 22.
Climate Action Plan 2.0 Public
Comment Period Extended
The public comment period on Berkeley's Climate Action Plan has
been extended to January 16th, 2009.
To access and comment on
the report online please visit http://www.berkeleyclimateaction.org/
Thank You Berkeley Voters!
November 4, 2008 will be remembered as a landmark political election.
On a local level Berkeleyans passed Measure FF to improve our
libraries as well as Measure GG to expand our emergency safety
services.
I am also honored to be able to serve the residents of Berkeley
for the next four years.
City Encourages Input on Citywide Pool Master Plan
The City of Berkeley and the Berkeley Unified School District
(BUSD) are preparing a Citywide Pools Master Plan to meet the
current and future aquatic needs of the community. Public workshops
are being held to better understand these needs.
The third and final community
workshop will be held on Wednesday, January 28, 2009. Participants
will comment on the Draft Citywide Pools Master Plan. This workshop
will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. at the James Kenney Community Center,
Community Room, 1720 8th Street, Berkeley.
City Council District Maps-
In Color and Easy To Read!
The City Clerk and Information Technology departments have created
beautiful new maps for the City's eight Council districts. Viewers
can easily zoom in to see street names and precinct lines as well.
The citywide map and all eight districts can be downloaded from
the City Clerk page.
"Suit seeks database on bills, lawmakers'
votes" writes Matthew
Yi, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau.
"Open-government advocates
filed a lawsuit against the state Wednesday, asking a Superior
Court judge to order the Legislative Counsel to provide an electronic
database containing information on bills and lawmakers' voting
records.
The suit was filed jointly
by the California First Amendment Coalition and MAPlight.org,
a nonprofit in Berkeley that operates a Web site that analyzes
the relationship between campaign contributions by special-interest
groups and how lawmakers vote on legislation."
a Richmond
Ramblers M. C. reader sent this holiday recipe.
"This
is a wonderful recipe, and it's just in time for the Holidays.
Enjoy!
With the holidays coming, here's a fruit cake recipe that will
help
take the stress out of this normally stressful time.
Ingredients:
1 cup of water
1 cup of sugar
4 large eggs
2 cups dried fruit
1 tsp. salt
1 cup brown sugar
3 ounces lemon juice
1 cup of nuts
vodka
First, sample the vodka to check for freshness. Take a large bowl.
Check the vodka again to be sure it is of the highest quality.
Repeat.
Turn on the electric mixer, beat 1 cup of butter in a large fluffy
bowl.
Add water, eggs and 1 tsp. sugar and beat again.
Make surr the vodca is still OK. Cry another tup. Turn off mixers.
Chuck in the cup of dried fruitt or something.
Mix on the turner.
If the fried druit gets struck on the beaterers, pry it loose
with a
drewscriver.
Sample the vodka to check for tonsistancity. Next, sniff 2 cups
of
salt. Or . . . Who cares? Check the vodka. Now sniff the lemon
juice
and strain nuts.
Add one Table.
Spoon.
Of sugar. Whatever.
Grease the oven.
Turn the cake ttin 350 degrees.
Don't forget to beat off the turner.
Whip the bowl out the window.
Check the vidka again.
Ah,
. . . forget it. Nobody likes fruitcake anyway."
"Alice
Water's Zinfandel fascination" is at sfgate.com.
"Next week, Chez Panisse
begins another round of its Zinfandel festival, serving many of
the older Zins in its cellar and offering a nightly flight of
Zin to customers both downstairs in the dining room and upstairs
in the Cafe."
"Winter Shelters Open Despite Grim Economic
Outlook" is a report
by the Planet's Riya Bhattacharjee.
"Despite the bleak economic
scenario, Berkeley's winter homeless shelters have reopened for
the winter, with a couple of them reporting a slight boost in
funding and one witnessing record turnouts.
The city has typically offered
at least four different kinds of shelter services to the homeless
every winter, including the Winter Shelter program at the Oakland
Army Base, the Winter Voucher program, the Emergency Storm Shelter
program managed by Dorothy Day House and the Youth Emergency Assistance
Hostel (YEAH!) at the Lutheran Church of the Cross on University
Avenue, which caters to young adults.
According to a 2003 survey
of Alameda County's homeless population, conducted by the Alameda
County Continuum of Care Council, approximately 835 people are
homeless on any given night in Berkeley, including 785 adults
and 50 children."
"California's Jahvid Best lives up to his
name in record-setting day" is
a report by Ron Bergman in the Seattle Times.
"California football
coach Jeff Tedford juggled a number of issues Saturday. Not the
least of them was putting running back Jahvid Best back on the
field when the Bears were trampling winless Washington."
And "Run
and done: Bears ruin Willingham's exit" reports the Seattle
Times.
