post from the past

10/24/08

Potter Creek construction

aplenty with Kruse green-remodel

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

 

 

6/21/10 return

Mustard Seed Pre-School commencement

a Steve Smith photo

for Milo, the Smiths' boy, and friend:Milo, Jack and Joe

 

 

 

Congratulations to Chris and Anthony Sulnier, now owners of 900 GRAYSON.

 

Merryll and Morgan recommend the Filaffal wagon that serves lunch Monday and Wednesday in north Emeryville. It can be found Monday around 64th and Hollis and Wednesday at Chiron. Check it out.

 

We had a chance yesterday to taste an Acme bread hot out of their oven, really unspeakably delicious!

 

 

"The World Cup runneth over" by Tim James at mg.co.za.

"It came dangerously close to a major upset: France just pipped South Africa -- but only with the help of a rather dodgy decision by the ref. The taste-match was one of a recent handful of World Cups of Wine organised internationally by winelovers (or opportunistic retailers, an occasionally overlapping category). This particular tournament was put on by a fewsmart wine-shops in Berkeley, California, and the first-round battle between South Africa and the world's most famous wine culture was expected to be a walkover for France."

 

"Slow moseys into Berkeley this summer" Paolo Lucchesi at sfgate.com.

"Hard to believe there's not a restaurant or other business named 'Slow' in Berkeley yet, but that will change this summer, when 28-year-old chef-owner Kyle Anderson will open his new restaurant Slow.

It's been said that one shortcoming of the whole Alice Waters-Slow Food movement is that it's too inaccessible, so in many ways, we're seeing the rise of the locavore quick-service restaurant. With only 30 seats inside and another 30 on the patio, Slow will offer a counter-service menu of California cuisine (and the now-requisite local, sustainable, organic, yada yada yada), with lunch dishes in the $6 range and dinner dishes in the $12 range."

 

 

"Grocery Outlet eyes expansion in lean times" Carolyn Said, Chronicle Staff Writer.

"Thrift is hot. With consumers fervently pinching pennies, "deep-discount" retailer Grocery Outlet, a 138-store food market chain headquartered in Berkeley, is drawing flocks of new customers seeking deals like giant 99-cent bags of tortilla chips, half-price Hamburger Helper and $4 family-size frozen pizzas."

 

 

 

"City of Berkeley changes parking eligibility on some streets near Trader Joe's" is a report at allvoices.com.

If you're shopping at the new Trader Joe's at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Way and University Avenue in Berkeley, Calif., or just parking in that neighborhood for a stroll downtown, make sure you know the parking rules. The city of Berkeley has recently changed parking eligibility on Berkeley Way, Grant Street, Bonita Avenue and Addison Street. Failure to adhere to the new rules can result in parking tickets.

Prior to earlier this month, the aforementioned streets all allowed two-hour parking on both sides of the street for cars not displaying the proper Area Sticker used by residents of the neighborhood. But not long after TJ's opened, the city changed its rules and closed portions of those streets to all cars not displaying the proper Area Sticker.

Readers can compare signs on the north side and south side of Berkeley Way to see how the city has modified the signs. The south side of Berkeley Way now has additional restrictions whereas the north side rules are the same as before (at least as of this writing).

 

In "Keeping PACE With Clean Energy" Steve Gelsi , MarketWatch introduces our "new mayor," Tom Gates.

"PACE was launched in 2007 as a pilot project hatched by Cisco DeVries, a former assistant to the Berkeley mayor. When the Berkeley test took off, states began passing legislation to allow municipalities to create their own programs. DeVries now works as president of Renewable Funding LLC, a private company that helps cities start PACE programs. . . .

Berkeley Mayor Tom Gates said his city is planning to pool resources with several other communities under a program called California First to relaunch its PACE program this year, three years after the pilot program.

'We're really happy that this is one of the programs that got started in Berkeley and it's just taken off like wildfire,' he said. 'We found that as good as the program was, you actually need to go to scale.'

Banding together with other communities will help cut administrative costs, he said.

'This is actually a free-market approach, believe it or not, that started in Berkeley; a free-market approach to take solar and make it go all over the United States,' Gates said. 'It's all done through lenders putting up the bonds and placing it on the property. So it's a good mechanism that's shown it can travel.' "

 

 

"Hopes dim for quick legislative action to boost California's food stamp participation rate" by Alexandra Zavis at latimes.com.

"With concern growing in Sacramento about the millions of Californians struggling to get sufficient nutrition, advocates for the poor had hoped for progress this year on recommendations to improve access to federal food stamps.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislators in both major parties have shown interest in cutting red tape that has California lagging far behind most of the nation in obtaining the benefit. But hopes that this would translate into speedy legislative action have dimmed as reform efforts have become caught up in horse-trading to close a $19.1-billion budget gap.

Most of the proposals have previously died in committee or on the governor's desk. They include Democratic efforts to stop fingerprinting applicants and reduce paperwork, changes that Republican legislators contend could provide opportunities for fraud. . . .

A proposal to allow Californians to keep their benefits when they move between counties without having to submit new applications has bipartisan support. The Assembly voted 62 to 1 last month to approve the bill, AB 2018 by Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner (D- Berkeley), and Schwarzenegger included the change in his May budget revisions."

 

 

 

"Meet the dean: California dreamin' for leader at Berkeley" by Linda Anderson ft.com.

"There are few ­ if any ­ male deans of business schools who sport an earring, but Richard Lyons, dean of the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, is unafraid of breaking the mould.

Although his background is soundly academic ­ he is a professor of finance, a graduate of the school's business programme and has a PhD in economics from MIT ­ he also has experience of business, with a two-year stint on Wall Street as chief learning officer at Goldman Sachs.

With experience of business and academia under his belt and an innovative approach to deans' fashion, it was perhaps inevitable that when he became head of the business school in July 2008, he was keen to instigate change ­ and quickly."

 

"UC Berkeley engineer a key adviser in Gulf spill aftermath" by Suzanne Bohan, Contra Costa Times.

"A call on April 20 pulled UC Berkeley engineering professor Robert Bea into the thick of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster.

That night, Bea, co-founder of the university's Center for Risk Mitigation, got a call from an alarmed former oil rig worker in Louisiana, reporting on BP's Deepwater Horizon oil rig, 50 miles off the coast.

'Bob, the unit is breaking up,' Bea recalled the woman telling him.

Two days later, the rig collapsed, and oil gushing from pipes a mile below the surface has created the nation's worst environmental disaster."

 

 

"US study shows women will outdo men in pay race" is a story at theaustralian.com.au.

The pay gap between men and women is set to vanish within 14 years among the professional classes.

