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I understand that the "grassy knoll" is being considered for a parking lot as part of the Boathouse Redevelopment Plan for that part of Lake Merritt, but I must agree that removing it would be a massive blow to the park-like image of that area. Well, heck, it is a park, right? Besides, if people want to come to the new restaurant, let them walk there. Force them to take BART and park along Grand Avenue. Also, send the AC Transit "!2" Bus down the avenue to serve the facility. That's a better way.

Check out my post on the SBS Baseball Business Blog.

I saw this post over at "Drinking Liberally" about the recent Mayor's Debate. Seems that commenters look at either Ron Dellums or Nancy Nadel. I think Dellums is the better choice.

According to the Oakland Post, several thousand people came to hear Tavis Smalley's presentation of The Covenant With Black America." Included were Oakland Mayora Candidate Ron Dellums. The report that over 3,000 people were turned away at the door should given one an idea of Black America's displeasure with current events. The question is will this translate into votes come election day. I think so.

Chabot hopes Oakland provides funding The Space and Science Center has made cuts but still faces a deficit in June By Eric Kurhi STAFF WRITER The Chabot Space and Science Center is hoping the city of Oakland will help it cope with a predicted financial shortfall caused by lackluster attendance and reduced federal funding. Alex Barnett, the center's executive director, said they have made some cuts and increased fund-raising efforts, but because of lagging box-office revenues they still might come up short at the end of the fiscal year this June. "Unless we dramatically increase the gate, there is a significant chance we may end the year a few hundred thousand dollars adrift," she said. Federal cuts have also hurt -- for example, cuts to NASA's budget meant the institution could not offer Chabot any assistance this year. The city, on the other hand, is looking at an $8.5 million budget surplus, mainly due to a booming real estate market. Barnett said she hopes some of ...

On March 27th and without ceremony, Oakland Tribune Columnist Peggy Stinnett wrote her last column for the newspaper. It was sad to read the last work of a person I've known and was a competitor too. It was even sadder to see her last day not given a special color. Oakland's lost its real chroniclers. It's not worth it to pick up a newspaper now, because it's so hard to discover the pulse of the city. It wasn't always this way. One could pick up The Trib or Montclarion and see what was going on. That was the time before the year 2000. It was a time when some people never heard of email, and called each other. It's a different world now. I like some aspects of it, but not this one. I'll miss ya Peggy.

I found this email in the Adams Point Yahoo Group. It shows Oakland Councilmember and Mayoral Candidate Nancy Nadel's view of the Oak To Ninth Waterfront Plan that's proposed by Signature Properties. I personally have no problem with the developer making money from the project -- that's what they do. I do agree that this "new town in town" needs to be well-studied before approval. Plus, I'd like to see a baseball stadium there as well. From: "Nadel, Nancy" wrote:From: "Nadel, > Nancy" > To: 'Nina Serrano' > Subject: RE: Fwd: [15X_NCPC] Oak-to-Ninth: Important City Council > meeting Tuesday night > Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2006 15:36:14 -0800 > > I think the city and the port approached this project backwards. We > should have done a specific plan and then found developers who > would do what we want. When I asked the planning director why that > wasn't the process as outlined in the Estuary Plan, she ...