Chemical Spill Forces REI Store Evacuation George Yoshida: Still
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Berkeley and the General Strike of 1934, See Page Five JULY 30-AUG. 5, 2009 Volume 11, Issue 18 DAILY ONLINE, WEEKLY IN PRINT $2 Donation Requested Planners Adopt Chemical Spill Forces West Berkeley Subdivision REI Store Evacuation By RICHARD firefighter had asked the man Regulations BRENNEMAN who brought the pack into the store to wait at the scene. By RICHARD BRENNEMAN A chemical spilled from a “They allowed the guy to backpack at West Berkeley’s walk away,” said one irate cus- Planning commissioners fin- REI store Wednesday afternoon tomer. “The Fire Department ished the easy part of their West forced the evacuation of scores Berkeley zoning changes of customers and employees. Continued on Page Twenty Wednesday, July 22, but the hard- The red liquid spilled from the est part will be on their agenda backpack of a customer after he after their August break. submitted it for security screen- Skeptics of the City Council ing just inside the entrance to Campaign Gets directive aimed at easing develop- the large facility at 1338 San ment restrictions in the city’s only Pablo Ave. Underway for sector zoned for industry and Within seconds, everyone manufacturing won on one key standing nearby—at least 25 Referendum on vote governing the breakup of people—began coughing and space within existing sites, but choking as fumes from the fluid Downtown Plan they may face a tougher road on hit the air, said Deputy Fire the larger issue of the master use Chief Gil Dong. B y J. DOUGLAS permit. A 911 call brought firefighters ALLEN-TAYLOR Master use permits would gov- to the scene, along with their ern multi-use development on hazardous materials (HazMat) In a move that was widely larger sites, but how large and team and paramedics. expected, opponents of the how many are key questions com- Ambulances began to arrive city of Berkeley’s Downtown missioners will address starting in within minutes, transporting five Area Plan have begun a peti- September in meetings likely to victims to the Alta Bates tion drive for a voter referen- provoke semantic firestorms. Summit Medical Emergency dum on the plan. The controversy pits a coalition facility in Berkeley. The Downtown Area Plan, of West Berkeley’s smaller manu- None appeared to be serious- passed by the Berkeley City facturers and artisans against ly injured. Council on a 7–2 vote earlier developers with big hopes for the Store employees and cus- this month, sets the direction, area and a City Council allied tomers flooded out into the goals, and parameters of down- with UC Berkeley in a vision of Steven Finacom store’s parking lot, where fire- town Berkeley development the sector as home to a building A small spectator raises her arms in delight as the sky fills with fighters quickly strung emer- for the foreseeable future. and revenue bonanza tied to octopi at last weekend’s Berkeley Kite Festival at Cesar Chavez gency tape to seal off the scene. “green tech” patents created by Park on the Berkeley Marina. The deputy fire chief said a Continued on Page Eighteen UC scientists and spun off to start-up companies. The outcome of the contest will determine the shape of West Berkeley. During the July 22 meeting, George Yoshida: Still Swingin’ commissioners faced an audience overwhelmingly composed of By DOROTHY BRYANT Graduating from high school in 1940, he members of the group West Special to the Planet went to L.A. City College, hoping to post- Berkeley Artisans and Industrial pone the day when he would have to become Companies (WEBAIC) and their hen George Yoshida greets another “G-man.” allies. his South Berkeley Senior But then came Pearl Harbor and, in April WEBAIC and two of West Center class of “modified” 1942, what the ACLU calls “the greatest dep- Berkeley’s leading real estate tai chi and leads us into the rivation of civil rights by the government in brokers, John Norheim and Don first stretch, we see a com- this country since slavery”—Executive Yost, have emerged as allies, pit- Wpact, supple, dark-haired man—pushing 70? Order 90066, the forced removal from the ted against the area’s major devel- Wrong. George was born in 1922. The teach- West Coast of 120,000 people of Japanese opers and some—but by no ing career he began in Berkeley in 1952 con- descent, to concentration camps. means all—commercial property tinues to this day. Devoted to teaching? Yes, “The sign on the pole ordered us to assem- owners. but his great passion is music—swing and ble nearby with only what we could carry,” Commissioners disposed of jazz. says Yoshida. “I could not leave my records . one key issue by adopting a pro- Born in Seattle, where his father sang in a . put about 50 of my favorites—Tommy posal