City

Local massage parlors face allegations of prostitution

Crystal Massage on Shattuck Avenue and Berkeley Alouette on University Avenue were served with cease and desist notices in April,
Crystal Massage on Shattuck Avenue and Berkeley Alouette on University Avenue were served with cease and desist notices in April,

Three Berkeley massage parlors may be closed for good after city officials ruled that explicit online reviews support allegations of prostitution. Crystal Massage on Shattuck Avenue, as well as Acupressure Health Center and Berkeley Alouette — both located on University Avenue — were served with cease and desist notices in Read More…

Editorials

Ten ninety-seven

CITY AFFAIRS: Berkeley police Chief Michael Meehan’s decision to send an officer to a reporter’s house after midnight was wrong.

News reporters are beholden to the truth. The risk of inaccuracy is a constant concern each carries. They expect sources to inform them when mistakes of fact are discovered. But Berkeley police Chief Michael Meehan’s nighttime effort to push Oakland Tribune journalist Doug Oakley for a correction was unacceptable. Oakley Read More…

Notes from the Field

Berkeley police department appoints new spokesperson

Berkeley Police Department has selected longtime Officer Jennifer Coats as its new department spokesperson. Coats, who has been an officer with the department for 15 years, has served as a member of the operations division since 1998. She will replace Sgt. Mary Kusmiss, who stepped down as spokesperson on June Read More…

City

FBI.infographic

Report shows drop in city crime from 2010 to 2011

The FBI has released a preliminary uniform crime report detailing the crime levels for large cities around the country, showing that from 2010 to 2011, crime levels in the city of Berkeley have fallen. The report’s Berkeley statistics led to a 2011 crime report submitted by Berkeley Police Chief Michael Read More…

Crime & Courts

Auto burglaries trend continues on East side of campus

Three auto burglaries were reported in the Witter Field parking lot on Sunday afternoon, in what has become a recent trend on the UC Berkeley campus and surrounding city. According to the UCPD crime logs, all the victims of Sunday’s incidents had their car windows smashed and reported losses ranging Read More…

Campus

Milanca1

Friends remember UC Berkeley graduate and mother Milanca Lopez

Milanca Alicia Lopez, 22, a 2012 UC Berkeley graduate, died in a car accident Friday morning in Berkeley. According to Berkeley Police Department spokesperson Sgt. Mary Kusmiss, the fatal crash was reported to Berkeley Police Department at 1:13 a.m. Officers responded to the scene at California Street, just north of Read More…

Crime & Courts

Trial begins for suspect in six-year-old Berkeley killing

Six years after the death of Berkeley native Keith Stephens, the man accused of killing him has started standing trial. Opening arguments began last week in Alameda County Superior Court as Deputy District Attorney Stacie Pettigrew told jurors that defendant Bahsson Carl Smith, now 31, almost got away with murder Read More…