Berkeley Ca Ordinances

It's strange behavior for a fat cat. Five mornings a week, Jim Smith rises at midnight to work the graveyard shift as a mail handler. When he gets off at 9:30 a.m., he begins his building maintenance chores. Smith had hoped to quit the Postal Service long ago, but he made one big mistake. He plowed his hard-earned money into rental housing in Berkeley, where he and many other working-class landlords were stuck with 1970s rents and no way to recoup investments in their own property.

Berkeley politicians, known for assailing such acts as government bombing campaigns and capital punishment, now are taking on an emblem of domestic coziness: the fireplace. The City Council has banned log-burning fireplaces in new homes and other buildings, believing the warmth of wood fires comes at the cost of clean air.

Berkeley, which helped start a national movement to keep investments out of South Africa, wants to use the same tactic against gun companies. The City Council voted Tuesday night to ban municipal money from going to companies that make firearms, although Berkeley doesn't in fact have any money invested in gun manufacturers.

The battle over ATM surcharges is headed for a showdown in Berkeley as the city attempts to become the first in the nation to ban the fees at cash machines within city limits.

The battle over ATM surcharges is headed for a showdown in Berkeley as the city attempts to become the first in the nation to ban the fees at cash machines within city limits.

Berkeley OKs Ban on Business With Companies in Myanmar: The City Council passed a resolution banning the city from purchasing goods or services from companies operating in Myanmar, the Southeast Asian country whose military leaders are accused of brutalizing their political opponents and ethnic minorities. The vote was 8 to 1. The U.S. companies most likely to be affected by the resolution--reportedly the first of its kind in the world--are Unocal Corp., PepsiCo Inc. and Texaco Inc.

Anti-marijuana activists could not find enough Berkeley voters to just say yes to a "Just Say No" ballot measure aimed at forcing police to vigorously enforce drug laws. The activists were trying to put a measure on the November ballot to rescind a 1979 plebiscite that forced police to make enforcement of marijuana laws their lowest priority.

Rent control for businesses in Berkeley's Telegraph Avenue shopping district was struck down by a federal judge in San Francisco, who said a provision of the year-old ordinance narrowly limiting the grounds for which a property owner can refuse to renew a lease violates the constitutional ban on impairment of contracts. U.S.

After years of serving as a counterculture haven, some in this famously liberal city think it's time to pull in the welcome mat a bit. On Tuesday night, the council ratified ordinances banning lying down on some sidewalks and requiring pet owners to have no more than two dogs within a 10-foot limit. The new rules come after complaints by merchants that street youths were harassing shoppers. The measure that bans lying on sidewalks between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.

Here in the cradle of the free-speech movement, tolerance has long been a source of great civic pride. No matter the message, no matter the messenger, Berkeley has opened its arms, embracing all with the gusto befitting a university town. But now a nagging urban problem--pushy panhandlers--has crept in, and the quest for a solution is causing much anguish. Suddenly, a city renowned for big hearts, liberal voters and universal acceptance has begun to wonder whether the time has come to get tough.

The battle over ATM surcharges is headed for a showdown in Berkeley as the city attempts to become the first in the nation to ban the fees at cash machines within city limits. Such an ordinance won preliminary approval at a City Council meeting late Tuesday and put Berkeley at the center of a legal struggle between consumer groups seeking to outlaw ATM surcharges and the banking industry, which argues that cities have no authority over federally regulated financial institutions.

After years of serving as a counterculture haven, some in this famously liberal city think it's time to pull in the welcome mat a bit. On Tuesday night, the council ratified ordinances banning lying down on some sidewalks and requiring pet owners to have no more than two dogs within a 10-foot limit. The new rules come after complaints by merchants that street youths were harassing shoppers. The measure that bans lying on sidewalks between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.

Berkeley, which helped start a national movement to keep investments out of South Africa, wants to use the same tactic against gun companies. The City Council voted Tuesday night to ban municipal money from going to companies that make firearms, although Berkeley doesn't in fact have any money invested in gun manufacturers.

Berkeley OKs Ban on Business With Companies in Myanmar: The City Council passed a resolution banning the city from purchasing goods or services from companies operating in Myanmar, the Southeast Asian country whose military leaders are accused of brutalizing their political opponents and ethnic minorities. The vote was 8 to 1. The U.S. companies most likely to be affected by the resolution--reportedly the first of its kind in the world--are Unocal Corp., PepsiCo Inc. and Texaco Inc.

Here in the cradle of the free-speech movement, tolerance has long been a source of great civic pride. No matter the message, no matter the messenger, Berkeley has opened its arms, embracing all with the gusto befitting a university town. But now a nagging urban problem--pushy panhandlers--has crept in, and the quest for a solution is causing much anguish. Suddenly, a city renowned for big hearts, liberal voters and universal acceptance has begun to wonder whether the time has come to get tough.

Christopher Columbus was tossed overboard Friday by city officials who declared Oct. 12 "Indigenous Peoples Day," stripping the explorer of his honored day. The city not only dumped the Italian explorer, but it declared 1992, the 500th anniversary of Columbus' landing in America, "The Year of Indigenous People." "The New World was here," said Mayor Loni Hancock. "It was new to Europeans but there were flourishing cultures here."

The battle over ATM surcharges is headed for a showdown in Berkeley as the city attempts to become the first in the nation to ban the fees at cash machines within city limits. Such an ordinance won preliminary approval at a City Council meeting late Tuesday and put Berkeley at the center of a legal struggle between consumer groups seeking to outlaw ATM surcharges and the banking industry, which argues that cities have no authority over federally regulated financial institutions.