An analysis of the US workplace predicts that women will, on average, earn more than men in careers such as law, medicine and academia by 2024, said Maddy Dychtwald, an expert on demographics.

In a new book, Influence, based on US government statistics, she said women in more than a third of professional dual-income households in the US were making more than their husbands, up from just over a quarter five years ago.

If this trend continued, women in middle-income jobs such as teaching, healthcare and the arts would start overtaking men shortly after 2024.

The predictions mark a break with official estimates at the start of the century, which suggested the pay gap would persist for another 40 years."

 

"Flame retardant linked to altered thyroid hormone levels during pregnancy" a report at physorg.com.

"Pregnant women with higher blood levels of a common flame retardant had altered thyroid hormone levels, a result that could have implications for fetal health, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.

"This is the first study with a sufficient sample size to evaluate the association between PBDE flame retardants and thyroid function in pregnant women," said the study's lead author, Jonathan Chevrier, a UC Berkeley researcher in epidemiology and in environmental health sciences. "Normal maternal thyroid hormone levels are essential for normal fetal growth and brain development, so our findings could have significant public health implications. These results suggest that a closer examination between PBDEs and these outcomes is needed."

PBDEs, or polybrominated diphenyl ethers, are a class of organobromine compounds found in common household items such as carpets, textiles, foam furnishings, electronics and plastics. U.S. fire safety standards implemented in the 1970s led to increased use of PBDEs, which can leach out into the environment and accumulate in human fat cells."

 

 

"Berkeley Awarded $1.9 million for Advanced Energy-Efficiency Building Technology" reports californiachronicle.com.

"Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-09) announced that the University of California at Berkeley will be awarded $1.9 million in funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to advance building technology projects at the campus."

 

"UC's Energy Efficiency Keeps the Lights On in Dark Times" by Ngoc Nguyen at californiaprogressreport.com.

"In the midst of severe cuts at most of California's public universities, there may be one bright spot. The University of California has embarked on an energy efficiency project that has started to reap financial benefits. That's no small feat, at a time when the UC system has had to hike student fees, furlough faculty, and reduce course offerings to close a $1 billion budget hole. California State University and community colleges have undertaken similar steps to boost energy efficiency on their campuses."

 

 

 

 

"In California, license plates might go electronic" Robin Hindery at sfgate.com.

"As electronic highway billboards flashing neon advertisements become more prevalent, the next frontier in distracted driving is already approaching - ad-blaring license plates.

The California Legislature is considering a bill that would allow the state to begin researching the use of electronic license plates for vehicles. The move is intended as a moneymaker for a state facing a $19 billion deficit."

 

 

 

 

6/22/10

What if some of the businesses on Telegraph could be open later--say 2 or 3 AM?

 

Our Councilyoungman, Jesse A has withdrawn his proposal to put BRT on the Council agenda. I'm told BRT is now dead in Berkeley.

Seems there's an increased interest in west-Berkeley warehouse space by out-of-town clients--some who don't even need to see the space. And there's the story of the Berkeley landlord who recently found a tenant's warehouse space flooded-they had bypassed the PG&E electric service and their ganja irrigation system failed.

 

 

"PG&E Finances $100 Million in Residential Solar Installations" at dailyfinance.com.

"Homeowners in five states, from California to New Jersey, will have more choices for solar electricity without footing the expensive, upfront cost of owning solar panels. The investment arm of PG&E (PCG) announced Monday a $100 million deal with SunRun to finance 3,500 new solar home installations.. . .

Private financing is no longer the only option for consumers who want solar electricity. A program first proposed by the city of Berkeley, Calif., has become a popular model for other cities and counties across the country to promote solar.

The program, typically called PACE (property-assessed clean energy), allows cities to essentially loan money to businesses and homeowners to install solar electric systems. They pay the city back through their property tax bills over time, with interest. In Berkeley, the home and business owners pay the city back over a 20-year period. Local governments can finance the upfront installation costs by selling bonds."

 

 

 

"Explorer Retains Deep Dive Record After 50 Years" is a story at voanews.com.

"Donald Walsh's journey to the bottom of the ocean has never been repeated. Walsh grew up near San Francisco in the 1930s. Among his earliest memories is the mega-construction project he saw from his home in the Berkeley hills."

 

 

 

"Major Jewish collection to move to UC Berkeley" is an AP story at mercurynews.com.

"The University of California, Berkeley will soon be home to one of the world's most extensive collections of Jewish history and culture.

University officials said Monday the 10,000-piece collection will be transferred to UC Berkeley this summer from the Judah L. Magnes Museum, which is in south Berkeley."

 

 

 

"Riding Away" is a bitter sweet tale by Joseph Bottum at firstthings.com.

"She was wiry and whip-thin, like most of the kids who come off the ranches, and like nearly all of them, she sat a horse like a dream. I first met her when she was, I suppose, around thirteen or so-I can't remember, exactly, but it was a few years ago, when she was helping with the horses of some friends of mine in Montana as a summer job: saddle-breaking, training the colts, currying, being the trailer on the gentle rides they'd get up for the tourists.

Each summer that I'd see her, she'd be a little more grown up-but only a little. All those kids are hard workers out west. They don't really know how not to be. She beat her older sister in the barrel racing at the county fair one of those Augusts-which bothered her parents a little. They knew she was growing into the better rider, but they figured each of the girls ought to get a turn at the county blue ribbon and the little red and gold trophy, in plated plastic, with a cowgirl on top.

Around horses, she was calm and almost wise, an expert and a sophisticate. Around everything else, she was hopelessly naive-a country kid, wide-eyed and weak-willed. The daughter of my friends flew with her back east, last year, I think it was, to have her help drive their family car out from Long Island. And so she got to see New York City for an afternoon, a great excitement, and the ocean, too-and she told me all about it later that summer while we were riding up in the hills: her first trip away from the world she knew, the badlands and hilly prairies as they rise up from the great plains to meet the western mountains. . . .

College let her down. I think it was David Brooks who once remarked that all college towns are the same place. He was thinking of the identical feeling that one gets in places from Berkeley, California, to Madison, Wisconsin-the similar coffee shops, the carbon-copy bookstores, the indistinguishable attitude of smug correctness. But it extends far beyond that. The identity of American universities reaches deep into their psyches-where all of them want to be Berkeley and Madison, and all of them are ashamed of being elsewhere."

 

 

"UC illegally searched journalist's camera" AP report at google.com.

" A judge has ruled that University of California, Berkeley police illegally searched the camera of a photojournalist covering a student protest outside the chancellor's home."

 

 

"Smelly Plant Blooms in Berkeley" by Dan McMenamin at berkeleydailyplanet.com.

"The University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley is usually a sight to behold, but it is noses that might be held there at the end of this month because of the smell from a "corpse plant" that is about to blossom.

