The fire was small and no animals were hurt or displaced, officials said.

But there were indications of suspicious activity, including a broken window in the vicinity of the fire, Deputy Berkeley Fire Chief Keith May told The Scanner.

And damage, including from smoke, closed the shelter to the public Sunday, Peter Radu told ABC7, with reopening expected by mid-week.

"I got the phone call maybe about 10:40 last night, that there was a fire here," Radu, who works in the city manager's office, told the news station. "My mind immediately went to: Oh, my God. This could be a horrible tragedy."

Readers alerted The Scanner to the fire Saturday night, asking for details.

The Berkeley Fire Department was initially notified just before 10:10 p.m.

It began with a sprinkler system alert indicating water flow, Chief May said.

At least one caller also saw flames inside the building, according to radio dispatches reviewed by The Scanner.

Arriving firefighters found a working fire beneath the first-floor stairwell where the shelter collects donations, May said.

The building sprinkler system "did its job," stopping the fire from spreading beyond the stairwell, he said.

Radu told ABC7 that the kennel fire doors also kept the animals safe.

The fire was declared under control before 10:30 p.m., according to emergency dispatches.

May said authorities will interview potential witnesses, including shelter staff, this week to learn more about what could have happened.

Update, June 8, 10:45 a.m. Peter Radu, Neighborhood Services manager, provided the following update Monday: "The shelter remains closed today as we continue to assess impacts of the fire, the safety of the building for animals and people, and what we need to resume normal operations. This is a fluid situation and evolving quickly, so at this time we cannot comment on nor project how long it will take to open."

Update, June 8, 3:45 p.m. The Berkeley Fire Department just shared the following statement. It appears below in full.

Berkeley Fire received a 9-1-1 call at 10:08 p.m. on Saturday, June 6. The initial call was for a water flow alarm, but it was upgraded to a working structure fire.

Nine units responded to the call. The building's sprinkler system held the fire in check. The fire originated under a stairwell where donated items for the shelter were stored. The fire remains under investigation but is considered suspicious in nature.

There were no injuries to civilians, animals, or fire fighters and the crew encountered no challenges during the response.

The fire appears to have been contained to the stairwell area. We do not have an assessment of damages at this point.

The City shelter remains closed to the public as the City continues to evaluate the impacts of the fire, the safety of the building for animals and people, and what is needed to resume normal operations.

There are no further details at this time.

Connect with the Berkeley Animal Shelter on Instagram. See the current adoptable dogs and adoptable cats. See shelter wishlists on Chewy and Amazon or make a donation.

Police have identified Jones as the woman's boyfriend. A close friend of hers told The Scanner this week that their relationship did not rise to that level.

The name of the woman who was killed has not been released and appears only as Jane Doe in court papers. She was 37 years old.

On Saturday, police found her body unclothed inside a black fabric roller suitcase wrapped in multiple plastic bags, they wrote in charging papers.

The woman's property manager initially found her body after family and friends became concerned when they could not reach her.

The woman was seen with Jones on surveillance footage going into her apartment, at California Street and University Avenue, on Sunday, May 24, at about 2:20 p.m., according to police. No one saw her alive again.

Footage captured Jones going back into the apartment complex two days later, May 26, at 9 a.m., police wrote.

According to police, Jones had with him "the black fabric roller suitcase that the victim's body was later located inside of."

An autopsy this week found multiple injuries on the woman's body, including head injuries "potentially caused by blunt force trauma" and neck injuries, among other signs of trauma, police wrote.

During the investigation, detectives secured an arrest warrant for Jones and used his cellphone to find him, according to charging papers.

Phone records put him in the area of the crime scene from May 24-27, according to police.

According to charging papers, Jones has his own apartment in South Berkeley.

BPD arrested him in Dixon on Tuesday.

Damarcus Jones. BPD

According to police, Jones "admitting to the killing of the victim and stuffing her body into the bags and into the black fabric suitcase" —after being advised of his right to remain silent.

He said he had opened her apartment windows "and left an air purifier on because he knew that the victim's deceased body would eventually begin to smell," police wrote.

On Thursday, the Alameda County district attorney's office charged Jones, 28, with murder.

In November, Jones was convicted of felony assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury and placed on probation as a result, according to court papers.

He is now being held without bail. His next court date was not listed as of publication time.

Update, June 5: The woman who was killed has been identified as Vanessa Sanchez.

Police are investigating. No arrests have been made.

Berkeley's 911 center got multiple calls just before 10:30 p.m. about a possible shooting, police said.

Officers responded to the 2200 block of Bonar and found one vehicle that had been struck.

As of publication time, there was no report of injuries.

There have been six other shootings in Berkeley this year.

Only one, on Idaho Street in early April, resulted in injuries.

Damarcus Jones. BPD

Damarcus David Jones, 28, was arrested on suspicion of murder, according to booking records.

Police arrested him on a warrant at 9:30 a.m. He was booked into jail at 8:15 p.m. His city of residence was not immediately available.

The Scanner is the first to report this news.

Saturday's case was Berkeley's first homicide since January 2025.

Concerned friends raised the alarm when they could not reach the 37-year-old woman this past week, authorities said.

Tuesday, BPD did not respond to inquiries about several welfare and security checks on the block since Friday.

Police also have not said how the woman died.

The coroner's office said it could not share information about her due to a press hold by Berkeley police.

Berkeley homicide: "You don't know what happened"

One longtime neighbor told The Scanner that the woman who died was new to the building and "very quiet."

Speaking on condition of anonymity, she said there hadn't been anything like the recent police activity in the building before.

She said neighbors hope to learn more.

"It's scary now — because you don't know what happened," she said.

The woman said she was not home Saturday when Berkeley police arrived. A neighbor called to let her know something had happened.

She said she hadn't heard suspicious noises in the building (police had asked), but noted it could be hard to hear much inside because of street noise.

The three-story apartment building is bordered to the south by University Avenue, a busy commercial corridor, and to the east and west by the mostly residential California Street and a large parking lot.

Berkeley's Out of the Closet thrift store is kitty-corner across the intersection and a large construction site is to the south, the former home of North Beach Pizza (now on Shattuck Avenue).

Saturday at 11:48 a.m., the building's property manager called 911 after finding the woman's body in one of the units, authorities said previously.

