TBS Today, April 4

A man who was charged with trying to kill a colleague at a Berkeley engineering firm by putting a toxic metal in her water has been put on probation due to a plea deal.

The victim used a spy camera to catch him in the act, police said.

Don't miss the latest Scanner exclusive.

Attempted murder case nears end with poisoning plea deal

The victim used a spy camera in her office to catch David Xu in the act, police said when he was arrested in 2019.

The Berkeley ScannerEmilie Raguso

We also have sad news to report: The man who was rescued by first responders from beneath a BART train at the North Berkeley station earlier this week did not make it.

Here's what we know.

Man dead after collision Monday at North Berkeley BART

The man was identified as Brett Estes, 61, of Berkeley, the Alameda County coroner’s office said.

The Berkeley ScannerEmilie Raguso

You may have seen The Scanner referenced this week in an LA Times opinion piece about SafeBears.

Opinion: I wanted to hate what UC Berkeley parents are doing in the name of safety, but I can’t

A group of well-meaning Cal parents hired its own security force in response to crime around the storied UC campus. Is it helicopter parenting or common sense?

Los Angeles TimesRobin Abcarian

The New York Times also linked to us last week in a brief about SafeBears.

It's always exciting to see increasing recognition for our work.

Berkeley City Council District 7: April 16 special election

• Two candidates qualified for the ballot for the Southside seat: James Chang and Cecilia Lunaparra
• All registered D7 voters will get a mail-in ballot
• Historically this is an extremely low-turnout district. About 700 ballots were cast in 2022. It was an uncontested race but so was downtown's District 4, where more than 3,000 ballots were cast. Berkeley council districts each have about 11,000 registered voters (give or take).
• Get informed about District 7 candidates
  • Watch a candidate forum from the LWVBAE
  • Read a candidate Q&A on Berkeleyside

If you don't know which Berkeley City Council district you're in, you can look it up.

In case you missed it

Berkeley police: Man who kept stealing from REI now charged

BPD linked Christopher Owen to at least four commercial burglaries at REI in less than two months, charging papers show.

The Berkeley ScannerEmilie Raguso

Berkeley man charged with sex crimes against teenage girl

AC Transit surveillance footage corroborated the girl’s account of what happened, according to Berkeley police.

The Berkeley ScannerEmilie Raguso

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