"With a 48-7 loss to
California the Huskies finished 0-12, the most losses in Pac-10
history, and became the first team in the conference to go winless
since Oregon State finished 0-11 in 1980.
The Huskies spent the week
invariably thinking about coaches coming and going. And on Saturday,
they watched California running back Jahvid Best come and go.
It added up to a rather strange
and all-too dreary ending to the worst season in Washington football
history, as well as the four-year coaching tenure of Tyrone Willingham,
as the Bears beat the Huskies, 48-7."
"Cal athletics doesn't drain as much, but
deficit persists" writes
Matt Krupnick of the Times.
"In the past two years,
UC Berkeley has cut its athletic department's deficit in half,
but the wall is looming.
University leaders had dreamed of making the department self-sufficient
by 2016 or so. Though the school has made significant strides,
administrators now acknowledge it may not be possible.
"UC chief changes buyout policy" is a story by Jim Doyle, Chronicle Staff
Writer.
"The new president of
the University of California system pledged Tuesday that employees
in his office no longer will be allowed to collect full severance
checks and then be rehired at other UC locations."
"Angry laid-off workers occupy factory
in Chicago" is an
AP story at sfgate.com.
"Workers who got three days' notice that their factory was
shutting its doors have occupied the building and say they won't
go home without assurances they'll get severance and vacation
pay.
About 250 union workers occupied
the Republic Windows and Doors plant in shifts Saturday while
union leaders outside criticized a Wall Street bailout they say
is leaving laborers behind."
"Out-of-state enrollment sees significant
increase at UC Berkeley"
is a story at bgnews.com.
"Though UC Berkeley increased the number of admitted
international students by threefold this year, the university
hopes to attract even more international and out-of-state students,
partially to reach a higher tuition target during budget constraints."
"Berkeley
grandma sues over canceled embed" is a story by Kristin
Bender of the Oakland Tribune.
"Berkeley blogger Jane
Stillwater is suing the federal government for the cost of an
airplane ticket to Kuwait and the cost of 15 mocha lattes from
the airport Starbucks, where she spent two sleepless days because
her previously approved embed with the U.S. Army suddenly was
canceled.
Stillwater, a 66-year-old
grandmother, embedded with the U.S. military twice last year and
has gone to Iraq to hang out with troops and blog twice since
her Starbucks layover. But in February she had an experience that
prompted her to take the Department of Defense to small claims
court."
"rrrauk, cough,"
hafta go now
Eternally useful
links
Bay Area home prices from sfgate.com
Bay Area foreclosures from sfgate.com
Our City Council update is
here.
Our Planning Commision update
is here
You can find more information
about our current weather conditions than is good for you at www.wunderground.com
Want to see weather coming
in, going out, beautiful sunsets, and much, much more? Check out
http://sv.berkeley.edu/view/
This very hip site was in an email from reader and contributor,
Tony Almeida. Read Tony's Jimi Hendrix story on the only page that routinely gets
more hits than Scrambled Eggs.
Best gas prices in 94710,
as well as all of US and Canada, are here
at gasbuddy.com
Kimar finds Costco routinely
has the lowest price.
Richmond
Ramblers' motorcycle club member, Cliff Miller emails a very
useful link
If you ever need to get a
human being on the phone at a credit card company or bank, etc.,
this site tells you how to defeat their automated system and get
you to a human being within a few seconds.
http://gethuman.com/
Markets
is not just a reference for Berkeley-Hills radicals with 1.5 mil
homes and considerable portfolios.
Our City of Berkeley Boards
and Commissions page is here--redone
and friendly.
Berkeley
Police reports at insidebay area.com are here.
Our Berkeley
PD Site with crime statistics and more is here.
Crime Log for 94710 is
here
This site is NOT affiliated
with Berkeley PD.
Take time to report
crime!
All reports
of crime-in-progress should first go to Berkeley PD dispatch--911
or non-emergency, 981-5900. THEN make sure you notify EACH of
these City people.
The contacts
are below:
Our new Area
Coordinator is Officer Karen Buckheit, Berkeley PD - 981-5774
kbuckheit@ci.berkeley.ca.us
Angela Gallegos-Castillo,
City Mgr Off - 981-2491 agallegos-castillo@ci.berkeley.ca.us
Ryan Lau,
aid to Darryl Moore - 981-7120 rlau@ci.berkeley.ca.us
Darryl Moore,
City Councilman dmoore@ci.berkeley.ca.us
More
Scrambled Eggs & Lox, here
and
Stories about Berkeley and stories about recorded-music
are at
Journal of Recorded Music 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
ronpenndorf@earthlink.net
The original owner
of all posted material retains copyright. The material is used
only to illustrate