The Berkeley Fire Department pronounced her dead at 1 p.m., according to emergency dispatches reviewed by The Scanner.

Community members alerted The Scanner after seeing a large emergency response on the block, including police and firefighters.

That afternoon, the coroner's office took custody of the body and police canvassed the area for information and security footage.

As of Tuesday night, Jones was being held without bail at Berkeley Jail.

He is scheduled for arraignment Thursday at 9 a.m.

BPD asks anyone with information to call the Homicide Unit at 510-981-5741.

The Scanner will continue to follow the case.

Update: In a prepared statement Wednesday morning, police identified Jones as the deceased woman's boyfriend and said she appeared to have been killed in an assault.

Jones was arrested in the city of Dixon, in Solano County, without incident, BPD said.

The Alameda County coroner's office will determine cause of death. The DA's office is reviewing the case for charges.

(The Scanner added a booking photo and arrest photo to the story during this update.)

The fix? A nine-year, $1.7 million contract for a new system, called "Priority Dispatch," to help 911 workers choose the right level of response faster, and give callers and first responders "consistent support."

The Berkeley City Council is set to approve the new contract at its next meeting, June 9.

The idea of Priority Dispatch has been around for years, initially arising amid the "reimagining" policing process following George Floyd's death in 2020.

A 2023 analysis commissioned by the city surfaced Berkeley Communications Center challenges, including chronic short staffing, a "workplace culture that is suffering" and outdated dispatch practices.

Berkeley's Communications Center, the "comm center" for short, handles about 180,000 police and fire calls each year, the city says.

Even more than police, the comm center has struggled with hiring, and has a 70% to 80% attrition rate for new dispatchers. The city hopes Priority Dispatch will help change that by improving workplace training and support.

The new contract is part of the city's "broader dispatch modernization effort," according to the staff report for the June 9 council meeting, from Berkeley Fire Chief Dave Sprague.

"Manual call handling can lead to differences in how calls are screened and prioritized, especially during stressful incidents or high-volume periods," he writes.

The new system de-emphasizes "individual judgment and experience," taking dispatchers "through a consistent sequence of questions and response steps so they can gather the most important scene details, identify the right response level, and relay accurate information to first responders in real time."

Put another way, Priority Dispatch "reduces improvisation under pressure, strengthens the quality of the first response, and reduces liability for the individual dispatcher and the city," Sprague writes.

The new system will be funded through a combination of Measure FF (2020) and the police and fire budgets in the General Fund.

The contract covers training, dispatcher quality checks and software updates.

See the full Berkeley City Council agenda for June 9 on the city website.

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On Saturday, police found her deceased in her apartment in the 1900 block of California Street, Berkeley police said.

Investigators are conducting a homicide investigation.

Police responded Saturday at noon to the apartment complex, just north of University Avenue, after the property manager found the woman's body, BPD said.

"The investigation is still in its preliminary stages, and detectives are in the process of taking over the case," police said.

BPD asks anyone with information about the case to call BPD's Homicide Unit at 510-981-5741.

Original story: Berkeley police are investigating a body found in an apartment building Saturday.

Details were limited as of publication time. The Scanner was the first to report this news.

A reader asked TBS for details after seeing eight police cruisers on California Street between University Avenue and Berkeley Way at 2 p.m.

A police officer at the scene confirmed only that they were working on something "serious," but declined to share additional details, the reader said.

According to emergency dispatches reviewed by The Scanner, the Berkeley Fire Department confirmed at 1 p.m. that someone had died.

The coroner's office and homicide investigators are responding.

The Scanner will update this story as additional information becomes available.

Berkeley has not had a homicide since January 2025. (The man who was charged in that case was later freed following a self-defense argument.)

The seller arranged the meeting on social media, Berkeley police said in response to a Scanner inquiry.

The incident took place just before 6:40 p.m. in the 2600 block of Russell Street near Benvenue Avenue, a residential area just west of College Avenue.

During the meeting, the "buyer" pulled out a gun and grabbed the jewelry before fleeing northbound on Benvenue on foot, authorities said.

He was described as a Hispanic man in his 30s, about 5 feet 8 inches tall, wearing beige or khaki pants, police said.

Robberies in Berkeley have plummeted 26% this year, with just 54 reported so far, according to BPD data.

Berkeley historically averaged about a robbery a day but plunged during the pandemic and have continued to fall since then (aside from a spike in 2023).

A friend needs a ride to the airport, soon, to catch a last-minute flight at dawn.

Geritz smiles to himself, makes a few gentle teases, "WTF, man!" "Are you kidding me?"

And then it's quick: "On my way."

The ride to the airport is smooth in the early morning darkness, and congenial, with warm chatter and a playlist sing-along.

"He would absolutely be there," said Shannen Casey, who described the airport scenario and was one of many close friends of Geritz, who was found dead at 7 a.m. April 30 slumped in bushes off the sidewalk near Acton and Carleton streets. He was 37.

His sudden death stunned a community of friends and family.

Geritz, they said in phone and email conversations with The Scanner, was fun-loving, friendly, silly, playful, spontaneous. But above all, echoed many, he was big-hearted.

Big-hearted in his actions, for one person or the world, caring and generous. Matching his big stature and big smile.

"You had never met a more genuinely nice, kind person who so earnestly made the effort to be a good ally to all — while still being an absolute, ridiculous, goofy dork," said Alissa Magrill, who worked with Geritz at the now-closed Berkeley karaoke bar Nick's Lounge for many years.

"He always lent an ear, a shoulder to cry on, and always wanted you to know he had your back," she said. "He loved everyone and made sure we all knew it."

Reed McNally Geritz: A life in Berkeley

Geritz's cause of death isn't known yet, the coroner's office said. Those reports take months to complete.

His family, gutted by his death, said Geritz had heart issues, with a problem called aortic dissection, a tear in his aorta, which required emergency surgery in 2021.

He'd modified some activities since then, a little less pick-up basketball, shorter night runs through the city, his brother Julian Geritz said.

But he didn't talk much about his heart condition, even to family. "He didn't want us to worry," said Tricia Geritz, his sister.

Geritz grew up in a close-knit family in north-central Berkeley with Tricia, brothers Julian and Jason, their mother Sheila and father Marc. He went to St. Jerome's Catholic School in El Cerrito, then Berkeley High.

Sheila Geritz, a retired schoolteacher, lives in Richmond, as does Tricia, also a public school teacher. Julian, who works at REI, still lives in Berkeley.

