Oakland Focus News | Oakland News Online Blog

As of today, there's a brand new website active called "OaklandStimulus.com" and it has a list of funds applied for by the City of Oakland though "The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009" but the website itself is disappointing. I'll get into the reasons why in a new post. For now, visit http://www.oaklandstimulus.com .

Man sentenced 57 years to life for killing girlfriend - Inside Bay Area : “OAKLAND — Carl Raybon Jr., found guilty of killing his girlfriend with at least six strikes to the head with a hammer, was sentenced to 57 years to life in prison Friday by a judge who said the murder was a "brutal crime." "He took a hammer and beat her, a woman that was trying to help him," Alameda County Superior Court Judge C. Don Clay said. "This really is brutal. This really is a brutal crime." Raybon, 45, was convicted in February of first-degree murder in the killing of Patricia Ann Brackins, 54, a preschool teacher who allowed Raybon to live with her after he promised to change his life. Brackins met Raybon several months before the murder when he was homeless and looking for a place to stay, according to police. He did some work for her, and she allowed him to stay at her home on Ritchie Street in East Oakland.” - This is terrible to say the least! From this report, she wa...

  More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! | Get my widget! My Bay to Breakers Sunday started unlike any in the past 19 or more years and it was even better than the "KGO coolness" of the last seven years. From 2002 to 2007, I'd get up at 4:30 in the morning to meet my friend Beth at the KGO Radio "Morning Stretch" held in the lobby of One Market Street before the start of the run. The basic advantage of being with KGO Radio was the free coffee and orange juice in the morning, plus we were at the start of the line, right where I could get hit by flying tortillas and giant beach balls. Sadly, in 2008 KGO Radio pulled its sponsorship of the event but we still managed a front-line position. This year was just plain different. My constant trips between California and Georgia where my Mom lives made planning for the B2B difficult this time around. I'm not complaining, it's just the fact of family life right through here. But just by askin...

  More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! Right out of the blue, I get this email from my friend Steve Kloft, who's an established Internet marketing guru, announcing he's created a widget containing links to my SFGate.com postings, my main blog Zennie62.com, my Twitter tweets, and my YouTube videos! Steve, thanks a million! That makes up for the 600 mb Bay to Breakers videos I'm still uploading, the nutso cyberstalkers , and all the crap I've had to deal with that comes with just expressing my opinion! But as I've said before, there are good people out there, fortunately I know them and they have away of just appearing when you need a boost: Steve's an example. Here's the widget: Get the Zennie Abraham widget and many other great free widgets at Widgetbox ! You can get your own copy at this link: http://www.widgetbox.com/widget/zennie-abraham And thanks again, Steve! That was a bolt out of the blue!

Ok.  Today's the day of the California Special Election.  Want an easy answer to the question "What to do?"  Just vote no across the board: Propositions that are on the May 19, 2009, Statewide Special Election Ballot Proposition 1A State Budget. Changes California Budget Process. Limits State Spending. Increases "Rainy Day" Budget Stabilization Fund.  - (Vote No: we don't need a spending limit.  What we need is the ability to direct money where it's needed, when it's needed. ) Proposition 1B Education Funding. Payment Plan.  NO: could result in lower education spending.   Proposition 1C Lottery Modernization Act. NO.  Reduces education-directed funds. Proposition 1D Protects Children's Services Funding. Helps Balance State Budget.  NO. Takes money away from Children Services.  Proposition 1E Mental Health Services Funding. Temp...

  More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! Coliseum BART Station rendering with connector When BART was opened in 1972 one of the first station stops was at the "Coliseum", a station called Coliseum BART for the well-known sports complex. Almost from the day the station opened many asked why the BART line didn't have a spur to serve Oakland International Airport. These questions continued through the 70s, 80s, and then in the 90s a group of Oakland business leaders strongly pushed for "an airport connector" of some design. It was listed as an objective by the 500 Oaklanders who attended "Oakland Sharing The Vision" or as a few friends liked to call it, "sharing the ham sandwich." Then when BART approved the San Francisco International Airport extention, a number of people in Oakland (including myself) just hit the ceiling. Why them and not us? At any rate, there was always a constituency for the project and it was neve...

  More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! YouTube , Blip.tv and Sclipo Wow, sorry I was away, but I spent all of Thursday traveling from Atlanta to San Francisco, then covering Bay to Breakers events, and finally just taking time off. Pretty fried, frankly. But the World turns on. Each Saturday, my new television show is on. It's called The Blog Report With Zennie62 and features the use of my video blogs in a weekly 30-minute format broadcast and co-produced by CoLoursTV in Denver. The start time is 3:30 PM Pacific Time, 6:30 PM Eastern Time and the show is replayed at 11:30 PM and 2:30 PM respecfully. Then it is replayed on Sunday at 12 noon pacific and 3 PM eastern. No TV?, go to Zennie62.com . The third installment of The Blog Report with Zennie62 features the introduction of a new documentary film made by Sierra Choi and about SF Bay Area journalist Josh Wolf. I met Josh and Sierra in 2006 when both was working for The Peralta Community College District...