Oakland Focus News | Oakland News Online Blog

You know what kills me is the handful of bloggers that seem to "speak" for people in Rockridge and who attack Ron Dellums for not being specific. Many of them -- ah, all of them -- don't even understand Oakland's history, nor have seen it change over 32 years as I have. Moreover, all of them are not black and none of them have been true insiders. They write without a knoweldge of history and an understanding of Oakland's culture. They're blind. Blind to the way Oakland's changed. Blind to the inner-workings of Oakland government. Blind to the unusual crime wave plaguing Lake Merritt and the reasons behind it. Blind to how Oakland works. And yet they blog. Because they do so without knoweldge of their subject, I'll call them "Bloogers" -- a Blooger is a person who writes just for the matter of expressing an opinion, but not sharing new knowelge. Thus, it's no surprise to me that they can't "see" the basic and c...

From the Yahoo! Message Board Walk for our communities, our lives We are the Community Coalition Against Crime. We are unsatisfied with the response that city leaders have given to this issue. For instance, the walking officer on Grand Ave ends his/her shift at 8pm – while most crime happens after dark. We believe the City can do more to combat the ongoing violent crime wave in Oakland. We refuse to simply lock our doors at 7pm and live in fear. We will not be quiet until we know our voices have been heard. 7 pm Wednesday, May 17, 2006 Splashpad Park We want to achieve the following: 1) increased awareness about crime 2) building community 3) organizing real, permanent solutions For more information contact us at ccac_Oakland@hotmail.com

This is from the NCPC 15X Yahoo! Group: Lakeshore NCPC Meeting (15X) Wednesday May 17, 2006 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm This event repeats on the third Wednesday of every month. The next reminder for this event will be sent in 3 days, 4 minutes. Event Location: Leaning Tower of Pizza Street: 498 Wesley Ave. City, State, Zip: Oakland, CA 94606 Phone: 510/444-6824

I will not post the name of this person, but that doesn't matter. What does is the complaint. The Oakland Police Department should take action on this. "Out of curiosity, has anyone actually met or observed a police officer who was in the new police substation at the Albertson's in our neighborhood? I have visited four times (morning and afternoon) over the last two weeks in order to introduce myself, but it has been empty. FYI: When I talk to folks in the neighborhood about the empty/ unattended police substation which was seemingly constructed to molify concerned and frightened neighbors and not actually be used, we agree that the criminals who see it know that (thus far) it's a farce and are NOT the least bit intimidated. If there have been a decrease in panhandlers in that parking lot, I'd like to see some written evidence of that, and if there have been potential criminals apprehended by officers who work that station, please give us evidence of such. ...

This, again, is from the NCPC 14 X Yahoo! Group. Hello Everyone, Below is a summary of Monday's 14X NCPC meeting, for folks who were unable to attend. Those who were present at the Veterans Memorial on Monday know what a huge crowd we had, with over 100 people gathered! The meeting was longer than usual, so forgive the lengthy summary; a lot of ground was covered. And thanks to everyone who attended; we're really moving forward with forming a cohesive Adams Point network. 1) Introductions: Our new Neighborhood Services coordinator [NSC], Hoang Bahn, introduced herself and invited first-time attendees to do the same. New faces included both long-time residents and recent arrivals to Adams Point asking "What can we do to make our neighborhood safer?" Hot-topic issues included robbery, break-ins, loitering, car theft, Golden Bear/ Round Table Pizza noise and traffic safety, Casual Carpool problems, and the Whistle Stop program. NCPC Board Chair Conor Hickey emphasized th...

I had to share this post from Nancy Rieser, who's lived in Adams Point for as long as I can remember. This I found in the Yahoo! Group on crime problems in the area. In regards to the Harley Davidsons. I have two feelings when I can't talk on the phone inside my house when a Harley roars up the street outside my window (I live one door up from Grand Avenue: 1. Extreme annoyance 2. Pity Yup. I feel sorry for the guys that need to overcompensate by lookin' macho and calling attention to himself by making intrusive, loud and abnoxious noises. Back in the 60s and 70s, there was a phrase women used to snort when a Hells Angel wannbe roared past, making all normal discourse impossible: "The louder the fool, the shorter the tool..." Maybe a couple of banners could be made with that simple quote printed on them...and hang one from the 580 freeway across from the Kwik Way area and string the second one across Grand Ave near the the Golden Bear. Just a thought.

If you're wondering what place the issue of the possible move of the Oakland A's out of Oakland has in the mind of Oakland Council President and Mayoral Candidate Ignacio De La Fuente, it's bottom-of-the-barrel: "For a politician, De La Fuente, president of the Oakland City Council, is remarkably punctual. Driving like a lunatic from one meeting to the next probably has a lot to do with that. Right now he's returning to City Hall after an hour-long jaw session at the Coliseum with A's owner Lew Wolff, who has been threatening to move the club to Fremont. The 57-year-old politician admits he hasn't spent a lot of time recently thinking about the A's. "I'm busy right now," he says. It's in the just released East Bay Express. Now let's think about this for a moment. Ignacio is not that stupid where he would make a statement like that if he thought it would not hurt him. Well, let me take that back. He can make such a miscalculati...