Marc lives in Twain Harte, a mountain town in Tuolumne County, following a divorce. A bunch of cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews are in the mix.

Losing Geritz carries an added punch of anguish to his family. His older brother Jason died in 2014 of suicide at age 29. He'd suffered from mental illness.

"The second brother," Tricia said, breaking into tears.

"It's especially painful that this is not the first, but the second time," said Julian, reflecting on the feelings of their mother, losing two kids.

At the time of his death, Geritz worked evening shifts as a lab tech at Sutter Hospital, and as a playground supervisor at Ruth Acty Elementary School on Acton Street by day.

He was a man who didn't need much down time, drawn by a range of activities.

Geritz's work history was rich, with jobs at several Berkeley bars and restaurants.

In addition to Nick's Lounge, there was Jupiter, Joshu-Ya Brasserie and the former Walker's Pie Shop in Albany. He also did a stint at REI and was a lab assistant at Renegade Bio in Berkeley.

He was also taking classes at Berkeley City College, with an eye on healthcare.

At each twist of his life, he gained friends — best friends — and kept the old.

"He was kind and warm and passionate about human rights and equity and justice. He loved so big, so so big. He had the best smile, it invited you in and held you as a friend, even if you'd just met," said Chandra Krinsky, who worked with Geritz at Renegade Bio and was at Berkeley High with him.

"He hugged everyone," his mother Sheila said.

Geritz could be hard on himself, people said, in spite of his ability to connect. He wanted to make a difference in fighting injustices, improving lives, and never felt worthy, questioning his impact.

Yet, every day he was doing just this, said those touched by his life.

He was "truly the best of us," Casey said. "He made any and everyone feel loved and worthy and cared for. One thing we can all learn from Reed is how important it is to be there for people you know, and even people you don't."

Casey and Geritz went to a lot of protests together, most recently in support of Palestine. "When it comes to activism, I think Reed understood how important it was to just be there, to bear witness," she said.

People were Geritz's sustenance. The blood of his big, passionate universe of life.

Sports, music, travel, camping. Bring it on. This was his way, family and friends said. Geritz was a huge Raiders fan, decked out in gear, going to games near and far.

"One thing we can all learn from Reed is how important it is to be there for people you know, and even people you don't."

Quick to the karaoke mic. Specialties included "Jackson" by Johnny Cash and June Carter and "The Bare Necessities" from "The Jungle Book."

Europe on a budget. Fantasy football (two leagues). Poker nights. Hyphy dance.

"He was enigmatic, charming, funny and down to do anything. He was the first person to RSVP to a get-together and likely the last person to leave," Krinsky said.

Geritz liked to record gatherings, said another close friend, Noelle, who worked with him at Jupiter and Nick's.

"He'd be dancing while recording, trying to capture every memory. I called this his 'Dad vibes.' It was both so hilarious and warm-hearted. I'd be like 'Daaad, stop embarrassing us!' and he'd reply, 'Just making sure you kids are having good clean fun!'"

Noelle didn't have a car and could always count on Geritz for help with rides when they shared a shift, she said: "He made sure I got home safe multiple times a week."

"If you wanted to do something and you needed someone to do it with, Reed would go."

Geritz helped her pay unexpected vet bills. And he was the first person to call when her dog Honi died, which happened to be on his birthday, Noelle said, and listened to her sobs.

He bought her a ticket to see "Hamilton" with his family, because she'd never seen a musical. They were gym buddies, Game of Thrones nerds, pho enthusiasts, activists, she said.

She called him her "beloved safe human." And her best friend.

"Reed would get excited when other people were getting excited," his sister Tricia said. "If you wanted to do something and you needed someone to do it with, Reed would go."

She reflected: "He really packed a lot into 37 years. More than people who live to 100."

"You don't know what could have happened"

Geritz, who lived on Derby Street in South Berkeley, appears to have died while walking home from a neighborhood bar, one of his regular hangouts, family said.

According to witnesses who spoke to the Berkeley police, he was seen face down in the bushes off the sidewalk on the night of April 29. No one called police until the next day.

The witnesses told officers they thought they heard him snoring. They weren't sure if they should do anything.

This lapse of time is bitter for Geritz's family, they said.

Without a coroner's findings, it's impossible to know why he died.

It's left them haunted by "what ifs." What if he could have been saved if someone had called sooner?

"You don't know what could have happened," sister Tricia said, saying it felt "wrong" and "disturbing."

The family will never have the reassurance that could have come from doctors or paramedics saying, "we tried everything," she said.

It adds insult to injury, said brother Julian.

"It's not something Reed would have done," Julian continued. "He would have done anything he could."

Berkeley Police Lt. Matt McGee said a general best practice, when seeing someone in public who appears passed out or slumped or dazed, is to call police at 911 or the non-emergency number (510-981-5900) so they can be assessed by someone with training.

Call from a safe distance if someone's behavior is concerning, he said.

McGee acknowledges that it's not easy to know someone's state, if they need help or what to do. So, he said, let professionals take over.

"We as a police department have access to a variety of tools," he said. And are trained in using them. This includes calling in the Mobile Crisis Team as needed.

Police need people to share what they see, McGee said: "They're the eyes and ears of the community."

Meanwhile, more than 300 people attended Geritz's memorial this month in Richmond, sharing their grief and showering him with love.

"You said you just hoped you did something people would think fondly of; that your actions were insignificant in a world of terror and hopelessness, so you didn't think you really did anything of importance," Krinsky wrote, in a letter to Reed after she learned he had died.

"I'd always argue with you, pushing back against your insistence and trying to convey how you were seen in the world. Trying so hard to remind you that you were worthy and important, that you were adored, that you brought joy and levity and were just goddamned fun to be around."

A fundraiser to help with funeral costs, and support donations to causes Geritz valued, has raised nearly $16,000.

Organizers say they may have to hold the event in Albany alone this year if they can't find a solution to the funding shortfall.

Councilwoman Shoshana O'Keefe, who represents North Berkeley, where part of the 50-year-old festival takes place, has asked the city to consider a new budget request to keep the Berkeley Stroll alive.

"There is truly no other event like this in Berkeley," she said Wednesday. "For the last 50 years, it’s brought together families, neighbors, artists, nonprofits, musicians, small businesses and the larger community in a way few events still do."

