Free Republic

Motorists call it "suicide alley" and take 4-mile detours to avoid it. Pedestrians huddle on the sidewalk, cowering in fear. Merchants say it scares off customers.But Berkeley has come up with a solution to the East Bay's most treacherous intersection - Gilman Street and Interstate 80, where traffic barrels through from 14 directions with no stoplights: a $10 million double roundabout."Roundabouts are all over Europe and Mexico. I think we'll get used to this here," said Berkeley City Councilwoman Linda Maio. "And the beauty of roundabouts is that if you don't get it the first time, you can just keep...

North Berkeley BART Station windows were smashed in the early hours of Thursday morning “in memory of Oscar Grant and all who are murdered at the cold hands of the police,” according to a message posted on www.indybay.org by “anarchists.” The message says in part, “This action was taken out in response to the murder of Oscar Grant by BART police and in solidarity with the riots that have been taking place in Oakland. Our hope is that this action will inspire others to rise up against this atrocious police state in which we live. “This action was very easy...

BERKELEY -- Workers cut down two-dozen tree limbs and removed sleeping gear and other supplies today as UC Berkeley officials tried to coax four protesters down from a redwood tree near Cal's Memorial Stadium, but the tree-sitters defiantly refused to leave. The developments came as a judge is expected to rule soon whether to lift an order barring the campus from cutting down the redwood and 43 other trees in the stadium grove to build an athletic training center. Protesters in varying numbers have been sitting in the trees since Dec. 1, 2006, saying they will not leave unless UC...

It has been 40 years since Berkeley integrated its schools to foster "positive relationships across racial lines," but a group of black parents claims they and their children are getting the opposite. Two of the parents at Oxford Elementary have transferred their children to other schools since January, claiming racist treatment. It's a charge other black parents at the school support, but one the principal and some black staff members say is untrue. "I recently pulled my kid out of Oxford right before spring break," said Kim Oliver. "There has been so much blatant inequity on campus and in the...

Thursday, April 03, 2008 Posted By:Catherine MoyPermalinkBerkeley Buckling After Attack on Marines The Berkeley City Council supports this type of confrontation The San Francisco Chronicle today wrote a story about the financial hardships Berkeley has suffered since it called the Marines “unwelcome” and “uninvited.” The pushback from (Move America Forward and other pro-troops groups is having the desired effect: Groups are canceling trips to Berkeley; hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent on police overtime; businesses have left; outsiders will no longer do business in Berkeley. The Chronicle reports:  Berkeley is finding that having its own foreign policy isn’t...

The love is back between Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates and the city's chamber of commerce. Just a month after the chamber released a letter saying Bates and the City Council hurt business by telling the Marine Corps and its recruiting center to get out of town, Bates is back in the group's good graces. During a lunch Tuesday billed as "A Conversation with Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates," chamber board member Mark McLeod introduced Bates as "our mayor and our friend." Afterward, CEO Ted Garrett said relations between its 425 members and Bates are better than ever. "We approach the (Marines)...

Mideast edition, Wednesday, February 13, 2008 The city of Berkeley, Calif., has insulted all servicemembers risking their lives for their country as well as veterans, said Kriss Worthington, a member of the city council. On Jan. 29, the council asked the city manager to write a letter to the local Marine Corps recruiting office and the commandant of the Corps, saying that recruiters were not welcome in the city, Worthington said Monday. The letter would also say that the Marine recruiters would be considered “uninvited and unwelcome intruders” if they stayed, said Worthington, one of three city officials to vote...

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., says the City of Berkeley, Calif., no longer deserves federal money. DeMint was angered after learning that the Berkeley City Council voted this week to tell the U.S. Marine Corps to remove its recruiting station from the city's downtown. "This is a slap in the face to all brave service men and women and their families," DeMint said in a prepared statement. "The First Amendment gives the City of Berkeley the right to be idiotic, but from now on they should do it with their own money." "If the city can’t show respect...

Berkeley High remains the only high school in the nation that has failed to comply with the military's request for students' data, a Department of Defense spokesman said. A month ago, the school -- under pressure from the government to release the data or lose funding -- changed its policy that blocked the release of students' personal information. The new policy allows students and parents who do not wish to be contacted by military recruiters to opt out by signing a form. But the school did not immediately release the data to the government. Instead, a group of parents have...

BERKELEY, Calif. - Two gay figure skaters sued the Berkeley ice rink for discrimination after twice being told to stop holding hands while skating. Alan Lessik and John Manzon-Santosin sued in Alameda County Superior Court last month accusing the manager of Berkeley Iceland of unlawful and discriminatory business practices by denying them their right to skate as a pair. The manager, Monte Tiedemann, twice told the pair to stop holding hands during their preparations for Gay Games VII at the Berkeley arena. The pair, who met at the Sydney Gay Games in 2002, said they have not encountered similar admonitions...