The university filed the suit against people protesting the construction of volleyball courts in People’s Park. For that and other reasons, Berkeley should work to keep the city’s most famous landmark an open space.
Carol Denney
Carol Denney is a Berkeley writer and musician.
Posted inOpinion
Opinion: Teacher-only housing? Just say no, Berkeley
Teachers are not the only sector of society struggling to afford high Berkeley rents. So Berkeley should not treat them preferentially by building them housing. We need affordable housing for all.
Posted inOpinion
Opinion: The case against the Downtown Berkeley Association and business improvement districts
These private districts have no accountability and have worked to criminalize the poor and the homeless. Berkeley should disestablish the DBA.
Posted inOpinion
Opinion: Smoking cannabis in multi-unit houses and in dispensaries should be banned
Berkeley currently prohibits smoking marijuana in parks and commercial districts but exempts apartment complexes. The City Council should direct the City Manager to change that.
Posted inOpinion
Opinion: The original housing in People’s Park
UC Berkeley’s plan to build housing in People’s Park is not the first time the university has proposed to interfere with the historic site, and we will rise up in protest again.
Posted inOpinion
Op-ed: Too cute to fail? A critical look at tiny houses
Berkeley mayoral candidate Mike Lee is part of a local effort to explore tiny houses as part of a solution to homelessness. Misconceptions about tiny houses seem to surround such efforts and are difficult to swat. And I think I know why. I know what tiny houses do: they hit you square in the cute. […]
Posted inCrime & Safety, Opinion
Op-ed: Berkeley must prohibit use of CS gas on protesters
The Berkeley Police and the Police Review Commission’s (PRC) recent report on the police response to the Dec. 6, 2014 Black Lives Matter protests reflected a remarkable amount of agreement, and came up with commendable recommendations. But it had omissions which should not go unremarked, among which is the refusal to prohibit the use of […]
Posted inOpinion
Op-ed: Youth on the street, Berkeley anti-homeless laws, and the Supreme Court
On Friday, June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court announced that LGBT couples have the right to marry in all 50 states. Households all over the nation either celebrated, stiffened, or wondered what it meant to their community and to history. In the Bay Area, the Gay Pride celebrations have been an historical way to honor the nation’s deepening […]
Posted inOpinion
Op-ed: Forty Acres cannabis club is a nightmare
Forty Acres cannabis collective is on the second floor of 1820-1828 San Pablo Ave. Photo: Frances Dinkelspiel I support medical marijuana, decriminalization of marijuana, even recreational marijuana for those who enjoy it. But I opposed Forty Acres’ cannabis club and was dismayed that some of the city council made supportive noises about finding a way […]
Posted inOpinion, Schools
Op-ed: Be careful of the free-speech balloon drop
The massacre at Charlie Hebdo united a stricken world behind the principles of free speech. But how are we doing really? Nationally the US Supreme Court has equated speech with money and hampers earnest bipartisan efforts to get money out of politics. Here in Berkeley it is just as bad. The balloon drop manufactured by […]
Posted inOpinion
Op-ed: Don’t call what Berkeley Police used ‘tear gas’
“We believe ‘tear gas’ is a misnomer for a group of poisonous gases which, far from being innocuous, have serious acute and longer-term adverse effects on the health of significant numbers of those exposed.” Physicians for Human Rights wrote the above paragraph after studying the health effects of the chemical agents commonly known as tear […]
