Update, Feb. 26, 10:11 a.m. The city manager’s office sent the following notice to city officials at 10:05 a.m. “It is with sadness that I inform you that Eric Angstadt has submitted his resignation as Planning Director effective March 25, 2016 to become the Chief Assistant County Administrator for Contra Costa County. Eric came to Berkeley in […]
Gil Dong
Posted inCommunity
Partying at UC Berkeley may have just gotten harder
Citing a riot on Halloween and three alcohol-related deaths near the UC Berkeley campus in recent years, Berkeley officials approved new rules Tuesday night to address rowdy parties and other problems associated with group housing widely used by students. About 15 Cal students, including representatives from governance group the Associated Students of the University of California, asked the […]
Posted inCommunity
Ohlone Park neighbors brainstorm about homeless influx
More than 100 people crowded into the North Berkeley Senior Center on Saturday to strategize about how to address problematic behavior in Ohlone Park linked largely to the area’s growing nomadic homeless population. According to a gardener at the park who wrote a letter to Councilwoman Linda Maio, who organized Saturday’s meeting, “The park is […]
Posted inCity
Berkeley fire chief is now interim deputy city manager
Berkeley Fire Chief Gil Dong has stepped into a new position with the city after 25 years in the Fire Department. As of Saturday, Dong is wearing a new hat for Berkeley as the interim deputy city manager. Interim City Manager Dee Williams-Ridley appointed Dong to the position July 17, according to a memo to the […]
Posted inCommunity
Hundreds gather in Berkeley to remember balcony victims
A month after a fifth-floor balcony snapped off the façade of 2020 Kittredge St. in Berkeley, sending six people in their 20s to their deaths and injuring seven others, hundreds of people gathered at Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park on Sunday to honor them. The event was a “Month’s Mind,” a traditional Irish […]
Posted inCommunity
Coroner releases autopsy results on balcony victims; first responders sought help for shock, stress
The six young people who fell to their deaths Tuesday when a balcony snapped off the fifth floor of Library Gardens in downtown Berkeley died of multiple blunt injuries, the Alameda County coroner’s office said Thursday. Four of the youth died from “multiple blunt injuries,” one died of “blunt trauma to the head and brain,” […]
Posted inFire
Three injured in early-morning fire in Southside Berkeley
Three people were taken to the hospital, and firefighters had to rescue several tenants from an apartment building, after a fire broke out in Southside Berkeley early in the morning of Sunday, May 31. According to Berkeley Fire Chief Gil Dong, a fire at 2510 Regent St. (at Dwight Way) was called in at 2:54 a.m. While firefighters were […]
Posted inCity
Council: No drones for Berkeley police for 1 year
The Berkeley City Council voted last week to enact a one-year moratorium on the use or acquisition of drones by the Berkeley Police Department. The Feb. 24 vote came despite the fact that the department had no plans to get or use a drone. “We don’t own a drone. We have no budget for drones. We have no […]
Posted inCrime & Safety
Exclusive: 23-minute delay for paramedics during Berkeley protests, patient later died
They were just two minutes away, but it took paramedics 27 minutes during the Berkeley protests in December to reach a patient who later died, according to documents obtained by Berkeleyside under a Public Records Act request. For 23 of those minutes, paramedics were waiting for a police escort, as per a standing city protocol, to ensure they could avoid the […]
Posted inCrime & Safety, Fire
Exclusive: Man died after Berkeley protests delayed help
A man who collapsed while waiting for Berkeley paramedics to arrive later died at the hospital, city employees have told Berkeleyside, after large protests that wracked the city earlier this month delayed first responders. Berkeley Fire Chief Gil Dong has declined to comment on the incident, saying he is prohibited from doing so because of medical privacy laws. “Anytime there is a […]
Posted inFire
15 displaced after early-morning fire in North Berkeley
A fire broke out at 1802 Bonita Ave. near Delaware Street around 5:06 a.m. Monday morning, displacing 15 people living in various rooms. No-one was injured in the blaze, which sent huge flames shooting above the white, three-story Victorian-style house. “When crews arrived they found fire and smoke coming from the third story,” said Berkeley Fire Chief Gil Dong. […]
Posted inCommunity, Crime & Safety, Events, Schools
With big soccer game approaching, UC Berkeley addresses impacts from Memorial Stadium
Representatives from the city of Berkeley and Cal invited residents near Memorial Stadium to discuss the impact of upcoming events — including the July 26 International Champions Cup soccer game — on the neigborhood. Fire safety, public intoxication, illegal parking and what to do in case of a significant disaster were among concerns raised by attendees. Christine […]