Update on Alternative Housing Sites In our last issue (Spring 2025), Berkeley Speaks reviewed the status of the unhoused community in Berkeley, and of the Struggle in the Court and the Council. The new development, beyond the continuing series of…
Comparison and comment On November 5, 2025, Berkeleyside.com published a revealing article by Alex Gecan titled “Civilian oversight of Berkeley police is hitting a wall.” Berkeley Speaks appreciates the Berkeleyside investigation. In our article below, we compare selected passages from…
by Tracy Rosenberg The 2025 California state legislative session wrapped up on October 13, 2025. As Berkeley Speaks readers know, we are in a time of a severe backlash to the justice concerns raised so effectively in the earlier years…
By Micky Duxbury In 2021, Maurice Monk lay motionless for three days in his Alameda County jail cell. Body camera videos showed sheriff’s deputies and nurses from Wellpath, the for-profit jail healthcare company, throwing his meals and medications through a…
Berkeley Speaks comment: A grassroots lawsuit against the City of Berkeley for violations of the California open meetings law (Ralph M. Brown Act) has won on appeal. Background: For months beginning in October 2023, the beginning of the intense bombardment…
How You Can Help: On immigration defense, food stamps, and other cutbacks Immigration: Important resources Being a good neighbor is taking on a new meaning Gentle reminder: Fear is widespread in many immigrant communities around the Bay—not surprising when the…
Make Polluters Pay! A year ago in the Fall 2024 edition of Berkeley Speaks, we wrote about Measure GG, or “Go Green!” This measure would have taxed owners of the large buildings in Berkeley for the climate pollution generated by…
“Everyone told me Berkeley had our backs” For years, the University of California system has presented itself as a place that would protect vulnerable students from hostile government action. In September 2017, the University of California became the first university…
News AnaIysis: Is This the End of Peace and Justice in Berkeley? Half a year has passed since the Berkeley City Council passed a toothless statement of grief at the loss of life, but no call for an end to…
By Lily It was a quiet, misty morning on October 3, 2025, when a group of UC Berkeley students and union members gathered around Hearst Mining Circle and Oppenheimer Way. California governor Gavin Newsom was to appear at Campbell Hall…