Disqus - Latest Comments for digidave

Re: Berkeley Councilmember Rigel Robinson to step down, end run for mayor, citing ‘harassment, stalking and threats’

digidave — Tue, 09 Jan 2024 20:22:55 -0000

To be fair here: I don't think BERKELEYSIDE has been promoting People's Park in their coverage. I think they've covered/quoted people who promote People's Park, but I don't think they've taken a strong stance as an organization. Don't confuse the messenger. At least - that's my take on their coverage.

Re: Snow may whiten Grizzly Peak in the Berkeley Hills this week

digidave — Tue, 21 Feb 2023 21:03:47 -0000

The last time it snowed was 2019? I feel like we had light dusting recently. Or maybe it was more like hail. Does that not count?

Re: Berkeley could soon begin issuing instant e-bike rebates to residents

digidave — Fri, 18 Nov 2022 00:47:49 -0000

Any gains here would be dwarfed by all the driving middle school families are going to have to do with the new school zones.

Odds are: my family alone will have to spend almost an extra 2hrs in the car every week because of it.

Re: Berkeley school board votes to desegregate middle schools with new enrollment policy

digidave — Thu, 16 Jun 2022 20:30:39 -0000

I believe its based on (old) census data trying to get an even population of students of various incomes/races. The population isn’t distributed evenly - so the map reflects that.

Re: Why the owner of Saul’s Deli dropped everything and went to Poland

digidave — Fri, 10 Jun 2022 22:12:48 -0000

Sauls is the best! Love taking my family there.

Re: Opinion: UC Berkeley should reconsider its building plans now that People’s Park is on national register

digidave — Thu, 02 Jun 2022 23:52:49 -0000

I think being included as a national historical site means that the UC should include a plaque or something at the corner of where the new housing will be built. The plaque should probably highlight all the positive stuff that happened there in the 60s’ and leave out any details from the last 30 years.

Re: Teens built secret mountain bike course in Berkeley Hills. Now they’re rallying to save ‘The Jumps’

digidave — Tue, 11 May 2021 20:38:26 -0000

I live within walking distance of this mound. I was confused as to how it got there - and then they told me they brought up empty sand bags and just filled them up. It must have been a lot of work. The kids who built it are very nice. The space wasn't really being used before. When I've taken my infants on walks near there - the kids have done jumps for them and were very respectful. The BBQ thing was a mistake, but it sounds like they know that. For the most part - I don't see this hurting anyone in the neighborhood. I imagine the city wants to figure out liability, since injury is possible. Bottom line - I can think of 1,000 worse things for these kids to be doing. I hope they can figure out a way to keep doing the biking.

Re: Teens built secret mountain bike course in Berkeley Hills. Now they’re rallying to save ‘The Jumps’

digidave — Tue, 11 May 2021 20:33:39 -0000

I live in the area. The hillside was just dirt before. Now it's a few mounds of dirty. No damage done.

Re: Pandemic closes popular kids’ camp Sarah Science after 34 years

digidave — Thu, 25 Feb 2021 20:12:14 -0000

Our family is also one that prepaid for the 2020 camp that never happened and effectively lost the money. And tbh: When we got the letters about the bankruptcy and we were listed as a "creditor" I wanted to make sure they knew we weren't going to pursue getting that money back. We considered gone a long time ago. We've gotten two letters and one detailed assets and what she's doing to try and straighten things out. I've been meaning to call the number on the letter just to make sure that the debt owed to us can just be considered washed away. Not that it'll make a HUGE difference, I suppose..... but I have to imagine most of the families like ours who were planning to send our kids to the camp in 2020 aren't trying to squeeze her for the money.

Re: 6 days after officer fired gun, Berkeley police have not released new information

digidave — Wed, 05 Aug 2020 20:12:53 -0000

I would second this. Criticism of the article is fine - but I think a more charitable view of Berkeleyside's reporting is also merited. They've walked the walk on local reporting in a way many others haven't.

Re: Berkeley pares $9.3M from police budget amid clamor for reform

digidave — Fri, 03 Jul 2020 21:24:01 -0000

This is indeed the history of MODERN policing as we know it. There has always been state sanctioned violence - going as far back as..... nations. Two important modern additions to the state monopoly on violence are: Policing by Consent (https://en.wikipedia.org/wi... - in America this also took the form of voting for the local Sheriff (which is at the county level).

Re: Bites: Fat Slice Pizza closes after 34 years; Charlie Hallowell to sell Western Pacific

digidave — Tue, 12 Nov 2019 22:28:29 -0000

First they came for my fat slice and I said nothing. For I was in a diet.......