The Titan Arum, also known as the corpse plant due to the rotten flesh-like stench that emanates from it when it blossoms, is expected to reach its peak stink when it flowers sometime around July 1, according to garden officials."

 

 

"China's wage hikes likely to lead to higher gadget prices" by John Boudreau at mercurynews.com.

"The era of cheap manufacturing in China is coming to an end.

Rising wages spurred by a series of labor disputes at factories in China, coupled with the country's just-announced decision to allow its currency to rise in value - making it more expensive to build things there - will lead to higher prices for tech gadgets, cut into corporate bottom lines and force companies to rethink manufacturing strategies anchored in China, the world's assembly line.

At the same time, the two developments could create a brand-new and enormous market for tech companies to sell their products, since they'll likely spur the growth of a Chinese middle class eager to get their hands on gadgets they now build but often cannot buy."

 

 

"Secondhand smoke causes serious health problems" at buffalonews.com.

"Tobacco smoke from other folks' cigarettes, cigars and pipes can be bad for your heart. In the catalog of cardiac villains, smoking is still a leading cause of heart disease, even though fewer people are smoking these days. That's a testament to the hazard of this habit. It's also because its effects don't stop with the smoker; they extend to anyone who breathes air polluted by smoke from a cigarette, cigar, or pipe.

Secondhand smoke isn't an innocuous byproduct of smoking. This mixture of freshly burnt tobacco and exhaled smoke contains hundreds of chemicals, including formaldehyde, benzene, carbon monoxide, ammonia, arsenic and lead. Some are known to cause cancer. Others are highly toxic to cells all over the body."

 

 

 

6/24/10

our Jill Ellis, CEID director emails of the Milo, Jack and Joe photo

Love the photo ­ Milo is nearly a grown up!

 

The side walk is being replaced on 9th in front of Parker Center so watch out.

 

I stopped at Zazou's yesterday morning for an espresso and baguette wit h jam and butter and caught the end of the US--Algeria match. I'm not saying I was the only non-Algerian/American there but the air was filled with cheers and yells in Arabic for the Algerian team. And after the US goal about half the guys left. Still great fun, great crowd. What enthusiasm!

 

 

"A guide to halibut fishing in bay waters" by George deVilbiss, rosevillept.com.

"Halibut are one of the most prized eating fish around, and California is blessed with two species of these flatfish, the Pacific halibut and the smaller California halibut. To many anglers, they're simply known as 'butts.'

There are times throughout the year that San Francisco Bay is just outright choked with halibut, primarily the California variety. And when the bite is on, bay waters are choked with boats.

To fish for halibut, you've got one of two choices: ride a party boat where you're pretty much shoulder-to-shoulder with other anglers, or haul your own boat down there and fish in relative comfort.

Many anglers are flat-out intimidated by San Francisco Bay. I've taken my boat down there numerous times, even when all I had was a 17-footer. On a good day, when the winds are calm, it's nothing unusual to see even 12 to 14-foot aluminum boats out trying for halibut.

Surprisingly, most of the bay is shallow, perhaps 30-35 feet. The channels are deeper in order to accommodate the larger ships, but overall the bay just isn't that deep.

I generally suggest that anglers go out the first time on a party boat. You'll gain a great deal of knowledge about how and where to go to find these fish. From there, you can take your own boat to the bay and have a much better fishing experience.

Live bait will out-fish all other baits or lures for halibut. Before the bait receivers set up shop at the Berkeley docks, anglers had to go to the docks in San Francisco in order to get a load of live anchovy.

There are numerous launching areas in the Bay Area, such as at Emeryville, Berkeley, Richmond, Sausalito and Loch Lomond. However, if you launch anywhere other than Berkeley, you can have quite a run to get to the Berkeley 'B' docks in order to pick up live bait."

 

 

"Union job fair amid Oakland cops' layoff threat" by Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer.

"Oakland police Officers Billy Matthews and Melissa Baddie were prowling their union hall Tuesday, looking for other employment - not because they don't want to work in Oakland, but because their jobs could soon become victims of the city's budget crisis.

'I'm pretty outraged, actually. I just got here,' Baddie, 31, said as she visited one table after another at a job fair hosted by the Oakland Police Officers Association.

Baddie, who patrols North Oakland, was among 38 officers who joined the force in 2008. Their graduation from the police academy came with much fanfare because they swelled the department's ranks to 837, the most in Oakland's history. . . .

'It's definitely an unenviable position to be in,' said Berkeley police Sgt. Kevin Schofield, who was joined at his agency's table by a Berkeley cop who used to work for Oakland. But the Berkeley force is 'anticipating a number of retirements this year,' " Schofield said.

 

"The color of pot campaign is green, and based in Oakland" by Josh Richman, Oakland Tribune.

"Win or lose, the marijuana legalization measure on November's ballot proves one thing: The pot industry has arrived in California politics."

 

 

"Controlling x-rays with light" T. E. Glover, spie.org.

"Light can be used to control how radiation itself interacts with matter: optical lasers coherently couple energy states within a material and produce a light/matter system with novel and controllable properties. A probing radiation pulse interacting with this system experiences material properties that are quite different from those experienced in the absence of the 'controlling' light pulse. This has led to new research directions in areas such as quantum computing and non-linear optics, while also spawning entirely new research areas such as electromagnetically induced transparency and slow light.1,2 To date, this approach to controlling how radiation interacts with matter has been confined to long wavelength (e.g. visible) radiation. For researchers who probe matter at the microscopic level, a relevant question arises: can light also be used to control how x-rays interact with matter? If so, this control might create new opportunities in x-ray science, including new approaches for x-ray optics and nonlinear x-ray spectroscopy."

 

"A Pocket-Sized Idea Machine ­ The Brainstormer for iPhone" is a press release at appmodo.com.

"The Brainstormer 1.2 is a unique idea generator app based on a physical idea wheel constructed in 2004 by concept artist Andrew Bosley. The Brainstormer's distinctive visual design and carefully curated word lists are now available on the iPhone and iPod touch.

The Brainstormer is a bit of kindling for creative minds. A tactile tool to randomly combine a plot, a subject and a setting or style, the Brainstormer provides that elusive moment of inspiration for writing, painting, or any kind of creative endeavour. It's a great way to combat creative block, to spark new ideas for a project and to summon up quick creative prompts for doodling, sketching or journaling."

 

 

 

"Why Grade Inflation Has Struck Law Schools" by Lynn O'Shaughnessy, moneywatch.com.

"Yale Law School exitUndergraduate grade inflation has been rampant at many elite colleges and universities for years, but now comes word that law schools are inflating grades too.

