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In today's newsletter:
Also on today's calendar: The Prediabetes Wake Up Call and 9 more events.
Today's riddle: What did the tree say when Spring arrived? 🤔 (Answer below!)
1. 'Pinnacle Of Student Housing': New Apartments Open Near UC Berkeley (patch.com) — Berkeley students looking for housing now have a major new option with the opening of Pique, an eight-story complex near UC Berkeley that can house nearly 500 students and offers extensive amenities and shared spaces. The project is part of a broader push to ease Berkeley's long-standing student housing shortage, alongside a 23-story campus building and the controversial People's Park development slated to add thousands more beds.
2. Congresswoman Simon Secures Federal Funding to Create New Community Plaza Adjacent to Ashby BART and Expand Open Space in South Berkeley (house.gov) — South Berkeley is set to get a new community plaza and improved open space around Ashby BART, backed by $850,000 in newly secured federal funding. City leaders say the project will enhance pedestrian and ADA access, support affordable housing and commercial spaces along Adeline Street, and help transform the area into a more vibrant, transit-oriented neighborhood.
3. After Berkeley mural depicting immigrants was vandalized, artist seeks support to restore it (berkeleyside.org) — A well-known immigrant-themed mural at Dwight Way and Sacramento Street in Berkeley was splashed with white paint, and artist Mokhtar Paki is now seeking community support to restore it. Berkeley police are investigating related vandalism nearby, while Councilmember Igor Tregub and the Civic Arts Commission explore funding and protection options so the mural can be repaired and better safeguarded.
4. Newly Digitized Materials Paint a Fuller Picture of 19th Assyrians in Iran (aina.org) — UC Berkeley's Bancroft Library has digitized a rare collection on Assyrian history, including letters, journals, photos, and artifacts from late-19th and early-20th century Iran. The materials, part of a traveling exhibit, will be installed at Bancroft in late 2026, but Berkeley readers can already explore the newly available archive online from home.
5. $20M NSF Renewal Supports New Frontiers in AI and Optimization (berkeley.edu) — UC Berkeley researchers will play a key role in a newly renewed $20 million National Science Foundation AI institute focused on optimization. Over the next five years, Berkeley faculty will help develop more efficient, trustworthy AI methods for real-world challenges in energy systems, supply chains, and manufacturing, strengthening the campus's national leadership in this field.
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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: What a re-leaf! (Thank you Flo G. for sending it in!)
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