Iris Kwok
@iriskwok.bsky.social
reporting fellow @ l.a. times 📰
part-time cellist 🌙 🎻
part-time cellist 🌙 🎻
Reposted by Iris Kwok
🚨 ATTN: College journalism professors. I'm looking to find out what you're doing to support your state's local media ecosystem *beyond* student reporting. Fill out this survey if that's you. I'm researching it for UVM's Center for Community News: uvm.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?... #academicsky
How is your academic program supporting local news *beyond* student reporting?
Better understanding the various roles that colleges and universities play in a state's media ecosystem is important — and we need your help.
This survey for the Center for Community News at the Uni...
uvm.us15.list-manage.com
July 15, 2025 at 8:25 PM
🚨 ATTN: College journalism professors. I'm looking to find out what you're doing to support your state's local media ecosystem *beyond* student reporting. Fill out this survey if that's you. I'm researching it for UVM's Center for Community News: uvm.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?... #academicsky
Reposted by Iris Kwok
Facing a $27 million budget deficit, Berkeley cut its waterfront security program and laid off five employees.
Berkeley lays off 4 Marina security staff, citing budget shortfall
Facing a $27 million budget deficit, Berkeley cut its waterfront security program and laid off five employees.
www.berkeleyside.org
May 13, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Facing a $27 million budget deficit, Berkeley cut its waterfront security program and laid off five employees.
Facing a $27 million budget deficit, Berkeley cut its four-person waterfront monitor program. It also laid off a fifth person whose job a city spokesperson did not disclose. My latest for @berkeleyside.org:
www.berkeleyside.org/2025/05/13/b...
www.berkeleyside.org/2025/05/13/b...
Berkeley lays off 4 Marina security staff, citing budget shortfall
Facing a $27 million budget deficit, Berkeley cut its waterfront security program and laid off five employees.
www.berkeleyside.org
May 14, 2025 at 10:56 PM
Facing a $27 million budget deficit, Berkeley cut its four-person waterfront monitor program. It also laid off a fifth person whose job a city spokesperson did not disclose. My latest for @berkeleyside.org:
www.berkeleyside.org/2025/05/13/b...
www.berkeleyside.org/2025/05/13/b...
After 40 days and some layoffs, workers at Urban Ore, the West Berkeley salvage yard and reuse store, have ended their strike.
www.berkeleyside.org/2025/05/02/u...
www.berkeleyside.org/2025/05/02/u...
Urban Ore workers strike ends without a collective bargaining agreement
Some unionized Urban Ore workers went on an “open-ended” strike in March. Forty days later, and with a new lead negotiator at the bargaining table and some layoffs, the strike has been paused.
www.berkeleyside.org
May 3, 2025 at 4:23 AM
After 40 days and some layoffs, workers at Urban Ore, the West Berkeley salvage yard and reuse store, have ended their strike.
www.berkeleyside.org/2025/05/02/u...
www.berkeleyside.org/2025/05/02/u...
Hired in January to help restore Bay Area wetlands, Berkeley resident Dan Fahey was promptly fired. A judge’s ruling won him back his EPA job, but he’s on administrative leave, his future uncertain, and he’s worried about “dirtier air, dirtier water, toxic land.” www.berkeleyside.org/2025/04/30/f...
Fired (or not?) from Trump’s EPA, this Berkeley resident says his worst fears have come true
Hired in January to help improve water quality and restore Bay Area wetlands, Daniel Fahey was promptly fired. A judge’s ruling won him back his job, but he’s on administrative leave, his future uncer...
www.berkeleyside.org
May 2, 2025 at 3:09 AM
Hired in January to help restore Bay Area wetlands, Berkeley resident Dan Fahey was promptly fired. A judge’s ruling won him back his EPA job, but he’s on administrative leave, his future uncertain, and he’s worried about “dirtier air, dirtier water, toxic land.” www.berkeleyside.org/2025/04/30/f...
ICYMI: A federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order preventing ICE from arresting/incarcerating UC Berkeley grad student Zhuoer Chen and three other Chinese international students for 14 days
www.berkeleyside.org/2025/04/18/u...
www.berkeleyside.org/2025/04/18/u...
Judge temporarily blocks termination of UC Berkeley student's visa
The Cal student joined three other Chinese international students last week in suing the Trump administration for revoking their visas.
www.berkeleyside.org
April 19, 2025 at 5:56 AM
ICYMI: A federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order preventing ICE from arresting/incarcerating UC Berkeley grad student Zhuoer Chen and three other Chinese international students for 14 days
www.berkeleyside.org/2025/04/18/u...
www.berkeleyside.org/2025/04/18/u...
Long-lost lanterns may soon return to a pair of unassuming stone pillars near the Berkeley Library’s North Branch.
I loved writing this story about local history, public art and a community effort to (quite literally) brighten up the Northbrae neighborhood!💡
www.berkeleyside.org/2025/03/14/l...
I loved writing this story about local history, public art and a community effort to (quite literally) brighten up the Northbrae neighborhood!💡
www.berkeleyside.org/2025/03/14/l...
