A leptospirosis outbreak at Berkeley's Harrison Street encampment—a tropical disease rare in developed nations—exposed how court injunctions blocked the city from clearing the site for 16 months, even after rats tested positive and the public health officer intervened. Meanwhile, Berkeley is at the center of two broader California controversies: a UC Regents exposé showing board members knowingly overrode faculty data to kill the SAT, and a fight over a proposed wealth tax championed by a Berkeley professor earning nearly $400,000 annually to teach one class per semester.
Leptospirosis, common in underdeveloped countries, spread through Berkeley's Harrison encampment—and courts continued to prevent cleanup efforts.
Robert Reich earns $13,000/hour to denounce capitalism while blocking affordable housing in his own backyard. Now he's pushing a tech-killing wealth tax.
Archival footage reveals the 2020 board meeting where Regents admitted they were ignoring faculty data to appease one woman.