Like many local medical marijuana dispensaries, the Berkeley Patients Group officially closed its doors last week under pressure from U.S. Attorney General Melinda Haag. For Haag, who's been on a bit of a rampage sending threatening letters as of late, the concern was that dispensaries are often the target of violent crime and armed robberies, and that closing BPG would make the neighborhood safer. It's an argument that has been heard plenty of times, but for Tracey Taylor, whose three kids attend a nearby elementary school, the dispensary's security is the least of her worries. As she writes in an opinion piece for Berkeleyside: more ›

On Earth Day, a couple of hundred protesters descended on some UC Berkeley-owned property in neighboring Albany and began planting beans, and raspberries. The protesters, along with some neighbors in the area, want to preserve the open space for an urban farm rather than let the University develop it as Little League fields as it proceeds with its University Village redevelopment project, the final phase of which is not yet complete. This morning at six a.m., UC police kicked the Occupy the Farm folks off the land after their two-week campout, and the University says that they'd like, instead, to have a "dialogue" about urban farming. more ›

Now, this is the roommate we always wanted in college. UC Berkeley freshman Derek Low turned his dorm at aesthetically-jarring Unit 2 into something special and magical. Low fashioned his drab room on the fourth floor into a bachelor pad replete with automated curtains, motion detection sensors and voice-activated light control. He calls is BRAD, the Berkeley Ridiculously Automated Dorm. "It cost about two to three hundred dollars," Low explained to The Daily Cal. "Each device was in the same range of about 20 to 30 bucks." more ›

About fifty students at Berkeley High School are facing suspensions and four others are facing expulsion for masterminding an elaborate scam to ditch class. The scam itself wasn't that elaborate — the kids apparently got ahold of an admin password for the school's attendance database, allowing them to mark anyone's absences as excused from any computer. But as these things tend to go with High School kids, a small cottage industry popped up once they started selling access to getting out of class without a doctor's note. more ›

The sons of murdered Berkeley Hills resident Peter Cukor, who was 67 when he died on February 18 of a bludgeoning with a flower pot at the hands of a mentally ill man, gave a news conference today to express just how unhappy they are with Berkeley police chief Michael Meehan. To save face, the Berkeley police have been insisting up and down that Cukor dialed the incorrect number to report an emergency, which is why police ignored his initial call reporting an intruder as a non-emergency — you may recall that the cops were apparently preparing to deal with an Occupy march that was headed for the Berkeley campus. more ›

The fine folks at Berkeley-based Annie's are enjoying a huge jump after their trading debut this morning. Annie's makes a slew of organic treats, including the superior-to-Pepperidge-Farm-Goldfish (debate amongst yourselves in the comments, please) Cheddar Bunnies. The IPO price valued Annie's somewhere near the $316.3-million mark.That's... a lot of cheddar. (Sorry.) more ›

Yesterday, over a dozen people charged in connection with last November's rowdy protests on the campus of UC Berkeley received a stay-away order issued by the Alameda County Superior Court. According to Berkeleyside, the order prohibits the arraigned protesters from stepping foot on all UC property except when going to and from class or work on campus. more ›

After nearly three decades of "Alice Waters' Fanny" jokes, the Chez Panisse restauranteur and her brother-in-law/business partner Jim Maser are shutting down west Berkeley's Café Fanny. According to a senior staff member, the San Pablo Avenue mainstay was no longer "financially viable" and will be closing the doors and turning out the lights in the kitchen tomorrow, March 9th. more ›

A man was shot early Sunday in East Oakland, and then he was run over, just to make sure the job was done. The incident happened about 3 a.m. on the 1000 block of 88th Avenue, and the victim's name hasn't been released. more ›

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 ›