O'Keefe described the Stroll as "more than just a street fair," offering a chance to "celebrate and showcase the diversity of our community, and the creativity and vibrancy of our beloved local businesses, shop owners and community organizations."

Hundreds of local businesses and nonprofits take part, with performances from school bands and local entertainers throughout the day while much of the 2-mile-long street is closed to traffic.

Still: It's a tough time for the ask, with Berkeley facing a projected $30 million deficit in each of the next two years. Municipal jobs and programs are on the chopping block.

Her item is set to go before a City Council budget committee Thursday morning.

In the proposal, O'Keefe and co-sponsor Brent Blackaby, who represents the Berkeley Hills, said they don't want the Stroll to go the way of the Kite Festival and July Fourth fireworks — two of many beloved Berkeley events that have been canceled indefinitely by fee hikes in recent years.

Over the next two years, they have asked the city to contribute a total of $162,000 in city services (police, fire, waste); $115,000 in street closure supplies — including $100,000 for street barricades; and $20,000 in sponsorship fees to the festival (to help with shuttle service).

Organizers say the Solano Stroll is the largest street fair in the East Bay, drawing 250,000 people to Berkeley and Albany each year on the second Sunday of September.

In her item, O'Keefe wrote that the city previously "provided in-kind services such as police, fire, and public works to support the event." But, given its ongoing structural deficit, "the City is no longer able to provide these services at no cost."

Without city help, "the event will not be able to move forward" in Berkeley, says the Solano Avenue Association, which puts on the Stroll.

Earlier this month, nine "Upper Solano" residents and business owners wrote a letter to the Berkeley City Council pleading for help.

Without support for the Stroll, they wrote, "there is a strong likelihood it will only take place in September 2026 on the Albany side of Solano Avenue. This would be a terrible loss."

In an exclusive interview this week, Allen Cain, who runs the Solano Avenue Association, said rising city staffing and security costs — particularly from street barricades designed to stop drivers — had put major pressure on the event.

The steel Archer barriers, which come from Pasadena-based Meridian Rapid Defense Group, Cain said, are used for "Hostile Vehicle Mitigation," according to the company website.

"Engineered for high-security environments, this 'Drop and Stop' anti-ram portable vehicle barrier protects people and critical infrastructure by stopping unauthorized vehicle access," Meridian writes. "Ideal for entry points, roadways, construction sites, and public events, it is easy to deploy in under 10 minutes."

Cain said the barriers showed up at the Stroll in 2022 — but he wasn't quite sure how. As he tried to learn more, both cities pointed to each other.

Cain said Albany officials had also tried to get answers, but were given "the runaround."

However it started, one thing is clear, he said: The cost of the barricades keeps growing.

According to Cain, the price tag was $80,000 in 2022 and is now more than $100,000.

"They keep going up," Cain said. "Meanwhile I'm thinking, these things take up a lot of attention. I hope we're dealing with other threats."

The increase may be due to the number of barriers in use (Cain said it's now 300) along with more police and firefighters at the event. But he said he'd been unable to get clear answers.

This year, he said, the Solano Avenue Association had added a $68 "Meridian Safety fee," on top of the normal participation fee for vendors, to help cover city charges.

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Going forward, Cain said he fears the Stroll, which has no history of security issues, won't be able to support rising costs — particularly if they keep ballooning.

"Yes, the event is at risk," he said. "They're going to kill the golden goose."

This year, the city of Albany put forward $100,000 for the Stroll: $60,000 in in-kind services and $40,000 for the barricades, Cain said.

Albany’s stretch of Solano Avenue hosts about two-thirds of the event.

Cain said Berkeley's 2026 assessed fees are $200,000, with $50,000 for the barricades — despite just a third of the Stroll taking place in Berkeley.

The Solano Avenue Association also spends about $75,000 on the event each year, Cain said.

He continued: "It cannot be a $400,000 festival. We can't afford that."

One reason Berkeley's costs are higher is that many more Berkeley police officers work the Stroll, picking up overtime shifts.

Even with Berkeley's police staffing struggles, its officers can cover more ground. (Albany has just 27 officers to Berkeley's 120-plus.)

Looking back, Cain said, he wished there had been the chance to weigh in on other types of security solutions, or a process to assess the need for the barricades, before they had been baked into event costs.

But he said he doesn't see either city changing course now.

Cain also questioned whether the barricades are widely used at other large Bay Area events, noting that he and others he'd asked hadn't seen them around.

Stepping back, Cain said he understands there's a broader context, given Berkeley's budget woes.

"It's hard to advocate for a street festival when people are losing their jobs," Cain said. "But my job is to advocate for the Solano Stroll."

This week, Cain credited Councilwoman O'Keefe with stepping up to save the Stroll.

And he said he is prepared, come September, to limit the event to the Albany portion of Solano as a worst-case scenario.

"It would be so sad and awkward," he said. "But, again, people are losing their jobs."

The 50th Solano Avenue Stroll will take place Sunday, Sept. 13.

The case began Sunday afternoon when North Face Berkeley reported the theft of more than $2,400 in merchandise from its outlet store on Fifth Street.

A witness told Berkeley police that the driver left the scene in a Toyota Corolla, BPD said in response to a Scanner inquiry.

Less than 24 hours later, Monday at 1 p.m., police got a license plate alert from the city's Flock camera system that the Corolla was back in Berkeley near Ninth and Gilman streets.

Officers found the driver in the 1300 block of San Pablo Avenue, near Gilman Street, and pulled him over, BPD said.

The driver, identified as 37-year-old Anthony Kerman (no address), was wearing a new North Face jacket "with the price tag and anti-theft device still attached," according to police.

During a subsequent search, police found some of the coats that had been taken from North Face, BPD said, along with methamphetamine and "credit cards and checks that did not belong to him," police said.

BPD arrested Kerman on suspicion of burglary, grand theft, possession of stolen property, possession of a controlled substance and identity theft-related offenses, police said.

They also arrested his passenger, 41-year-old Dezary Jones (no address), on suspicion of drug offenses and outstanding arrest warrants, according to BPD.

Kerman is being held on $110,000 bail at Berkeley Jail and is scheduled for arraignment Thursday at Wiley Manuel Courthouse in Oakland, according to booking records.

