The Berkeley Daily Planet

Composer Aaron Blumenfeld works in three fields of music: classical, jazz and Jewish music. He has composed a jazz piano concerto (funded by a grant from the New Jersey Council on the Arts), two operas, … More »Eliza O'Malley Sings Aaron Blumenfeld's Songs on Thursday at the Berkeley Arts Festival

The East side of the bridgeway is inaccessible to foot traffic. In order to protect children on the grounds of Congregation Beth El, both sides of the creek are totally surrounded by a tall fence, making … More »Graffitirazzi – Live Oak Park, Part 3

Last night marked the first well-attended Fair Campaign Practices Commission meeting on the TUFF violations; there were 20 audience members, and the Oakland Tribune sent a reporter. More »The Berkeley Fair Campaign Practices Commission Hears TUFF Charges

"The State of Equality and Justice in America" is a 20-part series of columns written by an all star list of contributors to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights … More »The State of Equality and Justice in America: The Presumption of Guilt

May 3rd brought news that the unemployment rate has dipped to 7.5 percent and there’s been an alarming rise in the suicide rate for middle-aged Americans. More »THE PUBLIC EYE: Who’s to Blame for Long-Term Unemployment?

The darkest deeds are done in the dead of night. That’s why it’s often a good idea to check out the last item on the online video of the Berkeley City Council meetings. More »Berkeley Council Plots Squelching the Man Who Knows Too Much About Land Use

The darkest deeds are done in the dead of night. That’s why it’s often a good idea to check out the last item on the online video of the Berkeley City Council meetings. More »Berkeley Council Considers Squelching the Man Who Knows Too Much about Land Use

The Sunday Chronicle headlined a juicy story from the Center for Investigative Reporting over the weekend: Speaker Perez Gave Top Donors Plum Posts. More »Berkeley Assemblymember Nancy Skinner Pays to Play with Democrats in the California Legislature

California is approaching a crucial turning point. Next year, many of our strongest legislators on important issues like the environment are leaving the State Legislature due to term limits, including … More »It's Official: Andy Katz is Running for Assembly [forwarded by a reader]

When someone, anyone, experiences emotional distress, they have an instinctive reaction to try to alleviate or get away from that. When someone with a severe mental illness experiences distress or perhaps … More »ON MENTAL ILLNESS: Inadequate Coping Skills

Maybe it's true that life begins at 50... but everything else starts to wear out, fall out, or spread out. That’s according to Phyllis Diller. She was ninety-five years old when she died last year, a devotee … More »SENIOR POWER:fallen…

[Editor's note: this piece originally was published in the East Bay Express. The editor thoroughly enjoyed it and secured the author's permission to reprint it here. More »Reopen Willard Pool?

Berkeley Tenants United for Fairness”, a pro-landlord slate, has admitted numerous violations of state and local campaign finance laws The violations committed by TUFF are some of the most egregious in … More »Berkeley Fair Campaign Practices Commission to Act on Most Egregious Violations of Local Election Laws

Berkeley's Fair Campaign Practices Commission must hold the "Tenants' United for Fairness" TUFF slate — a dark-money stalking horse for the Berkeley Property Owners Association — accountable and punish … More »OUTRAGEOUS! Berkeley's City Staff has essentially endorsed corruption by failing to hold TUFF and the BPOA accountable