Stories you shouldn’t miss:
1. Officials from FEMA are moving forward with a controversial plan to chop down more than 80,000 trees in the Berkeley and Oakland hills — 22,000 in Berkeley and 60,000 in Oakland — as a fire safety measure, according to the California Progress Report. The proposal would clear-cut large swaths of eucalyptus groves in Strawberry and Claremont canyons, and would pour up to 1,400 gallons of herbicides in the hills to prevent the non-native trees from growing back. FEMA has quietly held two public meetings already on the proposal and is planning to hold a final one tomorrow — Saturday, May 18, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Claremont Middle School, 5750 College Ave. in Oakland.