Jones is being held on $107,500 bail at Santa Rita Jail, with the same arraignment date. She has no prior criminal cases listed in Alameda County.

Kerman has been arrested in the area repeatedly in recent years, according to public records.

His last charged case in Alameda County was a firearm case in Berkeley in 2022.

In that case, Kerman was ultimately convicted of possession of a firearm by a felon, with the other charges dropped in a plea deal, according to court records.

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In her acceptance speech, Raguso shared reflections on reporting on Berkeley, after graduating from UC Berkeley's journalism school 20 years earlier, and her approach to building community trust at The Scanner.

Listen to their speeches below. Apologies: The audio quality is limited. A transcription of Raguso's remarks, with minor edits, appears below.

When I learned about this honor, I was really proud to be described as a role model. I was also described as a "sometimes friendly competitor," and I wasn't sure if that meant that we sometimes competed, or that I was only friendly sometimes. I'm here, so I guess it all worked out. 

It is great to be here in the j-school. I graduated 20 years ago, which is hard to believe. I wasn't planning to devote my whole career to Berkeley news, but it worked out. I own my own site, The Berkeley Scanner (with a second site coming, Albany Scanner, so stay tuned).

I'll say reporting on Berkeley can be lonely. Berkeley, it does make headlines, but there are many Berkeley stories that no one else is picking up, and there were many meetings where I was the only reporter there. But inevitably, you know, I'd look around, see who else was furiously scribbling in a notebook, and if there was anyone else covering it, it was the Daily Cal.

And actually, I often looked on in envy, because there would be a whole crew, like six people from the Daily Cal, when I was about to cover an eight hour meeting by myself. It's amazing to see the Daily Cal put such a high value on that coverage, and I really am inspired by that.

In some years past, I have been known to drive Daily Cal reporters home, when it got very late. I once had to borrow a charger from a Daily Cal reporter when my computer was about to die, so that was clutch.

I do enjoy often being the only reporter on a story, but I also think having healthy competition makes us all better. 

That was very true this past week when both of our newsrooms had difficult stories to cover about two different deaths related to campus, and a student who was arrested on suspicion of a violent felony. These are tough stories to be thinking about.

I was working to get my stories done quickly and accurately, but then as soon as I did, I would go to the Daily Cal and see: Do they have theirs up yet? What do they have that I don't have? It's great to have a kind of pacesetter like that. And I think we were neck and neck. 

I did want to close with some advice. In general, we hear a lot about plummeting trust in the media. And this is not new. I've been hearing it for decades in my own career. But it is a big topic right now. So I have worked very hard and been fortunate to build a loyal audience and a sustainable news business by keeping two bedrock principles in mind.

One of them is: We have to listen to our readers. My motto at The Scanner is: Your questions drive our coverage. I think keeping readers at the heart of our work not only builds trust, but is what inspires people to financially support what we're doing. And we can't do it without them. 

The other advice I have is to be responsive. Reporting and writing is only part of our job. We have to communicate with readers. We have to answer their questions even when it's not a story. Fix errors when they point them out, thank them when their tips do inspire coverage.

I think right now, letting people know that they are playing a vital role in shaping our coverage is really important to our industry. So I regularly tell people: This is you. This story could not have happened without you. 

Also working here for 20 years helps. I know not everybody wants to keep it local but, as I mentioned, I'm growing The Berkeley Scanner this year. I'm launching Albany Scanner, so for those of you reporters who do want to stay, please keep an eye out. The job postings are coming soon. And I look forward to hearing from you.

Learn how to support the Daily Californian through its Education Foundation.

Just before 9:40 a.m., BART police asked Berkeley police for help to detain the suspect after getting flagged down by the involved parties, BPD said.

The victim, a man in his 40s, was taken to Highland Hospital "Code 3" (with lights and sirens) with a wound to the torso, according to emergency dispatches.

The stabbing happened in the 2000 block of Kittredge Street, authorities said, not far from the Berkeley Public Library.

Officers recovered a knife during the investigation.

No information about what prompted the stabbing has been released.

Suspect James Jones, 53, was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, according to police and public records.

Both men were listed as unhoused.

The University of California Police Department had just arrested Jones in mid-April on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, according to court records.

He was charged with a misdemeanor and released on his own recognizance.

That followed an assault with a deadly weapon arrest in Contra Costa County in 2022, according to public records. No other information was available about that case.

As of publication time, Jones' initial court appearance and bail amount had not been posted.

Update, 2:20 p.m. Jones is being held at Berkeley Jail on $35,000 bail with arraignment, at Wiley Manuel Courthouse, scheduled for Thursday, according to booking records.

In addition to felony assault with a deadly weapon, he also was arrested on suspicion of disobeying a court order, a misdemeanor, according to booking records.

Editor's Note: The Scanner added a reader photograph from the scene during the afternoon update and updated several details after publication.

Cuts are coming to all city departments as Berkeley works to address a "persistent general fund structural deficit" driven in part by growing health care and pension costs.

At the Berkeley Fire Department, the reductions mean a possible loss of up to 14 positions over the next two years and closure of Fire Station 4 in North Berkeley.

But at a time when the department is already struggling with increased call volume, the cuts could very well impact the agency's ability to respond quickly to medical emergencies and fires, Deputy City Manager David White told the Berkeley City Council on Tuesday night.

"Over the past 20 years, Berkeley has experienced significant growth, and is taller, denser and more urban," White said. "Call volume has increased 36%, to over 17,500 calls for service."

"Closing this station will certainly degrade response times and first-alarm effectiveness in its service area and adjacent districts," he said.

Berkeley officials are banking on the passage of a half-cent sales tax in November to keep the station open and fund its nine firefighter positions. The measure is expected to raise about $9 million per year for the general fund.

But if it fails, it may mean closing Station 4, in addition to other cuts to critical services.

Although it's considered the second slowest in Berkeley, the Marin Avenue station still responded to 1,538 calls last year, including 28 fires, 966 medical emergencies and 17 cardiac arrests, the city said.

Amory Langmo, president of IAFF Local 1227, which represents Berkeley firefighters, said any new cuts to the fire department, this year or the next, would be catastrophic to BFD's ability to respond to incidents.

"We're already falling behind based on the growth and development of the city in terms of the services we should be providing," Langmo said. "If we reduce our firefighters, it's going to kill people."

