Oakland Focus News | Oakland News Online Blog

Google's started this with their free network in New York. Now they want to wire San Francisco, and I'll bet we're in the loop too. But this story will not reveal that. Municipal wireless networks latest rage By Barbara Grady, Business Writer - Oakland Tribune OAKLAND officials are thinking of joining the WiFi age and deploying a municipal wireless network to give their citizens and workers free Internet access. WiFi networks allow people to access the Internet from various "hot spots" around a city from laptops or handheld wireless devices without plugging into a jack or needing a specific Internet service account. Commercial WiFi hot spots exist in hotels and coffee shops in most cities, including Oakland. But free municipal WiFi networks, which are under planning in major cities from San Francisco to Philadelphia, are designed to give broad Internet access coverage from outdoor and indoor locations across a city. Only a handful of smaller cities have WiFi net...

Studio One needs to raise money, which you will discover as you read this Oakland Tribune article. Studio One arts facility has rich history FRIENDS of Studio One are eagerly awaiting completion of renovations to the city-owned arts facility — located in a 100-year-old former orphanage on 45th Street — so classes can resume there once again. Some $10 million in funds from Measure DD, approved by voters in 2002, were allocated to retrofit and reconfigure the structure and make it handicap accessible as well. During construction, Studio One classes temporarily are being held in downtown Oakland at the Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts on Alice Street, also a historic landmark building (once the home of the Oakland Women's Club). Summer classes are under way. Funds will still be needed for art-related furnishings once the North Oakland facility reopens, so the Friends are hosting a Sept. 27 "Splash for Cash" fundraiser from 3:30 to 6 p.m. at the Temescal Pool, 371 45t...

For several years, Harold P. Jones has served as Deputy Executive Director for External Affairs. I've known Harold and had a great deal of respect and admiration for the job he's done over that time. But this month he steps down and gives way to a person who's been a friend of mine since -- I guess -- 1991: Libby Schaaf. Most recently Libby was an aide to Oakland Council President Ignacio De La Fuente and for a time to Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown. Harold personallly sought Libby for the job, and he could not have made a better choice. Congratuations Libby!

Broadway Grand is a development under construction at the corner of Broadway and Grand Avenue on the northside of downtown Oakland. As the video will show, it's a large mixed-use retail and apartment development which because of its size and placement will alter that part of downtown Oakland forever. Broadway Grand sits in what was considered -- and by some still is thought to be -- a sketchy area with drug dealers, robbers, and the homeless. But what's being constructed in these areas -- housing -- has served to bring the "hounds to the hunters" and contributed to an increasing crime rate. I'm pro-development, but I think with the number of apartments and condos going up around downtown Oakland, it's time we asked the question -- yet again -- of what kind of Oakland we want to have. In 1991, we had an Oakland community participation forum called Oakland Sharing The Vision. "OSV" as it was called drew 500 Oakl...

Wow. The East Bay Express just can't stand that Ron Dellums ran for mayor and won. They're so angry that -- as a friend of mine put it -- the black man won, they have to dump as much drummed up negative press about him as possible and as fast as they can. Just a look back shows that Jerry Brown didn't receive this kind of treatment from The Express in 1998. Not even close. Everyone knew that Jerry had not taken office yet, so the focus was more on Mayor Elihu Harris and transition than Jerry. The Express misses all the real stories, like the ones about De La Fuente aides who were left scrambling for positions outside his office after the June election. Or the matter of rushing so many decisions through City Council before the season's done. All missed by The Express. Let's hope they eventually stop seeing red long enough to really cover what's going on.

This is great news, but the question about appropriately funding the Landscape Lighting and Assessment District must be asked. I'm also curious to know what projects were removed from the City's vast list of reserves. Real estate boom gives city a surplus Oakland council uses windfall for repairs, police technicians and reserve By Heather MacDonald, STAFF WRITER - OAKLAND TRIBUNE OAKLAND — The city's $16.1 million budget surplus will be used to fund a variety of programs, including expanded tree trimming, roof repairs and three new technicians to analyze DNA in sexual assault cases. The windfall, due to the still sizzling real estate market in Oakland, also will be used to bridge the $1.8 million gap in the city's Landscape and Lighting District created when voters rejected a proposed tax increase for park and open space maintenance. However, several council members warned that the city's financial picture isn't as rosy as the surplus appears. Experts have w...

That was the title of this post you're about to see, which started life on the Adams Point Yahoo! Message Board. I'm just glad it wasn't a sharp ending! A good neighborhood at work today! This morning at 9:00AM I heard a woman shout out, "give me back my money"! When I looked outside I saw a woman running away. Turns out it was my neighbor chasing the suspect. She was robbed at knifepoint behind our building 286 Lenox I used the whistle ( but don't know if it helped or not) and called the police. It appears that several other neighbors called the police as well. The victim kept chasing the suspect and yelling give me back my money which worked to get many different people to come out and call the police.The police received several calls and they were able to catch the woman that robbed her within about 30 minutes I think. It appears that one person witnessed it all, another witnessed the suspect approaching before the actual robbery and others witnessed the c...