Re: Beyoncé or Bears Boulevard? You could rename (2 blocks of) Shattuck

digidave — Fri, 18 Oct 2019 20:05:22 -0000

Streety McStreetyFace

Re: Measles case confirmed in Berkeley

digidave — Fri, 17 May 2019 23:11:33 -0000

I’m just gonna leave this here. https://youtu.be/zBkVCpbNnkU

Re: RIP Greg Davies: Farewell and Dilligaf, Old Friend

digidave — Fri, 01 Feb 2019 14:56:21 -0000

Man..... this is a bummer. I didn't chat too much with Greg, but of course I remember him well as cgt2099 and the alien head. He was a champ. I followed him through the years and could see how well adept he was at disagreeing with being disagreeable. He will be missed.

Re: Flavorful, scratch-made pot pies worth seeking out in Hayward

digidave — Mon, 07 Jan 2019 20:24:38 -0000

When I lived by the Temescal Farmers market I would get these every weekend. I used to joke to my now wife that it was like she was my grandmother taking care of me..... giving me home-cooked comfort food..... They really are delicious pies.

Re: Berkeley Unified flooded with angry calls, threats over Felarca, records show

digidave — Tue, 30 Oct 2018 20:15:14 -0000

Agreed. I'm glad Berkeleyside is around to stay on this - because I have a feeling the juicy stuff hasn't been released yet.

Re: Get insider views of the 2018 election with Project Text, where Berkeleyside reporters deliver the scoop

digidave — Wed, 26 Sep 2018 18:05:41 -0000

I've enjoyed the text messages sent so far. Great work!

Re: 50 days to go: How Berkeleyside has you covered for election 2018

digidave — Tue, 18 Sep 2018 19:29:21 -0000

Thanks for everything you do re: the election. I'm bias of course - but I am really excited about getting text messages from all of you about the election. Project Text Berkeleyside is going to be really cool!!

Re: Opinion: Towards a car-free North Berkeley BART

digidave — Mon, 20 Aug 2018 06:01:13 -0000

Fair enough. I’m not against development. But those things we call “temporary storage of vehicles” represent people. They represent people at work. They are doing jobs for society that keep things running. It’s not pretty - but we want all those people to keep doing what they are doing. Any plan - park, housing, storefronts, etc - should keep in mind that Bart commuters keep the Bay Area turning. And yes .... some of them may need to drive to the station. That is not a crime.

Re: Opinion: Towards a car-free North Berkeley BART

digidave — Mon, 20 Aug 2018 05:49:09 -0000

Because it’s a Bart train that serves the entire Bay Area metro region. That’s what it’s designed to do.

Re: Opinion: Towards a car-free North Berkeley BART

digidave — Mon, 20 Aug 2018 05:45:35 -0000

My point is that this whole thing is mixing two very different things. Obviously nobody would care if North Berkeley got a new park somewhere. But this proposal is putting a park as a moat around Bart and saying “well, we can’t have parking by this park. And the park is by Bart. So I guess we can’t have parking by Bart.”

I was using the opposite formulation to try and drive the point home.

Re: Opinion: Towards a car-free North Berkeley BART

digidave — Sun, 19 Aug 2018 12:05:20 -0000

I literally just took part in a real estate transaction after we found out we were having twins and needed more space. Our house that was a 15 minute walk to either Ashy or Downtown (we were in between both) was more per square foot than a House way up in the hills. We are in the Wildcat part of the hills, past grizzly peak. This area is cheaper because it’s past the hill and doesn’t get the same sunlight and is not conviently located by anything.

And in the end - it doesn’t matter. The accusation here is that people in the hills are all rich therefore - no parking should be provided at Bart.

That doesn’t follow. Even if everyone in the hills was rich - the Bart and parking serves everyone. People in West Berkeley too. The proposition here is that people within walking distance want a park and are willing to inconvenience everyone to get it. And inconvenience is a nice way of putting it. We’re talkinng about the way people get to and from work here.

Re: Opinion: Towards a car-free North Berkeley BART

digidave — Sun, 19 Aug 2018 12:01:27 -0000

I think for me the problem is this assumption that the Bart station serves only people who live within walking distance. It’s a regional metro transportation system. It serves people in the region. Not everyone can simply walk there and the idea that everyone can just take buses or car sharing is a bit naive.

This is indeed NIMBY. No cars in your backyard..... you want a park there - even if it is to the detriment of regular people just trying to get to work.

Re: Opinion: Towards a car-free North Berkeley BART

digidave — Sat, 18 Aug 2018 22:01:45 -0000

You can think whatever you want of people in the hills. It’s actually irrelevant (although you are making a huge and incorrect assumption).

There are three Bart stations to serve all of Berkeley. A city of over 100k. These are for everyone. The hills. West Berkeley. Gilman, etc. one could say Kennsington and Emmeryville at times too.

And you want to make it just one with parking (Ashby) because the people who live within walking distance of North Berkeley want a park.

I just want to make sure I’m understanding the logic and motivation here. The concept here specifically makes this a no car zone - meaning it’s impratcial to use the Bart station unless you can walk. As noted in other comments - there are no good bus lines to North Berkeley Bart. Uber would be more expensive.