UC Berkeley’s contentious plan to construct student housing at the historic People’s Park has taken a significant turn for the better with Governor Gavin Newsom’s help. What’s happening: On Sept. 8, Gov. Newsom enacted Assemblymember Buffy Wicks’ AB 1307. This legislation dispenses with universities’ obligations to account for “noise impacts” in housing construction. Although this doesn’t give UC Berkeley a carte blanche to initiate its 1,100-bed student housing proposal at People’s Park, it challenges an appeals court verdict that sided with the park’s conservationists. Newsom consistently supported the housing project and entered the fray during the appeal proceedings. Pinning the