Ohlone

The city of Berkeley installed new signs Feb. 7 throughout the city deeming Berkeley as “Ohlone Territory” in homage to the city’s Ohlone roots.

Ruegg & Ellsworth and the Frank Spenger Company are suing the city of Berkeley and the city's department of planning and development for rejecting their project at 1900 Fourth St. on the grounds that the city's decision allegedly goes against SB 35.

The developers of 1900 Fourth St. intend to sue the city of Berkeley if expedited development of their project is not approved.

As members of the Ohlone tribe broke out into traditional song at the start of Tuesday’s City Council meeting, council members prepared for discussions regarding development on the West Berkeley Shellmound, BART’s “100 percent” affordable housing plan and a possible independent police auditor.

Sylvia Mendez was the plaintiff in the landmark 1947 case Mendez v. Westminster. The case challenged the “whites only” policy of four Los Angeles school districts, and ultimately the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in favor of Mendez.

It’s not enough just to say that we are on Ohlone land and then move on; the school needs to put its full weight behind the promises it makes.

After widespread criticism for having a school named for a slave owner, Berkeley Unified School District will vote on a list of seven new names for LeConte Elementary School on May 30.

Maybe once the university fully reconciles its chilling narrative, the souls of the indigenous people, victims of the atomic bomb and all others made to suffer in university’s history will finally lay to rest.

About 15 people gathered at the West Berkeley Shellmound on Monday to pay a land tax and paint a ground mural that said “Save West Berkeley Shellmound."