HNA News: Post-Holiday Progressive Potluck Sunday 1/21, 6-9; Oak Grove update, Labyrinth walk, Distilled Spirits Application

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Halcyon Neighborhood Association E-Newsletter*

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Items appearing in the HNA E-Newsletter are deemed to be of general interest to neighbors but do not necessarily reflect the views of Halcyon Neighborhood Association, its Steering Committee, or the Editor. The Editor's introductory comments express her own personal viewpoint.

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1. Fabulous Post-Holiday Multi-Course Progressive Potluck, Sun., Jan. 21, 6-9 p.m.

2. Memorial Oak Grove Help Needed This Week!

3. Labyrinth Community Peace Walk, Sun., Jan. 21, 3 p.m., Willard Middle School

4. Ethiopian Restaurant at 2953-55 Requesting to Add Distilled Spirits to Its Beer & Wine License

Hope to see you Sunday for HNA's Post-Holiday Progressive Potluck (see Item 1). Be sure to say hello if you get a chance -  it's nice to be able to connect names with faces!

-Nancy Carleton, HNA Co-Chair and E-Newsletter Editor

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1. Fabulous Post-Holiday Multi-Course Progressive Potluck, Sun., Jan. 21, 6-9 p.m.

Make sure your new year's gotten off to a good start by joining your neighbors for this fabulous post-holiday feast where we progress from house to house and sample a range of delicious courses. This is our most popular community potluck event of the year, so don't miss out! Feel free to join us for all four courses, or just for one or two (substitute a dish if your name doesn't match the course you're attending). And don't forget to bring something especially tasty to start the New Year right!

6:00-6:40 Appetizers at Tory's, 3009 Wheeler

6:45-7:25 Salads at Bruce & Noriko's, 2311 Prince

7:30-8:15 Main Dishes at Susan's, 3044-A Halcyon

8:20-9:00 Desserts at John & Michelle's, 2329 Webster

Potluck suggestions:

* T-Z: Dessert *  N-S: Salad *  A-E:  Appetizer *  F-M: Main Dish

Please bring a festive dish to share, and, if so inspired, a beverage to share as well (it really helps if enough folks bring beverages too). Children welcome! More info: 644-0172

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2. Memorial Oak Grove Help Needed This Week!

Karl Reeh, President of LeConte Neighborhood Association forwarded the following message.

The University recently raided the grove and is now accelerating its plans  to remove tree-sitters and supporters, so that it can then immediately cut down the historic grove of grandmother oaks. Your support this week is critical for saving Memorial Oak Grove.

Please visit http://www.saveoaks.com/ to see how you can help!

Since cutting down these oaks is against city law, destroys the last Coast Live Oaks ecosystem in the Berkeley lowlands, and is opposed by the community, lawsuits have been filed by the City of Berkeley, California Oaks Association, and two community advocacy associations.

This Tuesday, January 23rd we'll find out if the Alameda County Superior Court will grant an injunction to halt this destruction. Until then, we greatly need your presence, voice and support to protect the Memorial Oak Grove. Here's how you can help:

1. Festival and Press Conference Saturday - Jan. 20th @ Noon - to Save the Oaks

* Join us for a huge all-day forest festival with returning UC Berkeley students to show support for Memorial Oak Grove. There will be tons of food, music, art, workshops, and more! Visit http://www.saveoaks.com for updates.

* At 1 p.m. we will hold a press conference with student leaders, athletes,  faculty, community leaders, and city officials. We want to demonstrate

overwhelming support, so please come and bring your friends!

2. Action Alert Network

* If the University raids Memorial Oak Grove again and then tries to cut down the trees, it is critical that we have everyone immediately come out to thegrove to show their support and act as witnesses - if you would like to be notified of a raid by our action alert network, please click

http://tinyurl.com/yutp5m . Note: the raid may occur in the early morning.

3. Contact UC Berkeley & CC Project Funders

* Contact Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau by email by clicking http://tinyurl.com/2pa9ek , or by phone at (510) 642-7464, and tell him to

build the athletic center at one of the alternative sites instead of destroying a rare, ancient, and beautiful oaks grove.

