This week we revealed that Berkeley institution Top Dog was “abandoning the dog” at its Hearst Ave. store and defecting to pizzas, renaming itself Pizzahhh. What is the world coming to, some of you asked. Photo: Ira Serkes

The fact that the suspect in a double homicide in Santa Cruz this week had lived in Berkeley as recently as this past fall — and worked in a local coffee shop known to many of us — was a clear source of interest, and our most widely read story this week.

The arrest of five people for an audacious home invasion on Allston Way also, understandably, drew attention.

Meanwhile Berkeley’s Telegragh Avenue made the headlines: in the week that Rolling Stone republished a 1978 piece marking Berkeley’s 100th birthday, we revealed plans for a new building to replace the burned-down Sequoia Apartments on the long-blighted intersection with Haste. And the city’s Mayor held a meeting with the public to outline possible plans for Telegraph’s future revitalization. It’s not the first occasion local officials and community members have vowed to do something about a street suffering with declining retail sales and empty lots. Will this time be different?

And we remembered Bill Bennett, who lived in Berkeley with his wife and two sons and was Principal Oboist with the San Francisco Symphony. Bennett died on Friday and will be missed by many.

Would you like to meet Berkeleyside’s editors and reporters in person? Give us praise or brickbats? Say, perhaps over a glass of wine and a platter of the city’s best food? Or engage in a salon-like discussion with a news maker? Or get discounts to our forums and events? If so, please consider becoming a supporter of Berkeleyside. Become part of the conversation. Help a local news site thrive.

Berkeleyside is Berkeley, California’s independently-owned local news site. Learn more about the Berkeleyside team. Questions? Email editors@berkeleyside.org.