"What this is going to do is make response times in certain areas go up to eight or nine minutes," he continued. "Imagine you're short of breath or choking, try holding your breath for eight minutes. You're lowering the chances of survival in really vulnerable neighborhoods, like the Berkeley Hills, where many older people live."

‘The city is growing and we are moving backward’: Op-ed

In today’s guest essay, Amory Langmo of the Berkeley Fire Fighters Association urges officials not to cut BFD staffing or close Fire Station 4.

The Berkeley ScannerGuest Essay

A June 2023 analysis commissioned by the Berkeley Fire Department found that the significant growth of the city over the past decade has resulted in an increased call volume that has been a challenge to the agency.

It takes the first BFD crews nearly two minutes longer to arrive on scene than the four-minute best practice goal, the study found. Their call-to-arrival time is "significantly slower" than the goal of seven minutes and 30 seconds.

Berkeley taxpayers have passed two measures over the past two decades to raise money for the Berkeley Fire Department: Measure GG in 2008 and Measure FF in 2020, which together bring in more than $16 million a year.

The tax measures generate about 30% of Berkeley Fire's general fund budget, which is about $50 million.

On top of that, the fire department earns revenue by conducting fire prevention inspections (of local businesses and apartment buildings) and through ambulance rides, raising $9 million a year for the general fund, the union said.

But, with the majority of the department's budget used for staffing, there are few reductions that don't directly impact emergency response and service delivery, said Councilwoman Shoshana O'Keefe, whose district includes Fire Station 4.

"This is one of the most difficult and serious budget environments Berkeley has faced," O'Keefe said in an email. "While the proposed cuts to the Fire Department are severe, they are similar in scale to cuts being proposed across other departments and city services, many of which also generate revenue as part of their operations."

O'Keefe said it was important to keep in mind that the proposal is just that — but still worried about the impacts on residents if the station is shuttered.

"I cannot accept the proposal to close Fire Station 4 if the sales tax measure does not pass," O'Keefe said. "The most important thing we can do now is advocate for the passage of the sales tax."

Likely voters have expressed support for the November sales tax. But, if it does fail, the issue would come back to council for a public process, officials said this week.

Still, the prospect of even a potential fire station closure has loomed over recent budget talks.

If Station 4 closes, the closest remaining fire houses would be Station 2, downtown on Berkeley Way, Station 6 at Cedar and Eighth streets, and Station 7 at Grizzly Peak Boulevard and Shasta Road.

The Shasta station is the slowest, but it's isolated, Berkeley Fire Chief David Sprague explained to officials Tuesday night, and doesn't have the benefit of coverage on three sides.

In addition to geography, call volume played a key role in his thinking, he said.

"If there was a station to close, you want to close a lower volume station. Because all those calls don't go away. They have to be redistributed," he said. "There's no good firehouse to close. Each firehouse has a huge impact."

Sprague said he's still working to determine how a Station 4 closure would impact Berkeley response times.

A near-fatal bike crash may shift how Berkeley does street design

In 2016, a driver rear-ended Mike Wilson’s wife while she was biking home from work at UC Berkeley. The crash was “100% preventable,” Wilson said.

The Berkeley ScannerKate Darby Rauch

As it stands, the Marin station and its firefighters are safe. But other BFD cuts are still part of the proposed budget.

If approved, they would eviscerate much of Berkeley Fire's disaster preparedness program, laying off five Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) instructors and ending CPR and fire extinguisher training.

The cuts would also make it harder for BFD to apply for grants, and end the city's nascent Street Trauma Prevention program. The program partnered the Berkeley Fire Department with city planners with a goal of designing streets that are safer for cyclists and pedestrians without slowing response times.

Three filled positions in the fire department — a fire captain, a program manager and an analyst — are still set for layoffs come July, in addition to two vacant positions: a fire marshal and a fire inspector.

Another eight vacant fire positions (firefighters and paramedics), which were frozen this year, are unfunded again in the new budget.

Langmo, with the union, said another nine firefighter positions, which are grant funded, will also be at risk by March 2028 if the city doesn't step up.

On Tuesday night, Councilman Brent Blackaby, who represents the Berkeley Hills, said he also could not vote for a budget that closed Fire Station 4.

Along with his colleagues on the dais, he urged support for the sales tax, which council members voted Tuesday to back.

Before the meeting, Blackaby told The Scanner that, while increasing taxes is "never my first, second or even third choice," Berkeley's sales tax of 10.25% is on the lower end for East Bay cities.

Emeryville's sales tax rate is 10.5% and shoppers in Alameda, Albany and Hayward pay 10.75% on each sale. Last year, Oakland voters approved a measure to raise the city's sales tax to 10.75% over 10 years.

"Sales taxes are just one of many options for cities during hard times," Blackaby said. "I'm also thinking about how to get development projects that are stuck moving again, stimulating business activity and keeping the innovation that starts at UC Berkeley in the city — because all of these things will increase our revenue."

Karina Ioffee is an East Bay journalist whose writing has appeared in Berkeleyside, East Bay Times, Guardian and other publications.

Read more about the city budget in past Berkeley Scanner coverage.

In an email Thursday to the "Track & Field Community," a Berkeley High vice principal said Brad Johnson — a 15-year program veteran who himself ran track as a BHS student — was no longer in charge "effective immediately."

The email gave no reason for Johnson's departure, thanking him "for his contribution and long standing commitment" and wishing him well "in his next chapter."

Johnson is the finance director for the city of Oakland, where he has worked since 2010, according to his LinkedIn page.

Johnson led Berkeley High's Track & Field program on his own for over a decade, overseeing many coaches who focus on individual events, parents said.

This spring, for the first time, BHS added a co-head coach to the roster.

On Wednesday, neither the Berkeley Unified School District nor Johnson responded to media inquiries from The Scanner seeking further details.

In the past week, multiple parents — who asked to remain anonymous — asked The Scanner to try to learn more about what happened as rumors began to circulate.

"All the parents were like, "Wait, this is weird. What's going on?" one of them told The Scanner.

Parents have been sharing information among themselves but, for many, details remain slim.

"The timing of it's unfortunate for the kids," another parent said, coming a week before the season ended. "I trust that the district did not make a rash decision."

"As a longtime parent on the team, it would be nice to have answers. You trust coaches to be with your kids," they continued, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Where the district could improve is awareness of what coach-athlete conduct should look like."

