March 2009

3/2 here after 3/4 here after 3/11 here after 3/13 here

the west-Berkeley Bowl

"the grocery store and more"

a photo essay with permission of the owners

 

 

 

3/1/09

Thursday there was another accident

on 8th and Pardee--a "blind corner" waiting for accidents to happen

Again it appears that a driver ran the east-west stop sign so hitting a mini-station wagon and pushing it thru the intersection. The wagon was filled with children and driven by a young woman. Thankfully, this time there were no injuries.

 

Juan's Place employees were arrested after they beat a man with a tire iron and a metal pipe in a dispute over burritos.

"Berkeley restaurant employees arrested after dispute over burritos" reports Doug Oakley in the West County Times.

"A man was unconscious at Highland Hospital on Tuesday evening after he was beaten with a tire iron and a metal pipe in a dispute over burritos at Juan's Place restaurant in west Berkeley, police said.

Berkeley Police spokeswoman Sgt. Mary Kusmiss said two Juan's Place employees were arrested for assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the 4:30 p.m. incident.

Police did not release the name of the victim or those suspected of beating him.

Kusmiss said the incident started when three men who had been drinking entered Juan's Place and inquired about free food, which they often received at the restaurant.

An argument followed and two of the three men brandished a knife and a belt. Two Juan's Place employees then chased the men and beat one of them in front of several witnesses, Kusmiss said."

 

Pete's Potter Creek rain gauge showed 2.6 inches total for our last storm.

 

There is a community meeting this Tuesday March 3, at 6:30 PM at the French School's 9th and Grayson Campus. Berkeley Bowl traffic will be discussed, as will their voluntary-association bylaws with the possible election of association officers.

 

 

 

Sally had a party today

to celebrate Richard's 65 th-but Richard is nowhere to be seen here

 

 

 Our Councilman Kriss Worthington emails

Dear Friends,
The City of Berkeley Commission on the Status of Women is accepting nominations for one or more women to be honored at this year's 20th Annual Outstanding Women of Berkeley event on April 1, 2009.  If you would like to nominate someone, please see the attachment for more information and fill out the nomination form. [I was unable to attach pdf of form.email if you'd like one.] Completed forms must be submitted by this Monday, March 2, 2009 to the Commission Secretary, Tasha Tervalon at:
1947 Center Street, 2nd Floor
Berkeley, CA 94704 or faxed to 510-981-5395.
Thanks for your time!
Kriss

 

 

"The Musical Offering: 'All the Elements of Civilization' writes Ken Bullock Special to the Planet.

'When I was a student here, in the early '50s,' said concert pianist Daniell Revenaugh, over a cup of soup in the Musical Offering Cafe, 'there were four or five record stores on Telegraph Avenue and around the university that featured classical music-and a couple of them were real meeting places, like the coffee houses of old London. This is the only place like that left.'

However numerous or well-stocked record stores of yore, they were a different animal than the symbiotic creation under one roof at 2430 Bancroft Way, across from Zellerbach Auditorium: The Musical Offering & Cafe (also called the Café-Bistro), as well as the University Press Bookstore."

In The Day, Danny used to hang out at Campus Records and even got recommendations for his repertoire from Albert.

 

 

 

our Berkeley Mills is sponsoring a benefit

 

March 11

 

 

 

"Berkeley filmmaker explores rich history of New Orleans neighborhood" is a story by Chuck Barney at contracostatimes.com.

"A few years ago, Bay Area filmmaker Dawn Logsdon learned a valuable double-barreled lesson: 1.) Sometimes the best ideas for a documentary project can be found right in your former backyard, and 2.) Never overlook the teachings of a parent.

The result of that knowledge is 'Faubourg Tremé: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans,' a moving and revelatory film making its television debut on PBS as part of the system's extensive programming lineup for Black History Month."

 

"Mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli performed in recital at UC Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall [last] Sunday" is a review in the West County Times.
   
"I thought about giving you the highlights of renowned Italian mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli's recital in Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall on Sunday afternoon, but I honestly couldn't come up with any. Trying to identify the standout moments among the 90-plus minutes this supremely talented artist gave us was like looking for a needle in a whole flashing haystack of needles - and all that silvery glitter was in fact pure gold."

 

 

"Campus to celebrate 50 years of John Searle" writes Matt Krupnick of the Contra Costa Times.

"At 76, not much has slowed for UC Berkeley philosophy professor John Searle.

'I'm in fine shape,' he said in a recent phone interview, as he took a break from skiing at Squaw Valley. 'I've lost a couple of seconds on my giant slalom, I'll admit.' "

 

 

"Bright future as Berkeley starts solar program" reports Carolyn Jones, Chronicle Staff Writer.

Two Berkeley homeowners received checks for their new solar panels on Friday, becoming the first to flip the
switch on the city's much-ballyhooed, closely watched solar financing program.

'I'm a guinea pig, but there's no way I could have afforded solar otherwise,' said Jeanne Pimentel, an editor who has 11 solar panels on her Allston Way home. 'Because of this, I can help solve our energy problem without putting any money up front.'

Berkeley's program allows property owners to pay for solar panels through a 20-year assessment on their property taxes. Pacific Gas and Electric Co. rebates and new tax breaks guaranteed in the federal stimulus package reduce the cost further, so most homeowners begin saving on electric bills immediately.

Twelve states, including New York, Washington and Colorado, and 50 California cities, including San Francisco and San Diego, are following Berkeley's model and are closely watching how the program unfolds.

 

"Berkshire has worst year; Buffett still optimistic" reports Josh Funk, AP Business Writer.

"Warren Buffett remains optimistic about the prospects for his company and the nation even though Berkshire Hathaway Inc. turned in its worst performance in 2008 and the widely-followed investor says the economy will likely remain a mess beyond this year.

Buffett used his annual letter Saturday to reassure shareholders that the Omaha-based insurance and investment company has the financial strength needed to withstand the current turmoil and improve after the worst showing of Buffett's 44 years as chairman and CEO.

Buffett wrote he's certain 'the economy will be in shambles throughout 2009 ? and, for that matter, probably well beyond ? but that conclusion does not tell us whether the stock market will rise or fall.' "

 

 

 

"Turn Up the Heat On Pacific Steel Again" is a story by Riya Bhattacharjee of our Planet.

"Community members will take to the streets once again Saturday to protest what they called toxic emissions from the West Berkeley-based Pacific Steel Casting Company, following the publication of a report by USA Today last December which identified three Berkeley schools in the top 1 percent of the country's most at-risk sites for exposure to dangerous toxic chemicals.

Environmental activists and neighbors who have labeled Pacific Steel one of the four largest surviving steel foundries in the nation as the chief pollutant in West Berkeley for over two decades singled it out as the source behind the problem reported in the article.

The allegations were promptly dismissed by Pacific Steel officials who argued that it was irresponsible to point all the blame in one direction, given the proximity of the steel plant to a major freeway and other industries." 

 

 

 

 

 

3/2/09 and following here

 

 

 

 

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