Ici attracts the crowds. Is it the best ice cream in Berkeley? Give us your vote. Photo: Kukkurovaca on Flickr

Where’s the best ice cream in Berkeley? As soon as we posed the question, we started to receive your votes — as well as more questions. Is it right to conflate ice cream and gelato? What about sorbet? Can we stray over the Berkeley border if an ice cream parlor has captured our hearts? The winner will be announced next week.
Life on the corner: Meet the owners of your neighborhood stores The corner store is a vital indicator of the economic, racial, and cultural makeup of any community. Berkeleyside kicks off its series on Berkeley corner stores profiling five near the Ashby corridor.
On Berkeley trails: After the poop scoop, why not the poop pick-up? A seemingly innocent question by a Berkeleyside reader prompted 115 comments here and another 101 over on SFGate where we posted the story. Who knew dog leave-behinds could provoke such passions?
Berkeley cannabis lawsuit reveals bitter infighting The news about a split between Berkeley Patients Group and a high-profile employee unsettled Berkeley’s medical cannabis community. We followed up with a story asking whether the city’s new cannabis body provides more accountability.

The four articles above were far from the only ones that elicited debate and comment from readers this week. There was also the issue of a group of students campaigning for representation in city redistricting, the protest at Trader Joe’s over Florida labor practices, and the launch of Berkeley’s first citizen crop swap.

You’d be hard pressed to find all these stories in one place anywhere else. If you want to see more of the same, please consider supporting Berkeleyside with a donation or subscription, from as little as $5 a month. Find out how here. Thank you.

Tracey Taylor is co-founder of Berkeleyside and co-founder and editorial director of Cityside, the nonprofit parent to Berkeleyside and The Oaklandside. Before launching Berkeleyside, Tracey wrote for...