Candidates’ expenditure includes creating signs. Photo: Emilie Raguso With the next round of election finance statements due Thursday, Berkeleyside took a look at which City Council candidates have kept their spending local for campaign materials and services. Not surprisingly, candidates posted their largest expenses to date for the November 2012 election during the year’s second filing period, […]
Emilie Raguso
Emilie Raguso (senior editor, news) joined the Berkeleyside team in 2012. She covers politics, public safety and development. In 2017, Emilie was named Journalist of the Year by the SPJ NorCal board. In 2021, she won SPJ NorCal's longform journalism award (print, small division) for her investigation into the death of Gulf War veteran Michael Hermon after he was attacked in Santa Rita Jail. Her reporting on homelessness has also been recognized by SPJ NorCal, and she has been part of the Berkeleyside team to win Community Journalism awards from SPJ NorCal three times. Emilie previously launched and ran community news site Albany Patch in Albany, California. Her stories have appeared on the New York Times website, Salon and NPR.
Posted inCity, Community, Crime & Safety
Neighbors demand safer streets in Berkeley’s District 4
District 4, City of Berkeley (Click to view larger). Image: City of Berkeley More than 40 residents in one of Berkeley’s busiest districts came together last week to voice their frustration about traffic issues on their neighborhood streets. Constant cut-throughs, shrugged-off stop signs, overgrown round-abouts and high speeds were among the concerns shared at a […]
Posted inCity, Schools
Mobile asthma clinic makes its debut at Berkeley school
Outside the Breathmobile at Malcolm X Elementary School, Oct. 18, 2012. Photo: Emilie Raguso A mobile asthma clinic designed to keep kids in school and out of the hospital debuted Thursday at Malcolm X Elementary School in south Berkeley. The Breathmobile, a 33-foot-long Winnebago RV, drew inquisitive looks and questions from students throughout the day. The vehicle was […]
Posted inCity, Housing & Development, Schools
Council sets fee for affordable housing mitigation
Developers of new residential rental properties in Berkeley can now choose to pay into a special city fund instead of including on-site affordable housing after an 8-1 vote Tuesday by the City Council. It’s the latest step by City Hall to create policies that will increase Berkeley’s affordable housing stock. But whether developers will choose […]
Posted inCommunity
On walk signal, are two buttons better than one?
Two walk signal buttons on Solano Avenue. Photo: Justin Huang Last week, a local resident asked Berkeleyside about this signal pole on Solano Avenue. He wondered what the purpose of the street-level “walk signal” button was. We posed the question to readers on the Berkeleyside Facebook page, and their answers ran the gamut from the […]
Posted inCity
How much to mail an absentee ballot? Take your pick
Update, Oct. 18, 2016: We got the official word from the Registrar of Voters office: “You can use 3 Forever stamps to return 4 Voted ballot cards in the mail. Just to let you know we have 24 hour drop boxes within Alameda County that are collected daily. Please check our website at www.acgov.org/rov for […]
Posted inCity, Schools
2020 Vision symposium highlights progress in Berkeley
Last week, more than 100 community members, educators and city and school officials came together to share a meal and a vision for a future of equal opportunities for all children in Berkeley schools. The theory behind the effort, 2020 Vision, is that success at school should not be predictable based on a child’s race […]
Posted inCity
Capitelli, Hahn go head to head in Berkeley’s District 5
Incumbent Laurie Capitelli and challenger Sophie Hahn will face off in November for the second time in a pitched battle for Berkeley’s District 5 City Council seat, in a race that has been tinged with allegations of distortion and ill will. In 2008, Capitelli won District 5 re-election by defeating Hahn 4,299 to 3,898. But Hahn said […]
Posted inCrime & Safety, Schools
UCPD officer in hospital after accidental shooting
A veteran officer of the University of California Police Department was taken to the hospital Tuesday morning after he accidentally shot himself in the leg while holstering his weapon, officials said. Lt. Eric Tejada of the university Police Department said authorities are investigating whether an equipment malfunction may have resulted in the shooting. Tejada said […]
Posted inBusiness
Shop Talk: The ins and outs of Berkeley businesses
THIRD TIME’S THE CHARM? The University Avenue restaurant formerly known as Divino (and, before that, Fellini) closed in late summer after receiving mixed reviews from diners on Yelp. With no explanation via Twitter or Facebook, a reader told us, “they shut down and a sign popped up on the windows saying it would reopen in November as Pizza MODA with one of the original […]