Oakland Focus News | Oakland News Online Blog

Jerry Brown orders scrapping of Prop. 8 - Inside Bay Area : “SAN FRANCISCO—California Attorney General Jerry Brown changed course on the state's new same-sex marriage ban Friday and urged the state Supreme Court to void Proposition 8. In a dramatic reversal, Brown filed a legal brief saying the measure that amended the California Constitution to limit marriage to a man and a woman is itself unconstitutional because it deprives a minority group of a fundamental right. Earlier, Brown had said he would defend the ballot measure against legal challenges from gay marriage supporters. But Brown said he reached a different conclusion "upon further reflection and a deeper probing into all the aspects of our Constitution." "It became evident that the Article 1 provision guaranteeing basic liberty, which includes the right to marry, took precedence over the initiative," he said in an interview Friday night. "Based on my duty to defend the law and the entire Constitut...

Free Class Information : postnewsgroup.net : “The course is directed toward the parents, grandparents, and caregivers of middle and high-school students, but others are welcome to attend as well.  The class is free, open on a first-come, first-served basis and will feature information, activities, refreshments, resources and prizes. The class is scheduled for three sessions beginning in mid-January in downtown Oakland.   Parents can sign up by sending an email to parentclasses2009@gmail.com with your name, phone, email, the school your child attends and his/her grade.    If you do not have access to email, you can send a note to Parent Classes 2009, P.O Box 10103 Oakland, California 94610.”

Publisher’s Blog : postnewsgroup.net LOL!!! After his handshake and talk about having me help him -- no charge from me -- Paul Cobb of the Post Newspaper Group and the start of this video series where Paul expresses a desire to team-up -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFEDJaW8M74 -- has what is the most awful blog I've seen by a newspaper. Well, that's what he gets for not following up with me -- a disaster of his own creation. It makes so many technical errors I'm in stitches! If someone in house convinced Paul they could do it on their own, they were just nuts in my view. The result's just not workable and proves that people violate this rule: "Having a blog is more than having a blog" -- again and again.

Body found - Inside Bay Area : “BERKELEY — A wooden coffin containing human bones, found entombed behind a false wall in a Berkeley apartment building, was hauled out this morning by police and firefighters during a follow-up investigation of a suicide earlier this week, authorities said. The remains are apparently a man's, according to police, but no other information has been released about a possible identity, age or how long the coffin may have been there. Wearing hazardous material suits and oxygen masks, firefighters were going into the Ashby Avenue complex with shovels today and hauling out red trash bags full of unknown materials and huge pieces of wood, including a 6-foot box that looked like a homemade coffin.”

During dinner with a good friend, I had a chance conversation with Oakland Police beat officers in the Lake Merritt area. After a lively talk, they told me to share with you this message: do not walk by yourself at night. Even as the area is safer after the arrest of the "Takeover Robbers" the terrible economy leaves many vulnerable. There's an increased police presence around Central Oakland, but the police totally do not want you to walk anywhere by yourself at night. Period.

After several months of work, the mural at 1100 Broadway in downtown Oakland is finished. The work of Oakland artist Rocky Rische-Baird, it is a step back in time as much as it is a celebration of downtown Oakland and a landmark for 1100 Broadway itself. I talked to Rocky Rische-Baird about his new classic work.

"Liza The Wine Chic" Liza Zimmerman On SF "View From The Bay" 1/9/2009 : “Liza Zimmerman, my friend who's based in San Francisco and locally  known as "Liza The WIne Chic" just sent this email: Dear All, Please join me for my Bay Area TV debut! I was on Captain Kangaroo many years ago, but this will be more fun. The show tapes live on Friday January 9th from 3pm to 4pm, so members of the audience will need to be there by between 2:15 and 2:30pm. Tickets are free and it's going to be fun! Here are the RSVP directions: Please direct people to our website www.viewfromthebay.com and click on "be in our audience" and fill out a ticket request form. In the request form they would request the date that you will be on the show and under comments they can comment that they are a friend or family member of "Liza who will be on the show that day" or something along those lines. Or they can also call me at 415-954-7733 to request tickets. A...