http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/berkeley/ en-us Wed, 2 Jul 2008 21:23:12 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2039914/posts BERKELEY -- Three of the Memorial Stadium tree-sitters left their perches today and Tuesday night, leaving just four protesters making a stand against UC's plans to build an athletic training center in the grove, UC Berkeley officials said. The three protesters, who have not been identified, climbed down from the trees late Tuesday night, campus spokesman Dan Mogulof said. One of them was arrested by campus police while the other two climbed up a different tree, he said.After talking to police this morning, the two came down. All three have been charged with trespassing and violating a court order to... San Francisco Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2039914/posts#comment Wed, 2 Jul 2008 21:23:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2037907/posts University hopes concessions set stage for athletic training center next door - UC Berkeley made key concessions Friday in its long-running standoff with the city, tree-sitting protesters and neighbors of Memorial Stadium that the university hopes will clear the way for its plans to build an athletic training center next to the stadium. In documents submitted in Alameda County Superior Court, the university says it will scrap all non-football events at Memorial Stadium and drop plans to attach a concrete support beam to the stadium's west wall, two roadblocks cited in a judge's interim ruling in the case last week.UC's... San Francisco Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2037907/posts#comment Sat, 28 Jun 2008 22:00:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2036728/posts Two protesters sitting in trees near Cal's Memorial Stadium surrendered their roosts on Wednesday, officials said, leaving seven tree-sitters remaining in the 18-month-long standoff against UC's plans to build an athletic training center. Bradley "Squirtle" Costello, 20, said he came down about 6:30 p.m. because he wanted a cigarette and a hot meal, UC spokesman Dan Mogulof said. Mathew Marks, 24, said he would come down on the condition that he could make a statement to his supporters and give his personal belongings to them, Mogulof said. "We're very encouraged by this development," Mogulof said. "It suggests our strategy is... San Francisco Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2036728/posts#comment Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:41:15 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2036143/posts The Berkeley City Council added an emergency item to its agenda late Tuesday night and dispatched two city officials to the University of California, Berkeley oak grove to check on the welfare of nine people living in trees there. Assistant to the City Manager Jim Hynes and Deputy Fire Chief Gil Dong were directed to the grove late Tuesday. They were expected to report their findings back to the council later Tuesday night, although their report might be postponed to later this week if the council meeting runs long. Since UC Berkeley stopped allowing food and water into the grove... Contra Costa Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2036143/posts#comment Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:39:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2035656/posts A group of tree-sitters' 18-month-long standoff with UC Berkeley intensified Monday, as the city of Berkeley demanded the protesters be allowed food and water. "The city's concern is that even though there's not a lot of sympathy for the tactics utilized by the people in the trees, we do feel their health and safety should not be put at risk," said Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates. "To starve people out of the trees does not seem rational." City officials have asked the university remove a pair of barriers, erected last week on city property, that block the sidewalk and prevent protesters... San Francisco Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2035656/posts#comment Tue, 24 Jun 2008 15:03:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2035277/posts Saturday EaglesUp organized a Support The Troops Rally in Berkeley, CA on the street in front of the Marine Recruiting Office (Officially The Marine Corps Officer Selection Office)Melanie Morgan gave a great speech and Diane Nagy sang patriotic songs.There were several Gold Star Family members present, and one Gold Star Mother gave a moving speechJim Robinson-the creator of Free Republic- was there with his wife and one of his sons.Several hundered came by Motorcycle after meeting down the road in Emeryville. Melanie Morgan and Eagles Up's Doug Lyvere, SgtMaj, Marine ret The Institute of Phenomonology http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2035277/posts#comment Mon, 23 Jun 2008 21:25:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2035226/posts Fewer than a dozen protesters remain in the grove of oak trees next to the university's football stadium. UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof said the university and police remain in constant contact with the eight to nine tree-sitters that remain. He said currently all the remaining protesters are saying they do not need any more food and water and are fine. Police passed medical supplies up to the tree sitters Sunday, Mogulof said, because some had minor cuts they wanted treated. However, university officials and police currently are not allowing food and water up to the trees. Mogulof said if... Contra Costa Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2035226/posts#comment Mon, 23 Jun 2008 19:53:31 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2035222/posts Berkeley -- Cody's Books, the legendary Berkeley bookstore that catered to literati nationwide for more than half a century and was firebombed in the 1980s because of its support of the First Amendment, has closed its doors, the victim of lagging sales. The bookstore, which in recent years had closed its flagship store on Telegraph Avenue and its branches in San Francisco and on Berkeley's Fourth Street, finally settling in early April in one store on Shattuck Avenue, shuttered that store Friday. Calling it "a heartbreaking