For more information on the campaign and how you can help through actions, donations, or ground support for the six fabulous tree-sitters guarding the oaks, please visit http://www.saveoaks.com/

Together, we can help convince UC Berkeley that instead of destroying a rare grove of coast live oaks up to 200 years old and placing students in seriousdanger by building the new athletic center within the Hayward fault zone, they should instead build the new athletic center in one of two more appropriate location alternatives on Berkeley campus.

Thanks so much for your support.

For the Trees,

The Save the Oaks at the Stadium Coalition

http://www.saveoaks.com

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3. Labyrinth Community Peace Walk, Sun., Jan. 21, 3 p.m., Willard Middle School

Community Labyrinth Peace Walk at 3 p.m., Sun., Jan. 21, Willard Middle School (Telegraph Ave. between Derby & Stuart, Berkeley). Everyone welcome. Wheelchair accessible. Rain cancels. Contact  info@eastbaylabyrinthproject.org, 526-7377.

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4. Ethiopian Restaurant at 2953-55 Requesting to Add Distilled Spirits to Its Beer & Wine License

[Editor's Note: HNA does not have a position on this application but encourages neighbors concerned with the issue to consider submitting their views, pro or con, to the Planning Dept. to be passed on to the Zoning Adjustments Board, which will be hearing this item at its January 25th meeting; the application also apparently includes a request to extend the business's hours until 2 a.m.]

 

South Berkeley neighbor Ozzie Vincent passed on the following:

"I noticed that Ethiopian Restaurant, 2953-55 Telegraph [just north of Ashby], phone 843-1992, is asking to add distilled spirits to its beer and wine license. They got their license in Nov. 2005, then they sold alcohol to a minor in Feb. 2005, and then bought alcohol off the street in April 2006, not a great record for such a short time. You can view their status by going to www.abc.ca.gov, click on License Query systems at the right, then enter license # 293370, or by going directly to http://www.abc.ca.gov/datport/LQSdata.asp?ID=293370000

"I suggest considering writing objection letters with a reference to Ethiopian Restaurant, 2953-2955 Telegraph Ave, to:
Planning Dept., City of Berkeley, 2120 Milvia St, 97404, (981-7410)

"Alcoholic Beverage Control, 1515 Clay Street, Suite 2208, Oakland, CA 94612
(OAK.Direct@abc.ca.gov <mailto:OAK.Direct@abc.ca.gov> (510) 622-4970)"

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The Halcyon Neighborhood Association E-Newsletter:  The HNA E-Newsletter forwards occasional crime watch notices as well as items of general interest to neighbors in the Ashby/Telegraph/Woolsey/Adeline area of south Berkeley (HNA's borders), including announcements about community-building potlucks, greening projects, disaster preparedness meetings, and work parties in Halcyon Commons Park. If you're receiving this email, you probably either signed up at a neighborhood event or a neighbor forwarded it to you. Please note that to prevent spam, HNA always uses bcc and does not share your email address with third parties. If you wish to be removed from this list, please reply to HNA Co-Chair Nancy Carleton/Halcyon Neighborhood Association <ngc2@mindspring.com>. Feel free to pass the HNA E-Newsletter on to other neighbors you think might be interested.

To submit items for the newsletter:   Email unformatted content or links (no graphics or attachments) to HNA E-Newsletter Editor Nancy Carleton <ngc2@mindspring.com>. Please note that due to the volunteer nature of the endeavor, the E-Newsletter does not typically include "letters to the editor" or "commentary," but will gladly include links to such items written by neighbors in the Ashby/Telegraph/Woolsey/Adeline area and published elsewhere.

HNA Listserve:  If you would like to receive messages (and participate in discussions) on the HNA Listserve, please reply to Halcyon Neighborhood Association <ngc2@mindspring.com> indicating your interest, and you will receive an invitation to join.

HNA Blog:  If you would like to view previous newsletters online (and comment via a blog format), please visit http://halcyoncourt.blogspot.com/

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