"I do think boundaries were blurred," they said, adding that it can be hard to tell the difference between an "above-and-beyond coach" and behavior that crosses a line.

Berkeley High's cross country and track & field team is one of the largest in the region, with about 250 students who participate.

On Monday, the new head coach for BHS Track & Field, Danielle Perez (the prior co-head coach with Johnson), sent her own email to parents and students.

"Our program is going through a very challenging, major change to our team's fabric and structure," she wrote. "Many student athletes are feeling very real and difficult emotions right now."

"This change will be felt as a real loss for many, and those feelings will be complex and different for every individual," she continued.

According to the email, counseling services were made available this week to students at the BHS Wellness Center.

"The biggest challenges can't be erased or ignored, but they can be shared," Perez wrote.

According to his online bio, Johnson was on Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School’s first cross country team in Berkeley before running varsity Cross Country and Track & Field at Berkeley High for four years.

In college, he was a team captain for the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags.

Johnson was hired in the Track & Field and Cross Country program at Berkeley High in 2009, becoming Cross Country head coach in 2011 and head coach over the entire program in 2015, according to his profile.

"I started coaching because I wanted to come back and give to my high school, the place I grew up, the experience I had in college, which was a deeper connection to team, to community, to something bigger," he said in a 2024 interview about the program.

"Our expenditures are the biggest problem. They're growing at a higher rate," Henry Oyekanmi, Berkeley's finance director, told officials Thursday. "So the question is… how do we live within those means? That's the issue we're having."

This year, city leadership decided to tackle Berkeley's "persistent" structural deficit head-on — rebuilding the budget from the ground up, requiring departments to cut positions and programs they can't afford.

On Thursday, staffers presented the new budget for the first time, to a council subcommittee, including their take on how to address projected nearly $30 million deficits in the next two fiscal years.

Tuesday night, the full Berkeley City Council will hear a similar presentation and the public will have a chance to weigh in.

This year's budget has been particularly fraught because the city says it can no longer rely on one-time solutions to address the deficit, requiring more disruption than the city has seen before.

In April, the city put forward its budget reduction plan, featuring slashed programs, 38 proposed layoffs and the elimination of 145 vacant positions.

About half of the actual layoffs — to police, fire and recreation services — won't happen if Berkeley voters pass a sales tax increase in November that would bring in about $9.5 million a year, the city said.

(Residents surveyed by the city have expressed likely majority support for the increase — although the level of support fell between February and April.)

The City Council still needs to vote before any changes are final.

Thursday's meeting took place before a City Council subcommittee focused on the budget.

Mayor Adena Ishii heard the presentation along with council members Brent Blackaby and Igor Tregub (who was sitting in for Rashi Kesarwani).

The goal that day, City Manager Paul Buddenhagen explained to them, was to look at "why we got here" and "how we got here" in the lead-up to the June 23 budget vote.

Berkeley has a $900 million budget (and 215 separate funds), but discussions largely focus on the $300 million general fund, which has much of the discretionary funding.

Many of the city's fiscal challenges stem from rising costs — in personnel, pensions, health care and insurance, Maricar Dupaya, the city's budget manager, told officials.

As of last year, as one example, the city had $600 million in unfunded liabilities alone.

Berkeley's structural deficit is nothing new. But concern about it has grown, prompting a shift in strategy.

Dupaya said staff had gone back 10 years and determined that "the city costs grew faster than revenues," with 8% growth in spending and 6.5% in revenue, on average.

In recent years, the city used one-time solutions to keep up but "never addressed the underlying structural deficit," she said. "Although budgets were technically balanced, expenses continued to outpace revenues, and we faced structural deficits every single biennial budget."

This year, the city decided on a new approach, Dupaya said, "not just balancing the budget, but balancing it strategically and structurally."

Staff looked at spending patterns and true costs, including for overtime, to rebuild Berkeley's baseline budget.

At that point, the numbers pointed to a projected general fund deficit of more than $32 million, prompting the city manager to launch "a citywide budget balancing exercise," asking each department to come up with cuts up to 12.5%.

After further refinements, the city set the projected deficits at $29.2 million in FY27, which runs from July 2026 through June 2027, and $29.5 million in the next year (FY28).

"Our goal has always been… a recurring, sustainable, structurally balanced budget," Dupaya said. "And to live within our values, and live within our means."

She continued: "While the impacts of the balancing plan and proposed budget are significant, the city conducted due diligence to mitigate effects whenever possible."

The bulk of the general fund — 70% — goes toward staffing, limiting the city's options to close the budget gap without layoffs.

"The choices got very difficult," she said.

Departments started by eliminating vacant positions and "only identified filled positions as a last resort."

Berkeley budget plan: 138 positions slated for cuts

Thirty-eight of the positions are filled and 100 are vacant. The budget plan has been published. It will be presented to the budget committee Thursday.

The Berkeley ScannerCity of Berkeley

Currently, Berkeley has about 1,560 positions, excluding the library and Rent Board. Of those, about 212 are vacant, according to last week's presentation.

The budget balancing plan proposed 138 staff cuts (38 filled, 100 vacant).

That would drop to 20 filled and 85 vacant positions cuts with the new sales tax.

The 20 filled positions set to be cut include eight in Health, Housing, and Community Services (including two behavioral health clinicians, the mental health program supervisor, community health and community service specialists and a vector control technician).

There are also five cuts in the city manager's office (including two in communications); three in the fire department: a fire captain, program manager and analyst; two in the parks department (the waterfront manager and an engineer); and two in Public Works (a skilled laborer and an environmental compliance specialist).

In addition, there were 45 vacant positions that were not funded this year (2025-26) that would stay vacant, the city said.

According to the current timeline, the 20 employees slated to be laid off under the proposed budget would be notified July 2.

Mobile Crisis Team, vector control on the chopping block

Following the overview, Deputy City Manager David White went over the proposed staffing and program cuts designed to balance the budget.

Starting with Berkeley police, White said "the impacts to the department would be quite devastating" if not for one-time solutions and the expected success of the sales tax.

Staffing makes up 93% of BPD's general fund budget — and the department is already "operating at minimum staffing levels."

The balancing plan includes cuts to 25 police officers and 13 dispatchers, and reductions to special assignments, such as the Community Services Bureau, Bike Detail, Traffic Unit and detectives.

