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🌱 Patch AM: What you missed in this week’s biggest Berkeley safety and housing news

Coming up: Flipper Upper Properties Tour: Real Estate on the Berkeley Patch calendar

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Greetings Berkeley! Your go-to source for what's happening in town is here. Stay in the loop and read on. ☀️

In today's newsletter:

  • What you missed in this week’s biggest Berkeley safety and housing news
  • How Berkeley leaders say kindness can outperform the classic “tough boss”
  • How a Berkeley pizza night helped spark a new CRISPR startup

Also on today's calendar: Flipper Upper Properties Tour: Real Estate and 9 more events.

Find out what's happening in Berkeleyfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Today's riddle: I am on a seafood diet. 🤔 (Answer below!)

Weather forecast:

Find out what's happening in Berkeleyfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

  • Sunday: Sunny to partly cloudy, with a high of 61 and low of 40 degrees.
  • Monday: Mostly sunny, temps: high: 62, low: 41.
  • Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high of 64 and low of 41 degrees.

📰 News we're reading

1. Berkeley Wire: Apartment fire at Redwood Gardens; Arreguín to chair Senate Housing Committee (berkeleyside.org) — Berkeley readers should know an elderly woman was critically injured in a fire at Redwood Gardens and another was knocked unconscious in a crosswalk crash at Walnut and Cedar. The news roundup also notes UC Berkeley students’ changing graduation timelines, local journalism and AI policy debates, and Jesse Arreguín’s new role chairing the state Senate Housing Committee.
   

2. Berkeley Talks: Why kind leaders finish first (according to science) (berkeley.edu) — Berkeley residents can hear local academic and business leaders, including UC Berkeley Chancellor Rich Lyons and Greater Good Science Center experts, explain why kindness is a powerful leadership strategy. The recorded December 2025 Berkeley Talks panel explores research showing that prosocial CEOs share credit, take responsibility, and outperform the old-school “jerk” model of management.
   

3. Key scientist from Baby KJ team launches startup to scale personalized CRISPR medicines (statnews.com subscription) — A new CRISPR startup, Aurora Therapeutics, traces its origins to a brainstorming session over pizza at Berkeley’s Pizzeria da Laura, led by UC Berkeley gene-editing expert Fyodor Urnov and investor Johnny Hu. Their goal is to scale personalized gene-editing medicines for patients with ultra-rare mutations, turning academic ideas into real-world treatments.
   

4. USPS Issues 4-Cent Angel's Trumpets Stamp (southernmarylandchronicle.com) — A new 4-cent USPS Angel’s Trumpets stamp features flowers grown in a Berkeley neighborhood, connecting local gardens to mailboxes nationwide. Photographer Harold Davis used advanced backlighting techniques to capture blooms from his Berkeley community, now showcased on a low-denomination stamp that helps fine-tune postage while continuing USPS’s popular floral series.
   

5. Bob Weir, guitarist and founding member of the Grateful Dead, has died at 78 (thepublicsradio.org) — Berkeley readers will note that Bob Weir is remembered performing at the Greek Theatre here in 1983, a cherished stop in the Grateful Dead’s touring history. The 78-year-old guitarist and founding member died from lung issues after surviving cancer, leaving a legacy that shaped American rock, jam-band culture, and generations of Deadheads who kept following his many post-Dead projects.
   

📸 Around Berkeley

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🗓 Upcoming Events in Berkeley

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💬 Chatter

What your neighbors are talking about on social media

  • Saw a bobcat on my driveway today.
    Not sure I had ever seen one in the wild before. Just wish I had gotten better pics when it was just chilling on my driveway https://www.facebook… (Nextdoor Wildcat Hills)
  • Recent rain has lead to the discovery that my roof leaks.
    So far, I've had two roofers come to look at this. One suggested a silicone coating over the current roof to seal out leaks. The other said that I… (Nextdoor McGee Spaulding)
  • Berkeley Unified School District posted a job opening for Storekeeper in Berkeley. Apply here.
  • University of California Berkeley posted a job opening for Lecturer – Management of Organizations – Haas School of Busi in Berkeley. Apply here. You can search for other jobs near Berkeley here.

Ok Berkeley! So now you're in the loop about what's happening today. Thanks for reading, and see you in your inbox next time! Oh -- and if you like what you're reading, invite a friend to Patch AM!

-- The Patch AM Team

P.S. The answer to today's riddle: I see food and I eat it.
Got a good riddle for PatchAM? Send it to us!

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