Posted inCity, Schools

Berkeley installs first permeable pavers downtown

The construction site on Allston Way. Photo: Charles Siler Traffic may be rough come school season, but the construction project closing Allston Way outside Berkeley High School is significant: the city’s first major permeable pavement installation. The block of Allston between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street in downtown Berkeley is shut down for construction until mid-November while […]

Posted inCity

Berkeley appoints first ‘chief resilience officer’

Two community members at Berkeley’s annual city-wide disaster preparedness drill in April 2013. Photo: Emilie Raguso As a city, Berkeley prides itself on being prepared. Officials hope the recent appointment of a “resilience officer” to coordinate city-wide defenses against natural disasters will be another step in that direction — this time with the help of the Rockefeller Foundation. In […]

Posted inCommunity

Berkeley to join National Night Out celebration Tuesday

Community members at a National Night Out event last year. Photo: Emilie Raguso More than 50 Berkeley community organizations and neighborhood groups will host block parties Tuesday night as part of a national campaign to foster community spirit and increase awareness about public safety and disaster preparedness. The events are part of the 31st annual celebration of National […]

Posted inCity, Nature

New drought rules would see Berkeley reduce its water use

A Downtown Berkeley Association employee powerwashes the sidewalk at the corner of Shattuck and Center. Photo: Isabelle Gaston This week the state Water Resources Control Board will consider emergency restrictions on water use that would require the city of Berkeley to impose fines for certain types of outdoor water use. If approved, the Water Board’s drought measures would require […]

Posted inBusiness

Shop Talk: The ins and outs of Berkeley businesses

Heirloom’s chicken and wild rice. Photo: Mission Heirloom Café Heirloom’s chicken and wild rice. Photo: Mission Heirloom Café MISSION HEIRLOOM CAFÉ Gluten-free, grain-free and soy-free offerings will be available at Mission Heirloom Café, which opens this fall in North Berkeley’s Gourmet Ghetto. The restaurant will move into 2085 Vine St. where much-loved vegetarian Chinese restaurant Vegi Food operated until […]

Posted inCity

Berkeley puts sugar tax on November ballot; could be first city in country to take on Big Soda

Dr. Vicki Alexander, co-chair, Berkeley Healthy Child Foundation, at a rally about the sugar tax before the City Council meeting. Photo: Emilie Raguso The Berkeley City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to include a proposal that would tax distributors of sugar-sweetened beverages on the November ballot. The measure, which proposes a 1-cent-per-ounce charge at the […]

Posted inCity

Berkeley sets new minimum wage; up to $12.53 by 2016

Labor advocates and other supporters of a $15 minimum wage at a recent council meeting in Berkeley (file photo). Photo: Emilie Raguso The Berkeley City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to officially adopt the city’s new minimum wage ordinance, setting hourly pay on a course to reach $12.53 by October 2016. The city’s new law will raise Berkeley’s minimum wage to […]