Zach Cowan

Following a court order from U.S. District Court judge William Alsup, the city of Berkeley submitted and filed a plan Tuesday to provide shelter for its homeless population during the coming winter.

Zach Cowan retired from his city attorney position Friday after nearly 24 years of service with the city of Berkeley. He will be succeeded by Farimah Brown, a municipal attorney who has worked for various cities of the East Bay.

An Alameda County judge approved a motion Friday that could greenlight a small-scale Berkeley housing development. The project, led by community developer Christian Szilagy, would demolish an uninhabited house at 1310 Haskell St. and erect three residential dwellings in its place.

San Francisco Baykeeper filed a federal suit to address violations of the federal Clean Water Act by the city of Berkeley and Community Conservation Centers, Inc. on Wednesday, alleging that the defendants are discharging polluted stormwater into the bay.

On Friday, litigation against the city moved forward, setting a hearing date of Aug. 26 for lawsuits concerning the construction of a contentious 18-story building at 2211 Harold Way.

Despite confusion regarding the city agenda, Berkeley City Council approved allocating $15,000 to Youth Spirit Artworks — a job training program for homeless and low-income youth — to fund its winter warming center and regular operations at a meeting Tuesday.

A Berkeley resident and local medical marijuana collective co-founder filed a lawsuit against the city and three medical marijuana dispensaries on September 17, alleging racketeering on the part of the city and dispensaries.

The Berkeley Safe Neighborhoods Committee discussed Monday a proposed city ordinance responding to community concerns about noisy and drunken parties.

A school district plan to build portable classrooms at Thousand Oaks Elementary School to address potential overenrollment has been met with backlash from several community members and parents, with some posing a legal challenge against the development.

After years of litigation between the city and a local preservationist group, a Monday California Supreme Court ruling ordered further examination of a local entrepreneur’s plans to building a new home in the Berkeley Hills