moment," Cody's owner, Hiroshi Kagawa of the Japanese firm IBC Publishing, said in a... San Francisco Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2035222/posts#comment Mon, 23 Jun 2008 19:43:22 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2034232/posts Wednesday's ruling by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Barbara Miller that Cal's long-delayed athletic training center is sort of legal and sort of not largely advances the legal notion that there really is something called "semi-pregnant." Put another way, when both sides effusively declare victory, what you have is a ruling that doesn't really say much at all. But what did you expect? This is Berkeley. Miller said that the $140 million project doesn't actually sit on a fault line, although one suspects that the 3 or 4 extra feet of leeway won't really mean much when the building slides... San Francisco Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2034232/posts#comment Sat, 21 Jun 2008 06:23:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2033959/posts FROM EMAIL from Doug Lyvere, Eagles Up -- ...Code Pink is on the ropes. The Marines have been welcomed by the Chamber of Commerce. More people, civilian's and businesses, have started showing their support for Veteran's. Everyone's efforts have started to pay off. Everyone should be proud. So this time we're going to do it a little differently. Last time we designated Berkeley a "No spend zone". Some said this had zero impact. I disagree - we made a point and whether or not a negative financial impact was felt, we got a response. This time, I think we should... email http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2033959/posts#comment Fri, 20 Jun 2008 17:18:17 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2033869/posts BERKELEY - A day after UC Berkeley claimed victory in its battle to build a sports training facility, the university changed its stance on removing tree sitters and decided to bring down those who don't put up a fight, a campus spokesman said late Thursday. About 5:15 p.m. Thursday an arborist in a cherry picker removed a man in his 20s who came out of the tree "very quietly," said university spokesman Dan Mogulof. The man was arrested on suspicion trespassing and could face other charges as well, Mogulof said. The man, whose name was not released, was the second... Oakland Tribune via CoCo Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2033869/posts#comment Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:40:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2033816/posts Too strange, too real, it is Berserkeley. (Video Included) Stuck On Stupid http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2033816/posts#comment Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:38:46 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2033333/posts BERKELEY —The University of California, Berkeley claimed victory Wednesday and could be able to move forward with plans to build a $125 million sports training center soon but not before it answers a few more questions about its long-awaited project for the court, a judge ruled late Wednesday. Judge Barbara Miller was ruling on three consolidated lawsuits to stop the project. ``The university has prevailed on every legal challenge to halt construction of the proposed student athlete high performance center. This is a major victory for our students,'' said Nathan Brostrom, Vice Chancellor for administration. ``Make no mistake the university... Oakland Tribune via CoCo Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2033333/posts#comment Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:42:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2033131/posts UC Berkeley's plan to build a state-of-the-art athletic training center next to Memorial Stadium violates a state law that prohibits new construction on earthquake faults, a judge ruled tonight. The university had argued that the plan - which prompted a group of protesters to occupy a grove of trees outside the stadium for the past 18 months - does not violate the Alquist-Priolo Act because the facility would be a separate structure that does not touch any fault lines. But Alameda County Superior Court Judge Barbara Miller ruled that the proposed training center is an alteration of the stadium, which... San Francisco Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2033131/posts#comment Thu, 19 Jun 2008 02:13:54 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2033099/posts BERKELEY -- About 200 protesters rallied on the ground below a tree-top encampment of protesters in a grove of trees next to Memorial Stadium this afternoon as a judge was expected to rule on the fate of an athletic training center planned for the site. Two of the protesters were arrested, while workers hired by UC Berkeley dismantled more of the tree-sitters' roost, cutting ropes, removing supplies and tearing out improvised structures. By early afternoon, most of the protesters' ropes were gone, and one of two large platforms high in the trees toppled to the ground. The year-and-a-half-old tree protest... San Francisco Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2033099/posts#comment Thu, 19 Jun 2008 01:03:09 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2032976/posts BERKELEY -- Amid screams, the buzz of a news helicopter and the rattle of barricades by angry people in the street, UC Berkeley today dismantled more of the tree-top encampment of protesters in a grove of trees next to Memorial Stadium. A crew of arborists and workers hired by the campus engaged in their second day of cutting ropes, removing supplies and tearing out improvised structures as tree-sitter sympathizers yelled at the workers from Piedmont Avenue and at stern-faced UC police who ringed the site. By early afternoon, virtually all of the protesters' ropes were gone. The year-and-a-half-old tree protest... SFGate.