The calm of night was shattered Tuesday when 50-year old Pam Mullins was murdered as she rode her bicycle on Sacramento Street. Police received a 911 call about a woman down around 11:36 pm on Dec. 4 and arrived to find Mullins, an in-home health worker, lying on the ground with a shot to her head. She was just yards from the apartment she had moved into a few weeks before. Her family set up a public memorial of balloons, a teddy bear, and tea lights spelling out her name. It was Berkeley’s fourth homicide of the year.
In other news, observers spotted a Chinook salmon in Codornices Creek – the first time that type of fish had been seen there. Biologist Jeff Hagar said it is “pretty rare” to see a salmon in an urban creek. The fish was probably heading from the ocean upstream to spawn and took a wrong turn somewhere. Environmentalists were delighted at the salmon’s appearance as it suggests the 15-year long effort to restore Codornices Creek is having an effect. They have already seen increased bird activity around the water and are hoping that steelhead trout eventually find their way there. In other animal (and insect) news, the Edible Schoolyard announced plans to put beehives in all three of Berkeley’s middle schools. The idea is to extend the school’s hands-on gardening programs and teach students about pollination.
Surprisingly, the story on the Berkeley Public Library’s recent fine amnesty (it forgave $30,000 in fines) prompted some heated discussion.
NOSH, Berkeleyside’s new food section, had lots to savor this week: new bakeries, rib dishes, and plenty of mouth-watering photos.
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