News in Brief

Council Passes Resolution To Help Telegraph Business

Attempting to improve the business climate near Telegraph Avenue, the Berkeley City Council approved a resolution Tuesday to streamline the permit process and extend business hours.

Telegraph area merchants said they supported the changes, which would make it easier to obtain certain permits and revitalize the area, which some say is suffering from an increase in the number of empty store fronts.

“It makes it less cumbersome for businesses to start,” said Robia Chang, a representative for Munger properties, which owns several properties in the Telegraph area.

Another aspect of the zoning changes would extend the hours of operation allowed without a specific permit to midnight during the week and 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays for non-alcohol vendors. Businesses selling alcohol could stay open until midnight of Fridays and Saturdays.

Jesse Arreguin, a UC Berkeley student and member of the Rent Stabilization Board, said extending the hours on Telegraph appeals to the habits of students.

“There was overwhelming support by the public,” Arreguin said.

However, Chang said allowing businesses to extend hours creates a larger problem of more people later at night without additional funding for police.

“The extension of by-right hours of operation will compound the issues that already exist,” Chang said.

But council members passed the item six to two, saying it was necessary to improve Telegraph's economy.

Amanda Ott

Mountain Lion Sighted in Berkeley Neighborhood

Correction Appended

In what wildlife officials are calling a rare appearance, a mountain lion was sighted in the afternoon of June 5 at Cedar Street and Euclid Avenue.

The mountain lion was spotted at 12:45 p.m. by Erin Reiche, the manager of the Biosciences Proposals Development Center at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, on the Tuesday afternoon and was reported to the Berkeley Police Department immediately after the sighting.

“The mountain lion walked down Euclid towards campus and turned up Cedar, then leaped onto a wooden staircase and (disappeared),” Reiche stated in an e-mail.

Accoding to Reiche, there are four known mountain lions that live in the hills between Berkeley and San Leandro, and they usually appear in later summer months..

“There has been a series of sightings over the past few years,” she said.

Carl Filbert, a senior animal control officer at Berkeley Animal Care Services, said he believed the mountain lion came from Wildcat Canyon Regional Park, which is in the hills around Berkeley.

However, Filbert said he has personally only seen one or two mountain lions during his 30 years with Berkeley Animal Care Services.

Berkeley Animal Care Services does not keep statistics on the number of mountain lion sightings, he said.

Reisch said the lab had prepared the staff for mountain lions, providing them with pamphlets on precautions to take when encountering them.

“At work, they warned us about mountain lions,” she said.

Correction: June 18, 2007
Thursday’s article “Mountain Lion Sighted in Berkeley Neighborhood” misspelled Erin Reiche’s name.

Alex Jarrett

Pre-Trial Held for RunningWolf

A pre-trial motions hearing for Zachary RunningWolf was held Monday morning where attorneys set the date to schedule another set of hearings for the case.

The former Berkeley mayoral candidate was arrested Feb. 23 on a felony charge of making threats at a police officer.

The charge stemmed from RunningWolf’s Feb. 16 arrest on a count of misdemeanor vandalism. Berkeley police said RunningWolf made serious threats to police officers while being transported to Berkeley Jail Facility.

Omar Figueroa, a member of RunningWolf’s defense team, said there was a misunderstanding during the hearing over the prosecution and defense’s interpretations of probation.

Figueroa said the defense thought the case would be resolved without any type of probation, while the prosecution had meant that no formal probation, or supervision with an adult probation officer, would be necessary.

While the prosecution ruled out formal probation, there is still court or summary probation, which Figueroa said would have made the defendent subject to the provisions of probation court but does not include a probation officer.

Figueroa said RunningWolf would not agree to any forms of probation.

Another court date is scheduled for June 20, where the defense will pick a day for a preliminary hearing and schedule a date for the defense to make a pitchess motion which, if granted, would allow the judge to look into police office personel files, Figueroa said.

At the preliminary hearing, Figueroa said the police officer will testify and need to prove that the crime was committed and that RunningWolf committed the crime.

Tamara Bartlett

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