formulated by WEBAIC, male sextet (American pop tunes as well as Dorsey, Artie Shaw, Duke Ellington—into a Norheim, Yost and former city traditional Japanese songs) and his mother case. Clutching my lifeblood . .” George left Office of Economic Development played the organ in a local Christian church, with his family for Arizona, Poston Director Neil Mayer on rules for George moved with his family to Los Detention Camp No. 1. subdividing (“demising,” in plan- Angeles in 1935, where his father might find Decades later, books described the ner-speak) space within existing more work in “the only work open to resourceful ways in which the detainees, George Yoshida. sites. Japanese-Americans, G-men.” G-men? abandoned to desert barracks surrounded by The choice facing the commis- Government men—FBI? “No,” says George, barbed wire and guard towers, organized to sioners was what level of over- with a twinkle in his eye and a sly smile,“gar- provide their own education, medical care, (National Japanese-American Historical sight should govern the demising deners and grocers.” recreation. Society, 1997). In documentary and oral his- process. George played baritone sax in high school, One of these books is Yoshida’s tory, plus archival photos and cartoons, in the days of the “big swing bands,” also the Reminiscing in Swing: Japanese-Americans in Continued on Page Twenty days of teenage bands that imitated them. American Popular Music, 1925–1960 Continued on Page Nineteen Page 2 THE BERKELEY DAILY PLANET July 30-August 5, 2009 Point Molate Casino Plan Draws Concerns, Praise By RICHARD BRENNEMAN This is the third and concluding article in a series on the project environmental The massive draft environmental review, which is being conducted under impact report on what could become both state and federal laws. California’s first Las Vegas-style metro- For Richmond, an impoverished city politan casino reveals sharp divisions struggling with poverty and crime and among Richmond residents. dominated by a massive oil refinery, But those opinions were gathered Levine promises his project will bring four years ago, during an economic jobs, stimulus for local businesses and a boom that has since crested and col- wide range of civic benefits, not least in lapsed. the form of a river of ongoing revenues. Berkeley developer James D. Levine, The 5,284-page environmental impact Top: 2109 Martin Luther King Jr. Way as it currently exists. Below: The proposed partnered with a Napa developer, a for- report (EIR) was finally released earlier YMCA teen center. mer Clinton cabinet member and two this month, three years after the initially Native American tribes—one impover- planned release date. ished and the other flush with gambling Comments from individuals, organi- wealth—plans a billion-and-a-half-dol- zations and public agencies included in lar casino resort and upscale housing the document date from four years ago, complex at Point Molate. when the federal Bureau of Indian Located on one of the last relatively Affairs supervised a scoping sessions to pristine chunks of prime San Francisco gather community comments. Bay shoreline, the “five-star resort” That hearing, conducted on March 31, would target wealthy Asian gamblers, 2005, was held to gather questions to be Levine told Richmond residents last year. Continued on Page Seventeen BEST MASSAGE & SPA IN THE BAY AREA Foot Reflexology Special $19.99/hr Deep Tissue Swedish Acupressure Massage $45/hr Certified Excellent Masseuse & Masseur Berkeley’s First Teen Center Free parking Steam Sauna Planned for Downtown 3288 Pierce St. (Hwy 80, exit Central Ave) By RIYA BHATTACHARJEE A new three-story stairwell will have a Pacific East Mall glass facade opening onto Martin Luther (Ranch 99 2nd floor) Berkeley teenagers may finally have a King Jr. Way. Its concrete stairway walls will solution to their boredom. project a mural that will remain lit at night. 510-525-8288 Soon they may have a new place to hang Instead of paying $130,000 in rent for www.gimassage.com out after school, get help with homework, office space at its current 2070 Allston Way meet up with friends or simply have some location, YMCA will be paying the same fun. amount to the teen center to help sustain it. A building that formerly housed a The zoning board waived three existing PG&E service center at 2109 Martin parking spots and five new parking spots Luther King Jr. Way is all set to become mandated by the construction of a third the Teen AMP (Aspirations Made Possi- floor. ble), Berkeley’s first center dedicated The Y plans to start constructing the $5.2 entirely to teenagers. million facility this fall with help from a While some youngsters are calling it group of teenagers, officially known as the their legacy, others are simply happy to Teen Task Force.