The vote by City Council to put a measure on the November ballot that would ban sitting on Berkeley’s sidewalks has triggered a flood of debate and, no doubt, heated discussions at parties and around dinner tables across the city. Our three articles on the proposal have racked up nearly 600 comments and counting.
Our weekly Shop Talk column, while always popular, was particularly so this week with the news that around 65% of the retail space at the new Fourth & U complex in west Berkeley has been leased. Among those moving in: the much-loved and long lamented Sketch Ice Cream, which will be reopening at 2080 Fourth Street. Eric Shelton and Ruthie Planar-Shelton closed the original Sketch three years ago so they could spend more time with their daughter who is now headed to school.
The news that the North Branch of Berkeley’s Public Library had welcomed back the work of local yarnbomber Streetcolor on their circular bike racks was greeted with cheers. One commenter, Berkeleyfarm, even wrote: “Glad they were able to work something out. [The yarnbombing] is as beautiful as the new library.”
Tech nerd, nature lover, quits job, reinvents the headlamp: many people, it appears, enjoy reading about a business success story in our midst.
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