Long-lost lanterns may soon light up Berkeley’s Northbrae neighborhood
Local history buffs are working to recreate two lanterns that used to shine at a busy North Berkeley intersection in the early 1900s.
www.berkeleyside.org
March 19, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Long-lost lanterns may soon return to a pair of unassuming stone pillars near the Berkeley Library’s North Branch.
I loved writing this story about local history, public art and a community effort to (quite literally) brighten up the Northbrae neighborhood!💡
www.berkeleyside.org/2025/03/14/l...
I loved writing this story about local history, public art and a community effort to (quite literally) brighten up the Northbrae neighborhood!💡
www.berkeleyside.org/2025/03/14/l...
I got to spend last Friday in one of my favorite places in Berkeley: the Lawrence Hall of Science. Go check out their fun new exhibit on the future of food! 🥓🌽
www.berkeleyside.org/2025/03/12/l...
www.berkeleyside.org/2025/03/12/l...
Seaweed bacon and squelching cow belching: Explore the ‘future of food’ at Lawrence Hall of Science
Learn how Bay Area innovators are creating the “future of food” at a new Instagrammable exhibit at the UC Berkeley science center.
www.berkeleyside.org
March 13, 2025 at 1:39 AM
I got to spend last Friday in one of my favorite places in Berkeley: the Lawrence Hall of Science. Go check out their fun new exhibit on the future of food! 🥓🌽
www.berkeleyside.org/2025/03/12/l...
www.berkeleyside.org/2025/03/12/l...
Thousands of UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory workers went on strike yesterday amid fraught contract negotiations with the UC. My story:
www.berkeleyside.org/2025/02/26/u...
www.berkeleyside.org/2025/02/26/u...
Strikes at UC Berkeley, Berkeley Lab impact Cal health services, BAMPFA
Thousands of UC Berkeley and Berkeley Lab workers are on strike amid fraught contract negotiations with the University of California.
www.berkeleyside.org
February 27, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Thousands of UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory workers went on strike yesterday amid fraught contract negotiations with the UC. My story:
www.berkeleyside.org/2025/02/26/u...
www.berkeleyside.org/2025/02/26/u...
For my latest Berkeleyside story, I wandered through Dreamland for Kids, a run-down wooden playground in Aquatic Park that’s older than me. Berkeley wants to redesign it and is soliciting input. More: www.berkeleyside.org/2025/01/31/a...
February 1, 2025 at 2:04 AM
For my latest Berkeleyside story, I wandered through Dreamland for Kids, a run-down wooden playground in Aquatic Park that’s older than me. Berkeley wants to redesign it and is soliciting input. More: www.berkeleyside.org/2025/01/31/a...
I toured UC Berkeley’s newest graduate student dorm (and the school’s first building to have an Indigenous name):
www.berkeleyside.org/2025/01/17/u...
www.berkeleyside.org/2025/01/17/u...
Photos: Take a peek inside UC Berkeley’s newest student housing
Five months after opening, 360 graduate students and 200 undergraduates are living at the xučyun ruwway housing complex Albany.
www.berkeleyside.org
January 20, 2025 at 7:10 PM
I toured UC Berkeley’s newest graduate student dorm (and the school’s first building to have an Indigenous name):
www.berkeleyside.org/2025/01/17/u...
www.berkeleyside.org/2025/01/17/u...
wrote about the community land trust model and how it might alleviate berkeley’s housing crisis 🏠 www.berkeleyside.org/2025/01/13/b...
South Berkeley tenants feared losing their homes after landlord's death. A local land trust is helping them stay
South Berkeley tenants feared losing their homes after their landlord died. A local land trust is helping them stay.
www.berkeleyside.org
January 17, 2025 at 2:05 AM
wrote about the community land trust model and how it might alleviate berkeley’s housing crisis 🏠 www.berkeleyside.org/2025/01/13/b...
If you/someone you know in Berkeley is putting together a drive for LA wildfire relief, I’d love to highlight in Berkeleyside’s weekly events roundup or The Scene, our arts/culture/events newsletter, which goes out every Thursday. Pls reach out here or at iris@berkeleyside.org w/ event details 💕
January 13, 2025 at 8:28 PM
If you/someone you know in Berkeley is putting together a drive for LA wildfire relief, I’d love to highlight in Berkeleyside’s weekly events roundup or The Scene, our arts/culture/events newsletter, which goes out every Thursday. Pls reach out here or at iris@berkeleyside.org w/ event details 💕
Radiation levels at Cesar Chavez Park are safe for its casual visitors, according to UC Berkeley’s drone tests. But tests of liquids deep below the landfill-turned-park found elevated radiation levels. Safety precautions are now being urged for workers.
New: www.berkeleyside.org/2025/01/02/r...
New: www.berkeleyside.org/2025/01/02/r...
