Stories you shouldn’t miss:
1. Hate crimes rose significantly at UC Berkeley last year, jumping from just three reported incidents in 2009 to eighteen in 2010, the Bay Citizen reports. The news about the spike in hate crimes comes the same week that campus Republicans sparked allegations of racism when they held a highly controversial “bake sale.” It appears that a significant portion of the hate crimes increase involved anti-Semitic religious bias, as numerous swastikas appeared on campus last year.
2. An independent report strongly criticized Alameda police and firefighters for standing around earlier this year while a man drowned in chest-high water in the bay, the Chron and Trib report. The report described cops and firefighters as confused and disorganized.