At least 10 law schools during the past two years have made their grading systems easier for their students, according to The New York Times. Some law schools, such as Harvard and Stanford, have fooled with their bell curve by switching to a modified pass/fail system, which is similar to what the law schools at University of California, Berkeley, and Yale have instituted.

What Loyola Law School Los Angeles is about to do is even more amazing. This summer, the law school is going to retroactively boost every law student's grade point average by 0.333 points. How's that for flagrant grade inflation?"

 

 

 

 

 

6/25/10

Tak emails

Ron,

I'm told that the Berkeley East Bay Humane Society will be temporarily relocating their offices to the old Scharffenberger building. They will be holding adoption fairs in the parking lot as of this weekend.

Tak

 

Our Councilman Darryl Moore emails, excerpts

Sunday, July 4th, 2010

 Kid's Adventure Playground
Live Entertainment noon-9
Fireworks 9:30 

 The 4th of July is a great day to have a lot of fun. The biggest party is on the South Shore of the Berkeley Marina from noon-10PM. There's music, dancers, jugglers all for free! Adventure Playground, always a favorite, is open 11am-8pm. Get your face painted, try the giant slide, or splash in the water at the beach!
 
There's live entertainment from noon until 9PM on the main stage and entertainers in smaller venues around the marina. There's art & craft booths, massages, free sailboat rides from 1-4pm, dragon boat rides from 2-6pm, and much more including the grand fireworks off the end of the Berkeley Pier at 9:30pm.
 
Let's hear it for the red, white, and blue...but keep it green, too. The party shouldn't leave the environment trashed. If you can, bring your own dishes -- Frisbees double as plates! A bandana is your cloth napkin to use at all of the international food booths. With water stations located around the event, you can refill your own reusable bottle and keep a lot of plastic out of the landfill. Be sure to use the recycling stations located throughout the marina for your disposables.
 
Ride your bike over the Berkeley Bicycle Overpass and park for free near Adventure Playground. Or take AC Transit from the Downtown Berkeley BART station. This only runs until 6:30PM, however and doesn't come back into the marina. To leave on AC Transit, walk out over the freeway overpass after the fireworks to University and 5th St.
 
Free admission. Alcohol-free event. Free valet bicycle parking. No cars after 7pm.
 
Sponsored by the City of Berkeley.
Produced by Another Bullwinkel Show

I hope you can make it to this fantastic event.
 

Pet Portraits
To Benefit the Berkeley East Bay Humane Society

In the early hours of May 20, 2010, the Berkeley-East Bay Humane Society (BEBHS) suffered a tragic fire which destroyed much of the building. Thanks to quick action on the part of staff and volunteers, and the invaluable aid of the Berkeley Fire Department, a majority of the animals housed at the shelter were able to be rescued. All rescued animals have been medically evaluated, and many have been released to foster care.
 
The Berkeley Animal Welfare Fund is hosting an event this Saturday, June 26th from 12-4pm at George (the pet store), 1824 Fourth Street to benefit the rebuilding effort of the Berkeley East Bay Humane Society.

Michael Wertz will be drawing sharpie portraits for $5 ). Bring you pet (or a photo) for reference, and bring a home a no-frills portrait of your favorite furry beast.
 
If you can't make it this weekend but would still like to help the Berkeley East Bay Humane Society, their most immediate needs are:
 
Monetary donations.  Any amount you can donate will make a difference. You can help in three ways.  
Online, go to their website and press DONATE 
By phone at (510) 845-7735, ext 500.
Mail donations to:
  BEBHS, 2700 9th St, Berkeley, CA 94710
 
Foster Homes for dogs and cats.
Please Contact: foster@berkeleyhumane.org
if you have temporary space for a dog or cat.

Volunteers:  In the immediate future, we will have major cleaning and repair tasks as well as animal care.  Please contact: volunteer@berkeleyhumane.org
if you can spare some time to help once the tasks are organized. 

 

 

It's Time To Celebrate Community During National Night Out 2010.

 The City of Berkeley community is participating in the 27th annual National Night Out on Tuesday, August 3, 2010.  What had started many years ago as a unique crime and drug prevention event has evolved in the City of Berkeley into a celebration of community. This is an early message to afford your groups time to plan and organize.

Last year's National Night Out involved community members, law enforcement, fire personnel, community groups, businesses, neighborhood organizations, faith based organizations and local officials from over 15,000 communities from all 50 states, U.S. territories and Canada. In all, over 37 million people participated in National Night Out 2009.
 
We are encouraging community members to participate. You need not be an organized group to join in the celebration. In the past, groups have hosted BBQ's, pot lucks, picnics, ice cream/dessert socials, kids parades, neighborhood clean-ups and music performances.   Events can be as big or small as you want, so please do not feel overwhelmed, thinking that you and your neighbors have to put together an elaborate event.  Any excuse for you and your neighbors to get together and get to know each other is precisely what National Night Out is all about.  Besides meeting your neighbors, it's also a great opportunity to meet police officers, fire personnel, the City Manager's office makes the rounds and I try and stop by all of the registered National Night Out events in my district, so I'd love to have an opportunity to stop by your event this year.

To be part of National Night Out in Berkeley, please complete a National Night Out Registration Form and fax to
510-981-5819.
or mail to : Berkeley Police Department
Community Services Bureau
ATTN: CSO Alicia Escamilla-McNie
2100 Martin Luther King Jr. Way Berkeley, CA. 94704-1109  

Sincerely,
 Darryl Moore
Berkeley City Council, District 2

 

Our Pollice Chief Michael K. Meehan, recommends the common sense book The Crime Fighter. Of Community Nights Out the author Jack Maple writes "The idea behind the campaign was that police . . . across the nation would compete to determine which ones put on the best program every year. It didn't seem to occur to any of tthe event organizers, however, that in policing, every night of the year is supposed to be a night out against crime."

Well Ok then.

       
 

"More green energy could be in Berkeley's future" by Doug Oakley, Berkeley Voice.

"The defeat of PG&E's voter initiative designed to stop cities from buying their own power has increased the possibility that cities like Berkeley can do it and supply cleaner, greener energy at about the same prices."

 

 

"Diller Scofidio + Renfro to Design Berkeley Museum" by Robin Pogrebin at nytimes.com.

The University of California, Berkeley on Wednesday announced the selection of the New York firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro to design a new Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, the university's second attempt at the project. Last year, it abandoned plans for a $200 million, 140,000-square-foot museum designed by the Japanese architect Toyo Ito because it would have been too expensive; the budget for the new version is $95 million.

 

 

"California biofuel companies land on list of 30 'transformative technologies" latimes.com.

"Several California organizations earned positions on a list of innovative biofuel technologies released this week by Florida-based Biofuels Digest. Companies including Amyris Biotechnologies in Emeryville and Cobalt Technologies of Mountain View are among the 30 Most Transformative Technologies of 2010, based on more than 48,000 votes collected over three weeks.