White said those units, along with 15 officer positions and six dispatchers, would be preserved through the sales tax, "which will enable us to continue to respond to 911 calls for service."

Eighteen vacant BPD positions would still be cut.

As for the fire department, White described the proposed cuts as "significant and quite impactful to the community," but said many of them — including the closure of Station 4 and the termination of its nine firefighters — were on hold pending the sales tax vote.

Five BFD positions (three filled) are still slated to be cut in the new budget.

White said Health, Housing, and Community Services (HHCS) was also looking at significant impacts, exacerbated by the loss of major funding at the state and federal levels.

To that end, Berkeley plans to end its vector control program and Mobile Crisis Team and have the county pick up those services.

Like HHCS, the city's Parks, Recreation & Waterfront department has "problems that are much bigger than the general fund," White said.

The department's parking funds have struggled for years, as has its Capital Improvements Fund — not to mention the city's astronomical infrastructure and maintenance needs.

As of last year, Berkeley had about $2.5 billion in deferred maintenance projects, such as street improvements and building needs.

The Marina Fund has had longstanding financial problems, which have only gotten worse since the DoubleTree hotel in the Berkeley Marina became "incapable of satisfying their rent obligations to the city because of the challenging tourism market," White said.

(The Real Deal, a real estate news website, broke the news about the DoubleTree's financial woes last year.)

White said the parks department would have to eliminate positions — prompting cuts to "camps, after-school programs, community center operating hours, as well as pool operating hours" — if not for the sales tax.

As it stands, three of the proposed staff cuts are on hold and three (two filled positions) are still on the table.

Finally, Public Works is looking at cuts to 15 positions (two filled), with no help from the sales tax.

White said the public would "see delays" in "graffiti removal, litter pickup, those types of services," as the department focuses on more critical services.

Last week, city officials asked for more clarity about the proposed cuts to staffing and programs, given that so much is on the table.

"I think it's just a little bit confusing about what's getting cut now, and what could get cut if the sales tax isn't passed," said Mayor Adena Ishii. "We've been talking about the biennial budget plan versus the balancing plan versus this budgeting plan for this year, so I feel like those things … could get easily conflated."

That's particularly true when it comes to actual layoffs, where concern is especially high, she said.

"It's important for folks to really make sure we understand what that means," Ishii said.

Spending on homelessness still a Berkeley priority

As part of this year's budget reduction exercise, the city manager's office asked department heads to consider jobs the county or others could be doing instead of Berkeley; whether positions generate revenue; and what positions have critical public safety or life safety consequences.

They asked staff to consider "what are the impacts to people that would happen as a result of this budget, specifically for people who are struggling the most, or need the most support," City Manager Paul Buddenhagen said.

In the end, the city tried to maintain its approach to homeless services to a large extent.

Staff did propose the elimination of the city's winter shelter program (since Old City Hall became uninhabitable) and reduced funding for the Stair Center on Second Street. (That program's capacity has also dropped.)

"We took great pains to minimize the impacts to our delivery of homeless services," White said. "We're continuing to allocate resources to a very comprehensive and broad-spectrum approach to addressing homelessness."

That includes investing in motel programs to get people off the street.

Last year, staff warned of an impending "fiscal cliff" that could result in the closure of two of those programs in the next two years.

White said the city had found money for one of them, but not the other: the Campus Motel, operated by Insight Housing, at 1619 University Ave., which has funding for just one more year.

He said the city is working with Insight to find other revenue so the Campus Motel might stay open.

Officials have said they hope Alameda County's Measure W, the half-cent sales tax increase approved by voters in 2020, could eventually help. (Following years of litigation, money began to be released by the county in March.)

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The Berkeley ScannerEmilie Raguso

Aside from the Campus Motel, money for Berkeley's other two motel programs is slated to come from Measure U1, which also funds affordable housing, White said.

The city has more than 1,500 affordable units in the pipeline now thanks in part to Housing Trust Fund investments supported by U1.

But White cautioned officials that the money doesn't go as far as it once did.

Some developers have already come back to the city asking for help as construction costs and other expenses rise. White said that is likely to continue.

"Time is never on our side," he said. "There just are never enough resources to support affordable housing."

Berkeley sales tax increase: What's the plan?

On Tuesday, in a special 4 p.m. meeting, officials will discuss what ballot measures to put on the Nov. 3 ballot.

That includes a $300 million infrastructure bond as well as the half-cent sales and use tax.

As part of that process, a city consultant surveyed likely voters in February, finding 60% of them in support of the sales tax.

In April, in a second poll, the consultant found 52% in favor of the sales tax — although the number went up after residents heard arguments for and against it, according to agenda materials.

"Both City measures show somewhat less support than they did in February," the consultant wrote, although both are still showing enough support to pass.

The sales tax proposal would increase Berkeley’s rate from 10.25% to 10.75%, bringing in $9 million to $10 million each year "for general governmental purposes."

Fast-forward to November, if the sales tax fails, White told officials last week, staff will "go back to the drawing board" with all the departments and the City Council to determine what happens next.

"We should make sure that that's clear to folks," Ishii said. "We're saying in the budget, on one hand, that we're going to eliminate all these things if the sales tax hasn't passed. On the other hand, we're saying we're actually going to go back to the drawing board and try to prevent those layoffs from happening. So I think we just need to be clear."

White said it's a process issue: Staff has asked council to approve a budget assuming the sales tax will pass. That's already baked into the numbers.

If that doesn't happen, the landscape will have changed, requiring more public process.

"We'll have to come up with $9 million of additional cuts, and you have our proposal, which is the fire station, the police officers, Public Works and Parks & Rec staff," said Buddenhagen, the city manager. "But obviously it's a council decision, so we'd have to have a bigger discussion about it."

What's next for the FY27/28 Berkeley budget?

Several more public meetings on Berkeley's proposed budget are planned before the vote. Find full agendas and other documents as they are posted on the City Council page.

• May 19: First full City Council public hearing on the proposed budget
• May 28: Council budget policy committee hears the "mayor's budget"
• June 9: Full council meeting on the Capital Improvement Plan (see the prior plan, for 2025-29)
• June 16: Potential City Council discussion on the budget
• June 23: Planned City Council vote on the FY27/28 budget and Capital Improvement Plan

Read more about the city budget in past Berkeley Scanner coverage.

Editor's note: TBS reviewed this meeting remotely to report this story.