Berkeley

BERKELEY, Calif. —  Jessi Fernandez joined a street gang at 13. By his 20s, he had been shot at more times than he could count. He got busted for methamphetamine possession and spent time in Los Angeles County jail for carrying a loaded gun. Yet the persistent danger didn’t wash away a street kid’s dream — that he would get rich as a drug kingpin, then turn legit.Escapist fantasies became harder to embrace by late 2015, when rivals gunned down two of Fernandez’s closest friends in a few months’ time. The second had…

Stage and screen star Billy Crudup is coming to Berkeley Repertory Theatre later this year to perform the hit solo show “Harry Clarke,” the stage company announced today. Crudup, whose star power and versatility are reflected in his wide-ranging resume (the film “Almost Famous,” TV’s “Morning Show,” Broadway’s “The Coast of Utopia”) will perform “Harry Clarke” on Berkeley Rep’s Roda Theatre Nov. 15-Dec. 23. Seats are already guaranteed for season subscribers. Single tickets will go on sale to the general public Sept. 13.…

For Gabriel Trujillo, the trip wasn’t just about searching for plants — it was about finding his roots. The 31-year-old botanist and UC Berkeley doctoral student regularly journeyed to foreign lands for work. This month, it was the Mexican state of Sonora, where he hoped not just to advance his academic pursuits but reconnect with his Opata Indigenous heritage by visiting his ancestral lands. Botanist and UC Berkeley doctoral student Gabriel Trujillo and his fiancee, Roxanne Cruz-de Hoyos, right, had…

Oskar is a lonely 12-year-old boy, viciously bullied at school every day of his life. His father leaves, his mother drinks and the teachers look the other way. He feels as isolated by them as he does wandering through the desolate forest of birch trees surrounding his town. It’s there that bodies are found, strung from branches like sides of beef, in “Let the Right One In.” Framed by Christine Jones’ macabre scenic design, these slayings intrigue Oskar (a magnetic Diego Lucano) almost as much as his new neighbor Eli (a…

They comb through troves of legal records and video evidence to challenge wrongful convictions. They organize medical data to help personalize health treatments for better care. They scrutinize school test scores to investigate inequities. Finding safe drinking water is easier thanks to an analysis tool they created.UC Berkeley’s faculty and students are marshaling the vast power of data science across myriad fields to address tough problems. And now the university is set to accelerate those efforts with a new college,…

“Let the Right One In” really seems to have tapped into some kind of vein in the popular imagination. Originally a 2004 Swedish vampire novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist about a bullied 12-year-old boy’s budding romance of sorts with the mysterious child next door, it became a hit 2008 Swedish film and a 2010 American remake, and just last year it was very loosely adapted into a short-lived Showtime TV series. In the intervening years it has also become a stage play that will see its West Coast premiere at Berkeley Repertory…

UC Berkeley sleep scientists have found that deep sleep, also known as non-REM slow-wave sleep, may protect against memory decline in older adults with high amounts of Alzheimer’s disease pathology. Disrupted sleep has been associated with a faster accumulation of beta-amyloid protein in the brain, which is linked to memory loss caused by dementia. However, this new research suggests that higher levels of deep sleep can act as a cognitive reserve factor, increasing resilience against the effects of beta-amyloid protein.…

A federal appeals court ruling Monday could hamper efforts by numerous cities and counties across California to ban natural gas appliances in new construction to fight climate change. The ruling was in response to a case brought in 2019 by the California Restaurant Assn. against the city of Berkeley — the first city to prohibit the “installation of natural gas piping within newly constructed buildings.” The case had previously been dismissed by a district court in 2021.On appeal, a three-judge panel in San Francisco…

You don’t hurriedly approach an Apichatpong Weerasethakul film, or watch one thinking you’ll catch up on text messages and voicemails. To truly appreciate what’s unfolding, you need to slow down and surrender to the sensory, dream-like experience that the unique, award-winning filmmaker forms with such care. Tune out the mad dash of everydayness and commit yourself to Weerasethakul’s static scenes and long, telling takes in which the sights and sounds of nature and even city life sometimes provide more context than the…

A state appellate court on Friday evening issued a final ruling that stops UC Berkeley from building badly needed student housing on People’s Park and opens controversial new paths to stop development using the state’s environmental law.UC Berkeley said it would appeal the ruling and reiterated its commitment to reshape the park into a space for student dorms and supportive housing for low-income residents. The plan also includes the creation of a commemorative display honoring the park’s iconic legacy for free speech and…