The spots included businesses, universities and national laboratories in categories such as cellulosic ethanol and microalgae-based technologies. The 30 winners were narrowed down from 250 entrants. Westwood-based Rentech Inc., which produces synthetic fuels from sources including waste and biomass, won a slot for its biomass gasification partnership with ClearFuels Technology Inc.

South San Francisco companies LS9 Inc., a clean fuel and chemicals firm, and algae oil business Solazyme Inc. both clinched spots. The joint operation between science products and services company DuPont and BioArchitecture Lab in Berkeley to develop biofuel from seaweed scored another."

 

 

 

"A California High School That Values College, and the Real World" by Rachel Gross at nytimes.com.

"In a mock interview at MetWest High School in Oakland, Calif., Jenessa Grayson, 17, answered questions posed by a college advisor.Rachel Gross for The New York Times In a mock interview at MetWest High School in Oakland., Jenessa Grayson, 17, answered questions posed by a college adviser.

Is the role of high school always to steer students toward a four-year university or even a two-year college? Or should today's high schools also be considering vocational training and other alternative pathways?

Some educators believe students can have it both ways. In communities where students may rule out college before even applying, some high schools are employing more radical ways to keep students on the path to a higher education - while giving them the real-world skills they need to land a career if college doesn't work out.

One is MetWest, a small, public high school in Oakland, Calif., that thrives on providing extraordinary opportunities to students who may get very few. In a district colored by poverty, gang violence and a high dropout rate (but also a dedication to conceiving new types of schools and ways to engage students), students at MetWest have customized schedules, and are given access to college classes and professional internships as part of their school curriculum."

 

 

 

"Cut suburban sprawl, save energy, study urges" Will Kane, Chronicle Staff Writer.

"New development in California needs to be designed from the start to conserve electricity and water, decrease driving time, improve air quality and promote a sustainable lifestyle, according to a landmark study of the state's future growth.

Vision California, the state's first major planning document in almost 30 years, was released Wednesday.

Growth should focus not on increasing suburban sprawl but instead on creating compact development in already established cities, the report says. Bringing commuters closer to their jobs, its authors argue, can help Californians drive 3.7 trillion fewer miles and save 140 billion gallons of gasoline by 2050."

 

 

 

"Nose and throat bacteria are different" is a UPI report.

"Despite their proximity, the nose and throat have distinct differences in bacterial populations, U.S. researchers found.

Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California at Berkeley and the University of California, San Francisco, collaborated on a comprehensive comparative analysis of the bacterial communities inhabiting the human nose and throat.

Despite their proximity, the nose and throat have distinct differences in bacterial populations, U.S. researchers found.

Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California at Berkeley and the University of California, San Francisco, collaborated on a comprehensive comparative analysis of the bacterial communities inhabiting the human nose and throat.

The findings, published in mBio, found distinct differences between bacterial populations in the nose where the majority of bacteria were those often distributed on the skin -- and the throat, which had a bacterial distribution with greater similarity to that found in saliva.

"The nose and throat are important sites of pathogen colonization, yet the microbiota of both are relatively unexplored by culture-independent approaches," a lead author, Katherine Lemon of Children's Hospital Boston, said in a statement.

Lemon and colleagues examined and compared the bacterial communities from the noses and throats of seven healthy adults using two different culture-independent methods, one of which was a 16S rRNA microarray, called the PhyloChip, which possesses 500,000 probes and can detect approximately 8,500 genetically distinct groups of bacteria."

 

 

 

 

 

6/26/10

"Mark Twain celebrations around the country:How cities are feting the famed author" by Christopher Reynolds at latimes.com.

"Because Mark Twain traveled widely and lived in several places, the centennial of his death has prompted special events at Twain-related sites across the U.S.

Among them:

In Florida, Mo., about 40 miles west of Hannibal, Missouri's parks department operates the Mark Twain Birthplace State Historic Site, 37352 Shrine Road, (573) 565-3449, http://www.mostateparks.com/twainsite.htm, which includes the cabin where Twain was born in 1835. Closed for asbestos remediation late last year, the site reopened April 21, the 100th anniversary of the writer's death.

In Hartford, Conn.: The Mark Twain House & Museum, 351 Farmington Ave., (860) 247-0998, http://www.marktwainhouse.org, has an exhibition analyzing public perception of the author since 1910. (Among the readers quoted: Booker T. Washington and Benito Mussolini.) The show will remain up through January. The keepers of the house, a 19-room Victorian mansion where Clemens and his family lived from 1874 until 1891, are also offering half a dozen evening "ghost" tours that include accounts of Victorian séances and reported mysterious knocks, bangs, voices and apparitions."

 

 

 

 

This week, Kimar and Richards went to our Rotten City Pizza on the corner of Hollis and 66th and were heartly impressed.

Rotten City serve a thin crust Neopolitan pizza with a variety of toppings.

The whole pie is $19.00 and a large slice, $3.00. It is open 7 days a week Mon - Sat: 11AM - 10PM
Sun: 12PM - 8PM and was voted Number 5 of the favorite bay area pizza  joints in the Chron.

Kimar relates "Good quality toppings, small place with a counter with stools, seats maybe 10
They do deliver but check the boundaries" and Richards adds "A PBR and a slice is a real bargain at $ 5.00"

 

 

 

 

"The flame is lit for Special Olympic Games this weekend in Woodland" at dailydemocrat.com.

"This is the second year UC Davis has hosted the Olympics, which saw participation grow by 200 when the games were moved from UC Berkeley in 2009. There are 730 athletes from across Northern California, including 100 from Yolo, Sacramento, Placer, Nevada and San Joaquin counties. Athletes will compete in 12 sports, including track and field, aquatics, bocce and tennis."

 

 

 

"Leading HIV/AIDS Research Organization Affiliates with University of California, Berkeley's DC Campus" at prnewswire.com.

"Two leading institutions in public health and health policy are joining forces to accelerate the nation's progress in fighting HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C and tuberculosis in Washington ­ the Forum for Collaborative HIV Research and the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health." 

 

 

 

 

"UC business prof Tyson gives grim jobs outlook" Carolyn Lochhead, Chronicle Washington Bureau.

"UC Berkeley business school professor Laura Tyson, a top economic official in the Clinton administration who is on the short list to become President Obama's budget czar, outlined a grim jobs outlook Wednesday that showed high unemployment continuing through next year.

Deep cutbacks by state governments such as California have all but obliterated the effect of the nearly $800 billion federal stimulus enacted last year, she said at a luncheon sponsored by the center-left New America Foundation." 

