Veteran in People’s Park speaks about homelessness

Screen shot 2013-02-18 at 2.34.45 PM

Veteran Kelly Johnson speaks about homelessness and his past.Surrounded by a pile of tattered backpacks, Kelly Johnson squints against the sun’s glare as he recollects the years he spent searching for a home. Johnson, 51, is one of the hundreds of homeless veterans that the Obama administration seeks to house Read More…

Letters: March 22

The benefits of being homeless As an alumnus and an occasional Telegraph Avenue and park bum, I would like to commend Jay Scherf for his kind and sensible words (“Homelessness and Telegraph Avenue,” March 15) with regard to the ‘Ave, in response to a column from Ms. Yu, which I Read More…

Letters: March 15

Homelessness and Telegraph Avenue Lynn Yu’s column  (“Talking on Telegraph. Stop,” March 7)  came from a place of such privilege that it rendered the whole article ridiculous. The piece uses the same rhetoric as 19th century British imperial policy. To assume that Telegraph’s ‘potential’ is to gentrify it into some Read More…

Lynn_online

Talking on Telegraph. Stop.

Council Watch

Half of politics is talking, and the other half is talking about talking. Unfortunately, discussions about Telegraph Avenue usually fall into the latter category. Mayor Tom Bates hosted a forum last Thursday concerning the revitalization of Telegraph. According to Berkeleyside, plans have been put forth to construct new projects on Read More…

final_hand

A compassionate sidewalks proposal

Although Berkeley voters rejected Measure S, a controversial proposal that would have criminalized sitting on commercial sidewalks, we shouldn’t mistake it as an endorsement of inaction. The simple fact still remains: We need to address homelessness. I didn’t support Measure S, but I’m not calling it a day, as many Read More…

Students will finally have a voice

Measure allows students to represent themselves in city

Imagine a student on the City Council, adjudicating and legislating on key issues such as housing, sustainability and development. His or her mandate: Heed students’ voices, bring them to the city government and ensure that students’ needs are finally reflected in city policy. Such a dream may be much closer Read More…