Berkeley City Councilman Gordon Wozniak, who we realized recently — after he called his colleagues' welcome mat for Guantanamo detainees just a load of political grandstanding to get on Fox News — is kind of the voice of reason, and therefore considered the staunch conservative, on the Berkeley City Council, has taken another rather controversial stance that sets himself apart from the hyper-liberal majority. Wozniak says the city ought to rethink one of its most signature pieces of local legislation, the 1986 Nuclear Free Berkeley Act. Why, you ask? Is Mr. Wozniak some kind of nuclear energy cheerleader? Hardly. more ›

Continuing in their quest to become caricatures of themselves (anyone want to write a Portlandia-like spoof?), the Berkeley City Council is voting next week on another vanity resolution to invite any and all released Guantanamo Bay detainees to come and live in Berkeley -- so long as they've been cleared of guilt. The resolution is intended, it seems, as a raised middle finger toward the Department of Defense and a new federal law that prohibits the U.S. from funding the relocation of cleared detainees. more ›

Under the false impression that Melanie Morgan doesn't already have enough ammunition, the fruit-and-nut granola bar that is the Berkeley City Council will vote today on whether to demand the U.S. government charge Berkeley resident, UC Berkeley Boalt Hall School tenured professor, and former Bush adviser John Yoo with war crimes. more ›

Over at The Snitch, we came across this fury-inducing commercial conceived by heart-warming conservative group Move America Forward. (You know, the one chaired by KSFO 560 AM's Melanie Morgan?) more ›

According to the fine folks over at The Sword (NSFW), the GayVNs (NSFW) will be held here on Saturday -- you know, those homosexual pornography achievement awards, which led to Mayor Gavin Newsom getting all Berkeley City Council on us after he declared Feb. 23 to be Colt Studio Day last year? -- coinciding with that hairy-large-gay-appreciation festival thing happening. more ›

Fascist Imperial Dogs 1 - Tree Loving Hippies 0- After all that protesting and dancing and carrot juice drinking, the Berkeley City Council chickened out and said they erred in passing that January resolution that disinvited a Marine recruiting station and called them "unwelcome intruders." In that resolution, they also allowed Code Pink permission to blast all sorts of things at the station, gave them a designated parking space in front of it, and permission to protest on Wednesdays from noon to 4 p.m. Why Wednesday? Because it’s Hump Day! They did, however, refuse to issue an apology and used part of their mea culpa to lash out at the Bush administration and the war. This didn't satisfy some conservatives as Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina introduced the "Semper Fi Act" which would redirect money to UC Berkeley and give it to the Southern Heritage Coalition so they can sew more flags with the Confederate flag in them. more ›

Anti-war fans, pro-war zealots, '60s fetishists, barely-legal Marines, the unshowered, and young college students trying to impress their boyfriends will be out in full force on the other side of the Bay later this evening. Why? Because after receiving loads of national criticism, as well as a few death threats, the Berkeley City Council will decide tonight whether or not to "revoke a letter it approved two weeks ago telling the Marines they are 'unwelcome intruders' and should leave their post." What's more: more ›

Well, just to follow up on yesterday's day of violence, we can't find anything about the late-afternoon incident on Ellis Street that a couple of you guys saw, but there was another shooting around 11:50 p.m. in Visitacion Valley. That one was fatal. (The Examiner also has a list of other recent daytime shootings in SF, if you're interested.) more ›

Pot growing in the wild! Marin County has vowed to crack down on marijuana growers who have been sneaking onto state and federal public property to plant over $100 million worth of weed. The pot is located on both sides of Bolinas Ridge, and Point Reyes National Seashore says they spent over $10,000 to clean it all up. Authorities report seeing one plant that was 10 feet tall and covered with so many buds the stalk ran parallel to the ground. more ›

--The US Attorney's office is going to monitor the SF elections, like we're East Timor or Florida or something. more ›

Apparently the "Draft Dellums" posters can come down in our neighborhood now, as we see that Ron Dellums has announced his candidacy to replace Jerry Brown as Mayor of Oakland. Until today it seemed that City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente was a shoe-in for the job, despite the fact that nobody was particularly excited by the idea, aside from Jerry Brown himself (who has endorsed De La Fuente). Dellums, who once sat on the Berkeley City Council and represented Oakland (and nearby locales) in Congress for 28 years until local hero Barbara Lee took over, now seems the immediate front-runner. "If Ron Dellums running for mayor gives you hope, let's get on with it,'' he said today, and quite frankly, after the terrible (but predictable) disappointment of Jerry's eight years as Mayor, we're feeling pretty hopeful in Oakland this afternoon. more ›