Berkeley police are seeking information about the murder of 35-year-old Kenneth Allen Warren of Hercules, who was gunned down Thursday on the 3000 block of Shattuck Avenue. Warren worked at a nearby barbershop, and the motive for the crime is not known, but police do not believe it was random. more ›

In Berkeley's first homicide of the year, a man walking to a friend's home was shot multiple times on Shattuck Avenue near Emerson Street. The victim was on his way to watch basketball with a friend when he was gunned down in the street. Police arriving on the scene found the victim suffering from multiple gunshot wounds and the friend's home "riddled with bullet holes." more ›

Deanna Despain, Berkeley's city clerk, was found dead inside her Oakland home (at on the 4100 block of Lyman Road) on Saturday morning. According to Berkeleyside, who broke the story, "The coroner’s office is not yet releasing any information about the death, referring enquiries to the Oakland Police Department." more ›

Mentioned in Morning Links, but too good not to award its own post: Berkeleyside gives us yet another reason to visit Berkeley—our goal in 2012 is to head over there at least once a quarter—with these wild turkeys roaming the streets of Berkeley (and a far off land called Albany) with nary a care in the world. More than a dozen birds ran around the two East Bay cities this week, spotted by local photogs. more ›

Late last night, around 11 p.m. when everyone but the USGS was asleep, a tiny 2.3-magnitude earthquake struck about a mile northeast of Berkeley. According to Bay City News, "many Berkeley residents said they did not feel the temblor," nor did anyone seem to notice the 1.8-magnitude aftershock about an hour later. more ›

With all the 99% vs. 1% talk flying around these days, it is important to keep a local perspective on these kinds of things. For today's perspective, the Bay Citizen offers: "In the home of Chez Panisse, ten percent of households live on less than $10,000." Which: ouch, Chez Panisse, how could you be so cruel? Alice Waters-shaming aside, it turns out Berkeley's progressive wealthy class (Chez Panisse patrons, presumably) are responsible for the chasm between the lowest earners and the highest. more ›

A huge blaze, which has been described as the largest in the area since the Berkeley/Oakland Hills fire in 1991, burned inside the historic 39-unit Sequoias apartment building at Haste and Telegraph in Berkeley for seventeen hours on Friday night and most of the day Saturday. An estimated seventy residents were displaced and the building was gutted, making a subsequent investigation difficult, as investigators won't be allowed to enter the building. more ›

After Monday morning's Occupy Oakland raid dismantled the encampment at Frank Ogawa Plaza, the noted East Bay protesters, now without a headquarters, will merge with Occupy UC Berkeley protesters today. more ›

Berkeley police are looking for three suspects in the mugging and inappropriate touching of three female UC Berkeley students. The incident occurred on Monday night on Oxford Lane when a black SUV approached the women at around 8:15 p.m. The violence started when one of the men starting "grabbing the victims inappropriately." Daily Cal reports: more ›

Following Thursday's small quake, another slight yet significant earthquake rattled the East Bay at 5:36 this morning, centered in Berkeley. This was the latest tremor to hit the Hayward fault in Berkeley over the last couple of weeks. more ›

Another jolting quake hit the Bay Area Thursday night, coming in at 8:16. Did you feel that one, too? This one measured 4.1 3.9 3.8. And it looks like it's an aftershock to the 4.0 quake that shook Berkeley this afternoon, according to USGS. more ›

Berkeley-based artist Eric Drooker painted this lovely-but-ominous cover, which he submitted to The New Yorker about a year ago, but only this week did the magazine decide it was thematically appropriate for the time. Says Drooker on the New Yorker's blog, "Manhattan Island has become more and more an exclusive place for the super wealthy, or the super corporations—and a hostile place for people to live, not just for the working class, but even for the middle class. The city has become this monolithic cathedral to money.” more ›

Jane Lynch was the guest of honor at Fall Free for All, the season-opening celebration for Cal Performances, this past Sunday. While speaking to a (rapt) audience, Lynch said, "If I could choose who I want to be when I come back in my next life, it would be Darren Criss." more ›

While the Cal Bears football team was busy trouncing Presbyterian 63 to 12 in AT&T Park this past Saturday (and bringing Jeff Tedford his 75th career win in the process), alumni of the Cal Men's Water Polo team also brought their game in to the city for a McCovey Cove matchup against the Olympic Club team. As the alumni were treading the chilly waters of the Bay, current team members were in Stockton handing Vanguard their own 27-3 beating at the NorCal Invitational. The water polo team went on to lose their first game of the season 6-5 to UCLA before finishing third in the tournament. more ›

Berkeley police were called to the scene on Saturday when a motley assortment of Berkeley residents gathered for a 40th anniversary of Chez Panisse at the Cheese Board Collective next door. more ›

Amalia Mourad, an 18-year-old UC Berkeley student, hawks baked good on Solano Avenue in order to pay for tuition. According to Berkeleyside, "She takes out a $12,000 subsidized loan for the year, which barely covers tuition" but she still must pay for "housing, food and school supplies." (Pst, she faces a $12,192 tuition bill for 2011-2012.) more ›

Raven Stewart, 26, and Lache Rodriguez, 24, were arrested on Friday in connection with a series of car burglaries in Emeryville and Berkeley. They are suspected in at least five smash and grabs, and they even brought along a 4-month-old infant for the fun. Charming. more ›

The grating '90s revival continues at fullblast with a not-so-grating '90s band coming to town. "British downtempo" group Portishead just announced their first North American tour in 13 years, which will include a stop in Berkeley. SF Weekly reports, "Today through July 14, a limited amount of tickets to each performance on the tour -- including the band's Oct. 21 gig at Berkeley's Greek Theatre -- are on sale through Portishead's official ticket store. Tickets will be available from usual outlets beginning July 15 and 16." [SFW] more ›

British singer Adele, scheduled to perform at the Greek Theatre at U.C. Berkeley on Saturday, June 4, has canceled the North American leg of her tour. Citing laryngitis, Adele explains on her site: “I’m really frustrated. I was hoping with a weeks rest I’d be better to sing again straight away. However there is absolutely nothing I can do but take the doctors advice and rest some more. I’m so sorry. See you soon, love Adele.” more ›

Friend of SFist, Kate, picked up this awesome pastel drawing on a sidewalk in Berkeley the other day, which features the intriguing headline, "Vicodin Pool Party." Kate hopes to return the poster to its rightful owner, who might have dropped it in their Vicodin haze. more ›

Berkeleyside effortlessly tugs our heart strings today with a story about Paw Fund, a clinic for pets of homeless people started by Jill Posener, a photographer and onetime Animal Care Commissioner. Behold: more ›

The fuzz have closed down parts of a Berkeley neighborhood this morning after a man barricaded himself inside a home at around 7 a.m. The standoff is happening in the area of Parker and Acton streets. Also, the man is supposedly armed with a machete and heaps of angry thoughts. Yikes! We'll update as soon as we know more. Update: KRON 4 Morning News reports that the standoff is over. No injures were reported. Whew. [Ex] more ›

Did you know that several students at UC Berkeley are once again in the midst of a hunger strike? True. This time they're protesting the erosion of the school's Ethnic Studies program. According to Berkeleyside, eight people are now "entering their eighth day without eating to protest the controversial consolidation of Ethnic Studies with other social science programs, resulting in staff reductions and the demotion of faculty to half-time." And despite their efforts and demands -- which, among other things, include staff reinstatement and for Cal to "publicly acknowledge the unfulfilled promise to create a Third World College at the university" -- protesters have yet to reach a deal with school administrators. more ›