 

 

"New home sales in May collapse" by Eve Mitchell, Contra Costa Times.

"Americans showed far less appetite for purchasing new homes last month after the government stopped offering a homebuyer tax credit. The news signaled a renewed housing slump that threatens the broader economy.

Sales of new homes fell in May to their lowest level on record, plunging 33 percent from the previous month. The bleak data followed a report this week that sales of existing homes dipped, too." 

 

 

 

"San Diego utility charges ahead with electric car plan" at theenergycollective.com.

"With the first mass-market electric cars set to hit California roads later this year, the state's utilities have been working to ensure that early adopters ­ who tend to be clustered in places like Berkeley and Santa Monica ­ don't overload neighborhood transformers and trigger local blackouts.

One way to do that is to encourage drivers not to plug in all at the same time, say when they arrive home from work and also crank up the air conditioning, is to set variable electricity rates that reward those who wait to charge until demand falls late at night or the wee hours of the morning.

What is unknown is whether such rates will actually change anyone's behavior.

We're about to find out."

 

 

 

 

"Are Strikes the Beginning of a New Challenge?" asks Stanley Lubman at wsj.com.

"The recent wave of strikes in foreign-owned enterprises in China may surprise many foreigners, but it is really another chapter in the history of the struggle by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since 1949 to define its role in the organization and control of the labor force. Basic tensions that have marked Chinese labor since the economic reforms began in 1979, and the latest spurt of labor activism could evolve into a challenge to the CCP's control over state and society. Millions of migrant workers could become a powerful social and political force if they cohered in some fashion to protest working conditions, low wages, and, possibly, other sources of grievances. At the moment, it is too early to tell either what challenges labor activism might generate beyond protests at individual enterprises, or what strategy the CCP might devise to quiet the activism."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6/28/10

our Judi Quan

has just been to Rio, more photos to follow

 

 

Kimar and Richards food find of the Summer is Larrysfarm stand, details this week.

Both Kimar and Richards are food enthusiasts. Kimar was a Buttercup Bakery manager, Cal dorm food manager and is an excellent cook and Richards was one of the Buttercup owners and originator of the famous Buttercup Carrot Cake. Richards food sense is extraordianry, able, after one or two tastes to accurately construct a recipe.

 

 

"Travel calendar" from Bay Area News Group.

"Finding Connection in Nature: Exploring the Sierra with Naturalist John Muir Laws - 7-8:30 p.m. June 29, REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley and June 30, REI, 213 Corte Madera Town Center, Corte Madera. Attend an illustrated lecture by John Muir Laws on the relationships between plants and animals that you're likely to encounter on a hike in the Sierra. 510-527-4140, www.rei.com/berkeley and 415-927-1938, www.rei.com/cortemadera."

 

 

Kubik emails his and Carol's favorite series and movies

I think our favorite series so far have been -in more or less this order:

The Wire
Slings and Arrows
Foyles War
The Sapranos
Mad Men
Six Feet Under
Rumpole of the Bailey
The 7up,14up,21up,28up,35up,42up series
  

Prime Suspect and the Inspector Morris series were very good
and we have seen many of them.

movies we recommend:

House of Cards - which is a trilogy
Good Fellows - which laid the basis for The Sopranos
Gosford Park
Burn after Reading - comedy
Julie and Julia
Milk and The Time of Harvey Milk - documentary
    Tortilla Soup - very funny food and cooking movie
Like Water for Chocolate

 

The Crime Fighters, the book our Chief Meehan recommends is the basis of the well reviewed series The District, soon available on DVD.RP

 

 

 

"New graffiti detectors help police curb taggers" by Karl Fischer, Contra Costa Times.

"'Mr. Pie' wants his backpack.

At least, Pinole police Officer Andrew Decker assumes so. "Mr. Pie" showed great care in decorating the backpack with his nickname before discarding it in a muddy trench beneath an overpass on San Pablo Avenue. 'Mr. Pie' also left his skateboard, lying nearby amid empty spray paint cans.

'I think we might have interrupted somebody,' Decker said.

He would know. Decker spends much of his work life searching out-of-the-way nooks for 'Mr. Pie' and all his pals, who tag their nicknames as much as possible over every flat surface within reach of their permanent markers. They cost Pinole thousands in maintenance bills every year.

But a new gadget may help curb that problem, if Decker's early returns are any indication: The Merlin anti-graffiti sensor, which detects graffiti as the vandal applies it, and alerts the police.

Decker's pager buzzes whenever the hidden devices trip. They rarely misidentify lawful activity as vandalism in the monitored spots, he says, and only once failed to detect graffiti.

'Before the sensors went in, I was getting new cases every weekend,' said Decker, who investigates all graffiti cases for his department. 'Within four hours of installation, I got a hit. I was like, "This can't be right." '

It was. Officers nabbed a 14-year-old from Fairfield minutes later, clambering out from an overpass where Pinole Shores Drive crosses above rail lines. A dozen more arrests followed since April 2009, and now Decker's pager buzzes far less.

Reports of graffiti vandalism in Pinole dropped from 85 in 2008 to 48 in 2009, the year Pinole added the devices. So far this year, Decker worked only 10 cases."

 

 

 

"When Capitalism Meets Cannabis" is report at nytimes.com.

 "Anyone who thinks it would be easy to get rich selling marijuana in a state where it's legal should spend an hour with Ravi Respeto, manager of the Farmacy, an upscale dispensary here that offers Strawberry Haze, Hawaiian Skunk and other strains of Cannabis sativa at up to $16 a gram.

She will harsh your mellow.

'No M.B.A. program could have prepared me for this experience,' she says, wearing a cream-colored smock made of hemp. 'People have this misconception that you just jump into it and start making money hand over fist, and that is not the case.'

Since this place opened in January, it's been one nerve-fraying problem after another. Pot growers, used to cash-only transactions, are shocked to be paid with checks and asked for receipts. And there are a lot of unhappy surprises, like one not long ago when the Farmacy learned that its line of pot-infused beverages could not be sold nearby in Denver. Officials there had decided that any marijuana-tinged consumables had to be produced in a kitchen in the city. "

 

 

"Out-of-staters seek stake in dispensaries" is a story at kjonline.com.

Maine's new medical marijuana law has two key conditions for those who want to open one of the state's first dispensaries. Operators have to be Maine residents, and they have to register as nonprofits.

Neither condition, however, has kept investors and entrepreneurs from coming from outside the state to be part of the new industry.

Several of the groups that applied for operating licenses last week are led by recent arrivals from California or other states where they learned the medical marijuana business. One group with California connections even hopes to open five of the state's eight dispensaries and, to improve its odds, hired the Augusta lobbyist who helped write Maine's new law. Local applicants say they've been called by investors from around the country who want to help finance the dispensaries."