Radiation is normal at Cesar Chavez Park, but it’s a different story underground, tests show
New precautions are being urged for workers in contact with subsurface liquids at the popular landfill-turned-park, but Berkeley residents need not fear a stroll on the surface.
www.berkeleyside.org
January 3, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Radiation levels at Cesar Chavez Park are safe for its casual visitors, according to UC Berkeley’s drone tests. But tests of liquids deep below the landfill-turned-park found elevated radiation levels. Safety precautions are now being urged for workers.
New: www.berkeleyside.org/2025/01/02/r...
New: www.berkeleyside.org/2025/01/02/r...
for the second year in a row…here’s what berkeley residents checked out from the library in 2024! 📚🪚
www.berkeleyside.org/2024/12/30/p...
www.berkeleyside.org/2024/12/30/p...
Laptops and an 18th-century shipwreck: What Berkeley library patrons checked out in 2024
The library shared with Berkeleyside the year’s most frequently checked-out books and household tools.
www.berkeleyside.org
December 30, 2024 at 11:41 PM
for the second year in a row…here’s what berkeley residents checked out from the library in 2024! 📚🪚
www.berkeleyside.org/2024/12/30/p...
www.berkeleyside.org/2024/12/30/p...
no thoughts, head empty, only this
December 24, 2024 at 6:59 AM
no thoughts, head empty, only this
Berkeley’s shoreline could get a new 20-acre park!
Ideas being considered include a hostel, a promenade, sand volleyball courts, a swimming area, a creek daylighting project that could help reduce flooding risk in West Berkeley and much more.
My latest: www.berkeleyside.org/2024/12/20/b...
Ideas being considered include a hostel, a promenade, sand volleyball courts, a swimming area, a creek daylighting project that could help reduce flooding risk in West Berkeley and much more.
My latest: www.berkeleyside.org/2024/12/20/b...
Promenade? Hostel? Swimming? What do you want to see at new shoreline park?
The East Bay Regional Park District wants public input for the future of North Basin Strip. Mountain bikers worry they’ll be pushed out — again.
www.berkeleyside.org
December 21, 2024 at 12:19 AM
Berkeley’s shoreline could get a new 20-acre park!
Ideas being considered include a hostel, a promenade, sand volleyball courts, a swimming area, a creek daylighting project that could help reduce flooding risk in West Berkeley and much more.
My latest: www.berkeleyside.org/2024/12/20/b...
Ideas being considered include a hostel, a promenade, sand volleyball courts, a swimming area, a creek daylighting project that could help reduce flooding risk in West Berkeley and much more.
My latest: www.berkeleyside.org/2024/12/20/b...
maybe the *real* tsunami was the surge in web traffic that came immediately after the phone alerts went out
www.berkeleyside.org/2024/12/05/t...
www.berkeleyside.org/2024/12/05/t...
A tsunami warning spurred evacuations in West Berkeley, but feared waves never came
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake off the Humboldt County coast Thursday morning triggered a tsunami warning for the California coast.
www.berkeleyside.org
December 6, 2024 at 1:11 AM
maybe the *real* tsunami was the surge in web traffic that came immediately after the phone alerts went out
www.berkeleyside.org/2024/12/05/t...
www.berkeleyside.org/2024/12/05/t...
Reposted by Iris Kwok
Oakland's budget and bond-issuing decisions continue to affect infrastructure projects ready to be implemented. The latest one is the postponement of the cycle track on Lakeshore Avenue, which was fast-tracked after a 4-year-old's death. New:
oaklandside.org/2024/12/03/o...
oaklandside.org/2024/12/03/o...
Oakland promised a bike lane after a child’s death. Now budget problems are delaying the project
The Lakeshore Avenue cycle track was expedited last year after a 4-year old was killed riding a bike with her father.
oaklandside.org
December 3, 2024 at 11:19 PM
Oakland's budget and bond-issuing decisions continue to affect infrastructure projects ready to be implemented. The latest one is the postponement of the cycle track on Lakeshore Avenue, which was fast-tracked after a 4-year-old's death. New:
oaklandside.org/2024/12/03/o...
oaklandside.org/2024/12/03/o...
UC Berkeley could break ground on its tallest dorm yet — a 23-story high-rise — as soon as next year. Plus: an update on the university’s progress toward meeting the housing goals it set back in 2017. My latest for Berkeleyside:
www.berkeleyside.org/2024/12/03/u...
www.berkeleyside.org/2024/12/03/u...
UC Berkeley plans to build its tallest dorm yet in Southside neighborhood
UC Berkeley plans to build its tallest dorm yet in the Southside neighborhood. The 23-story building could provide around 1,500 beds for freshman and sophomores.
www.berkeleyside.org
December 3, 2024 at 7:42 PM
UC Berkeley could break ground on its tallest dorm yet — a 23-story high-rise — as soon as next year. Plus: an update on the university’s progress toward meeting the housing goals it set back in 2017. My latest for Berkeleyside:
www.berkeleyside.org/2024/12/03/u...
www.berkeleyside.org/2024/12/03/u...
hello world! have some cat tax
May 6, 2023 at 4:44 AM
hello world! have some cat tax