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2032976/posts#comment Wed, 18 Jun 2008 20:56:43 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2032655/posts BERKELEY -- One of the activists who have perched in a grove outside UC Berkeley's Memorial Stadium for the past year and a half was hauled out of her tree Tuesday, as the university began removing tree-sitters' gear in advance of a judge's ruling that could lead to a climax in the long-running protest. The tree-sitter was taken down by two arborists who were part of a crew hired by the university to remove wooden platforms, pulley systems and other infrastructure that the protesters have built high above the ground as part of their effort to keep the university from... San Francisco Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2032655/posts#comment Wed, 18 Jun 2008 04:45:51 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2032316/posts About 25 University of California, Berkeley, police officers and a cherry-picker have converged at the Berkeley Oak Grove, where five climbers are being threatened and may have to come down today, according to Save the Oaks spokesman Doug Buckwald. Buckwald said he began receiving calls on an emergency phone network from climbers who "have sent word by cell phone their belief that this is it - they are coming in to get them right now." Protesters have been in the trees since UC regents voted in December 2006 to approve a plan to build a sports training center and other... Bay City News Service via CoCo Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2032316/posts#comment Tue, 17 Jun 2008 16:21:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2032304/posts The tree-sit that has been going on for more than 18 months in the oak grove near Memorial Stadium may have reached its end now that UCPD officers are attempting to take the sitters out. In the latest of several developments, an arborist harnessed on the end of a crane was mobilized onto one of the trees where he was attempting to cut down a structure in the tree when a tree-sitter began hitting him with a plastic bottle. The workman was pulled out of the tree by the crane. Two cherry pickers are also on the site, one of... The Daily Californian http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2032304/posts#comment Tue, 17 Jun 2008 16:00:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2032064/posts Pam Bennett of Code Pink was arrested Friday when she bared her breasts in front of Berkeley's downtown Marine Recruiting Station. “War is indecent—breasts are not,” Bennett told the Planet on Monday. “Four million people displaced, lacking food and water is indecent—breasts are not.” Bennett was protesting the war and recruitment for it in front of the recruiting station at 64 Shattuck Square with a group from Code Pink and Breasts not Bombs, an anti-war group which protests the war by taking off their shirts. She was the only one to be arrested. According to Officer Andrew Frankel, police department... Berkeley Daily Planet http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2032064/posts#comment Tue, 17 Jun 2008 01:15:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2029435/posts Officials have been trying to keep it quiet, but 24 UC Berkeley researchers and seven staffers have been harassed by animal rights activists in recent months, in some cases having their homes or cars vandalized."What they all have in common is that they all work in animal research," UC Berkeley spokesman Robert Sanders said of the targeted employees. In several instances, the activists have shown up outside researchers' homes in the middle of the night with bullhorns and chanting, "Animal killers." Sometimes they have scrawled slogans on the sidewalk in chalk.On more than one occasion, rocks have been thrown through... San Francisco Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2029435/posts#comment Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:00:35 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2029101/posts BERKELEY — After 21 years, Berkeley's Juneteenth celebration — the most established and consistent festival of its kind in the East Bay — has been cancelled by its organizers because they could not meet planning and safety deadlines, city officials said Monday.The Berkeley Juneteenth Association Inc. sent a letter to the city April 18, saying it had decided to scrap the festival, which generally draws 15,000 to 20,000 people to the Alcatraz/Adeline corridor in south Berkeley on Father's Day.News of the cancellation did not surface until this week, and there are conflicting stories as to why the festival fell apart."I... Oakland Tribune via CoCo Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2029101/posts#comment Tue, 10 Jun 2008 22:28:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2027054/posts Union members shout demand for 'living wage' at meeting campus meeting - Campus police escorted UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau out of the back of a building Thursday after angry union members took over a meeting, yelling and screaming about living wages.About 350 people showed up to a meeting where Birgeneau was supposed to answer questions from the Berkeley Staff Assembly, a campus group open to all employees.About 90 percent of the protesters wore green shirts, designating their affiliation with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.The union, which represents about 900 campus employees in service and medical... Contra Costa Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2027054/posts#comment Fri, 6 Jun 2008 14:33:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2022628/posts A handful of Code Pink protesters were in front of the center at 64 Shattuck Square May 21 - their usual day of the week - but the turnout was extremely low compared with recent months when hundreds came out weekly to protest the military enlistment site. While the crowd has slackened, Code Pink officials say the weekly protests will continue until the recruitment center leaves town. A Marines spokesman said Tuesday that there are no plans to move the officer selection office from Berkeley. The lease runs until December 2009. Berkeley Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Officer Ted Garrett... The Mercury News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2022628/posts#comment Wed, 28 May 2008 21:18:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2021476/posts 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... Contra Costa Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2021476/posts#comment Mon, 26 May 2008 16:08:51 GMT