 

 

 

"Fire in dorm at University of California at Berkeley evacuates 200 students" at bellinghamherald.com.

"A three-alarm fire on the University of California at Berkeley campus early Saturday morning slightly injured two students and forced 200 students out of an eight-story residential dormitory, fire and school officials said.

Two students were taken to Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Berkeley with minor smoke inhalation, said Jeff Urdahl, UC-Berkeley director for housing operations."

 

 

"UC researchers struggle to obtain better wages" Nanette Asimov, Chronicle Staff Writer.

"The University of California has long defended the lucrative salaries it pays to its leaders and top-flight faculty researchers, saying that multi-hundred-thousand-dollar paychecks are necessary to attract the world's best brains.

But thousands of scientific researchers at UC now say they can't extract a living wage from the university, and even Congress has gotten involved.

Known as "postdocs" because they are in the phase of their career that typically follows a doctorate, more than 6,000 researchers formed a labor union in November 2008 and began negotiating their first contract with UC.

A year and a half later, they have no contract."

 

 

 

"Modern Tamil literature's resonance akin to Sangam's, says expert" is a report at hindu.com.

"Modern Tamil literature has the resonance and power of words that the Sangam literature possessed, according to George L. Hart, Professor of Tamil language, University of California, Berkeley, United States.

Just as the Sangam literature had mirrored the lives of people, modern writing in Tamil too had the ability to describe human conditions,

Professor Hart told delegates of the World Classical Tamil Conference on Saturday, expressing his admiration over the continuity in Tamil literary traditions.

Delivering a lecture on the uniqueness of classical Tamil here in the presence of Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and Finance Minister K. Anbazhagan, among others, the 65-year-old scholar, now involved in making annotated translations with extensive introduction of 'Akananooru' and 'Paitruppattu,' said the Sangam literature's influence could be seen in the subsequent literary creations of Nammazhwar and Kamban."

 

 

 

 

 

 

6/29/30

"Fleeing Suspect Fatally Shot By Berkeley Police" is a KTVU-TV report.

"A suspect fleeing from police was stopped on a Berkeley street late Monday night and killed when he pointed a weapon at the pursuing officers during a foot chase, authorities said.

According to police, the incident began in neighboring Albany when officers tried to stop the suspect in his car. He fled the scene, racing into Berkeley.

'It was our understanding he had fled from the scene of a crime,' Berkeley Police spokeswoman Sgt. Mary Kusmiss told KTVU. 'The car that he was driving was in a hit-and-run and involved in other potential crimes.'

He abandoned his car near at San Pablo and Jones Street and fled into the neighborhood with Albany and Berkeley officers giving chase.

'The suspect fled from a car they had been chasing,' Berkeley Police spokeswoman Sgt. Mary Kusmiss told KTVU. 'BPD officers confronted the suspect near 8th and Camelia. The suspected posed a threat to the officers and at least two officers opened fire. That suspect is dead.' "

 

"Jack Stat" is a story at nymag.com

"Brilliant, eccentric Jack Maple rewrote the book on fighting crime-with maps and statistics."

 

 

"Oddly-Named Natural History Shop Concerns Wives" is at google.com.

"One innocent little shop in Berkeley, California, is causing big problems with wives.

The Bone Room is a natural history store that sells fossils, taxidermy, and other artifacts from eons past and offers classes on subjects relating to ancient times and creatures.

However, the name of the shop is somewhat misleading.

Spokeswoman Erin Kerrigan says, 'About once a month we get a call, usually from a wife who's very concerned after getting their phone or credit card bill.' "

 

 

 

 

Tenants of Steven and Michael Goldin are featured in "Startups hum amid music-business blues" a story in the San Francisco Business Times by Patrick Hoge.

"The music industry is looking for an answer to the digital piracy that has decimated its business.

Two Bay Area startups think they've found part of the answer.

The two are already selling mobile access to vast libraries on the Internet as speculation mounts about whether Apple and Google are preparing to introduce web streaming services of their own.

Skype Technologies' founders unveiled San Francisco-based subscription service Rdio this month.

Meanwhile, MOG founder and CEO David Hyman thinks his Berkeley company, which added a subscription streaming music service to its blogging and advertising services in December, has the jump on the competition.

'We're not messing around here, dude,' said Hyman as he proudly showed off features of his music service, which sells online access to 8 million licensed tracks for $5 a month and will soon release a mobile and desktop application for $10 a month.

Amidst a decade-long slide in revenue driven by digital piracy, the global music industry is casting desperately about for ways to get consumers to pay for legal content.

People will pay, Hyman hopes, for unlimited, on-demand access to streaming music, as well as high tech tools for finding music, like fast search technology, social network integration, customizable listening channels, and playable song lists created by regular users and famous artists alike.

Equally important will be easy mobile access, said Hyman, who was previously CEO of the Emeryville music data company Gracenote, which Sony bought for $260 million in 2008.

Hyman expects to release an iPhone application in weeks, with an Android version to follow. He hopes the iPhone will be transformative, as it was for Pandora Media, the popular ad-supported streaming "radio" company in Oakland.

MOG's mobile applications will even allow people to download songs onto their phone for replay offline as long as accounts stay current."

 

 

 

 

Kubik emails

We had lunch Sunday at the newly reopened Marin Sun Farms Cafe by the Green Bridge in
Point Reyes Station.  

It was terrific: a big hamburger, (at least half a pound), of their local, grass fed
beef with their own bacon, and cheese on a great bun; and a Caesar salad the way they should
be done.  

They also have lamb burgers, goat burgers and French fries fried in hog fat!

And they have a butcher case with their grass fed meat, chicken and eggs.

The only problem is that the Cafe is only open, so far, 12:00 to 4:00 Wednesday thru Sunday.
    

Their place is where the old Chez Madelaine used to be some years ago.  Chris and Anthony Sulnier owners of
900 GRAYSON are the grandsons of Rodger and Madelaine - the proprietors of Chez Madelaine.  As kids, the Sulniers were
bus boys.

Marin Sun Farms Cafe has real local food--the Marin Sun Farms ranch is on Pierce Point Road just before you get
to Abbott's lagoon.

 

 

 

"The Morning Benders: Big Echo" is a review at musicremedy.com.

"The morning benders new album, Big Echo, opens with the warm crackle and pop of a needle hitting vinyl, before the swooning orchestration sweeps in and carries you away to a time when life was more carefree and natural. A lush, big-hearted collection of songs rooted in the greatest traditions of American songwriting, Big Echo incorporates symphonic pop, a Wall of Sound production aesthetic, and sunny harmonies as told from the point of view of 4 kids in their early 20's from Berkeley, California."

 

 

 

"Reboot Your Brain and Get Smarter With a Midday Nap" is a story at huffingtonpost.com.

"Pop quiz: What can make you smarter in as little as 20 minutes, costs nothing, and you must do with your eyes closed?

One of my favorite topics is the benefits of napping. I can't get enough of studies that confirm that a so-called 'biphasic sleep' sleep schedule--sleeping in two spurts during the 24-hour day, which typically means sleeping at night and then taking a siesta in the afternoon--is an ideal way to keep your brain sharp, be prepared to learn new things and feel refreshed. No wonder some of our most historic brains are noted fans of napping . . . "

 

 

"Implementation of Health Care Reform Act" at kcbs.com.

"Budget cuts are chipping away at California's healthcare system, just as the state begins to implement the first round of the federal Health Care Reform Act.

Among the benefits taking effect: $250 checks started going out this month to seniors caught in the donut hole of Medicare Advantage Part D."

 

 

 

 

6/30/10

Penndorf The Great and The Guillotine

rehearsing his magic act, before even The Day

 

Has this provided me with the experience needed for my soon-to-be-launched investigative-reporter career.

Hmm, . . . I look happy.

 

 

Potter Creek's Tippett Studios did the werewolves computer graphics in the new Twilight series, Eclipse, opening today.

 

 

 

KGO-TV reports "Police fatally shoot suspect after chase in Berkeley" with text and video.

 

Our Berkeley Police Department spokeswoman Mary Kusmiss says BPD is hiring three new officers and has had over 1000 applications. She also mentions BPD is preparing for mutual aid with Oakland at the Berkeley/Oakland border.

 

 

 

"Tax credits lure California hybrid company to Colorado" sustainablebusinessoregon.com.

"A Berkeley, Calif.-based company that works with plug-in hybrid electric vehicles plans to expand to Boulder solely because the Colorado Legislature passed a tax break on the cars last year.

Daniel Sherwood is co-founder of 3Prong Power Inc., which installs lithium battery packs that convert hybrid vehicles into electric vehicles for part of their operating time. He said he hopes that an 85 percent tax credit on the types of converters he installs will generate significant business. No other state offers a tax break on plug-in hybrid electric vehicles that approaches Colorado's, he said."

 

"PACE Financing Derailed by Fannie and Freddie" is a story at sustainablebusiness.com.

"We've been following the development of Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing here on SustainableBusiness.com for the last few years.

Originating in Berkeley, California, PACE financing allows homeowners to pay for energy efficiency retrofits or renewable power systems through an assessment to their local property tax bill.

The program allows the cost of the system to remain with the home, if the owner sells--the new owner takes over the payments.

The idea is spreading quickly across the country, with 22 states clearing the way for local communities to provide the up-front funding through bonds. On the federal level the Obama administration provided $100 million in recovery funding to PACE.

But it has all come to a halt due to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored mortgage-finance corporations that were at the center of the mortgage crisis that helped trigger economic meltdown in 2008."

 

 

"Funder grants $5.6M to 11 Bay Area affordable housing projects" San Francisco Business Times , Blanca Torres.

"Eleven affordable housing projects in the Bay Area will receive a total of $5.6 million in grants from the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco's Affordable Housing Program."

 

 

 

"State Workers, Long Resistant, Accept Cuts in Pension Benefits" at onlinewsj.com.

"Some public-sector unions, trying to avoid furloughs and layoffs, are accepting less-generous pension benefits for current workers and retirees, often for the first time in years.

In California, where Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has said he wouldn't sign a budget without a pension-fund overhaul, his office on Monday announced tentative contract agreements with two unions, following two years of wrangling over benefit cuts. Earlier this month, four unions agreed to similar tentative contracts. The agreements would potentially curtail benefits to 37,000 workers."

 

 

from my log

6/18/10--Off-and-on all morningSERIOUS irritant in warehouse front and front of warehouse, heavy dry air, burning eyes, dry skin, headache, over rides five HEPA filters, wear respirator. 7:05 PM--irritant in warehouse front and IMMEDIATELY in front of warehouse.

6/19/10--6:42 AM--SERIOUS irritant in warehouse front, heavy dry burning air, air out. 3:34 PM--SERIOUS irritant in warehouse front and IMMEDIATELY in front of warehouse, heavy dry burning air, watery eyes, dry itchy skin, dry mouth, recurring cough. Marsha same.

6/20/10--7:25 AM--VERY, VERY SERIOUS irritant in warehouse front, full mucus membrane irritation, burning eyes nose, etc, simply described as swimming in a pool with too much chlorine, Marsha similar. Air out. 1:47 PM--SERIOUS irritant in warehouse front and IMMEDIATELY in front of warehouse, heavy dry burning air, usual symtoms.

6/21/10--12:05--irritant in warehouse front with "chlorine" odor. 4:36 PM--irritant in front room, dry heavy air, wear respirator.

6/23/10--6:12 AM--irritant in warehouse front and IMMEDIATELY in front of warehouse. 7:20 AM--SERIOUS irritant in front room, heavy burning air, eyes, ear, nose, mouth irritation like swimming in pool with too much chlorine, headache.

6/26/10--6:45 AM--irritant in front of warehouse, heavy dry burning air. itchy skin, watery eyes, leave. 11:24 AM---irritant in warehouse front and IMMEDIATELY front of warehouse, heavy dry burning air. itchy skin, watery eyes.

 

 

 

The irritants sometimes experienced cause coughing; dry/burning eyes, nose, mouth; light head; occasional short breath; occasional nausea.

Though the irritants we experience sometimes over ride as many as four HEPA filters, our SO Safety respirators with 8053-P100 Cartridges seem to filter "all" the irritant. These are filters for organic vapors, chlorine, chlorine dioxide, hydrogen chloride, hydrogen fluoride.

I am left to conclude that possibly (probably?) some of the irritants we regularly experience, those that our SO Safety 8053-P 100 cartridges successfully filter, are identifiable, ironically, by their absence when using the respirator. The HEPA filters don't remove them, the SO Safety filters do. So what they remove--chlorine, chlorine dioxide, hydrogen chloride, hydrogen fluoride--must be some of the irritant.

Though the respirator-filters largely prevent inhalation of the irritant, it is clear from "health effects" that irritants can enter the body's system through the skin.

"I feel like ants are crawling on me" said Marsha.

 

I've noticed recently some neighbors have similar symptoms, some more severe--redness of the eyes, nasal congestion. And neighhors stopping-by in front to talk have experienced watery eyes and coughing.

 

 

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 Area Coordinator is Officer Karen Buckheit, Berkeley PD - 981-5774 kbuckheit@ci.berkeley.ca.us

AND check out BPD feature "Who are these Crooks."

 

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.