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More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! | Get my widget! | Visit YouTube | Visit UShow.com I was reading the minutes from the August 27th Oakland Rockridge Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council meeting (a pdf file, not a link) and noticed the news that crime is up dramatically. Let's take cars as one example. There were 40 stolen cars in a 90 day period this year. The most commonly stolen cars are the Toyota Corolla, Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, and the Honda Civic. According to the Oakland Police, the reason most cars are stolen is because people simply leave the keys in them. "Lock it. Lock it. Lock it", is the advice given. Vehicle theft is a common problem in the Rockridge area. I used the Oakland Police " CrimeView Community website " to search for the number of vehicle thefts within a mile of 5600 College Avenue (see map below) and discovered that there were seven such crimes over the last 15 days. Almost one every other day. ...

More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! | Get my widget! | Visit YouTube | Visit UShow.com This brief but very valuable tip comes from the website of the Oakland Rockridge Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council : Don't Call 911 From Your Cell!! When you call 911 from a cell phone, the call is routed to the California Highway Patrol! The CHP then has to find out where you are and route the call to your local police or fire dispatcher, which can lose tens of minutes in a critical situation. The Oakland Police Department has an emergency number for use in cell phones: 510-777-3211 Program this number into your cell phone and put it on speed dial! Also remember that other cities have local emergency numbers for cell phone users. Contact the police departments of other cities you visit regularly and put their local emergency numbers into your cell phone contact list as well. ONLY CALL 911 FROM A LAND LINE! This should be widely known, but it's not. Pa...

More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! | Get my widget! | Visit YouTube | Visit UShow.com On YouTube.com I received this email below from a viewer which explains the person's shock over the Calvin Klein SF Union Square store front display in the San Francisco Shopping Center. I went over to make the video above and get your view on the display. As I've stated in the video, it was not a good idea to approve a store front that is at best questionable. Everyone who's seen the video thus far has a reaction to it, from furled brows to frowns and raised eyebrows, the video does not make for a stoic reaction. Why someone would do this is a question I will ask Calvin Klein's staffers in the days ahead. Indeed, the worker that talked to me through the glass admitted that she did not the racial overtones in the display until they were pointed out to her. But for now, read the email below, then take my poll on this certainly controversial Calvin K...

More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! | Get my widget! | Visit YouTube | Visit UShow.com According to a friend, City of Oakland employees got a real long Labor Day vacation. First, the City was closed last Friday. Then we had the three day weekend holiday which was to end on Tuesday, but in the City of Oakland's case, employees were furloughed on Tuesday (and I know because I saw Councilmember Ignacio De La Fuente looking badass in sunglasses at the Lake Chalet's Patio for "Taco Tuesday") so that means most didn't come back to work until Wednesday - unless they happened to take that as a sick day. The result: a full six days off. Even with all of that rest, morale is still really low in all quarters. Why? Well, for starters to be furloughed means you don't get to work that day and you don't get paid. My friend thinks its a good way to save money, so no complaints there for that person, but it's not the same for some others...

More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! | Get my widget! | Visit YouTube | Visit UShow.com The latest news in the unfortunate story of the accused battery and assault charge on San Diego Linebacker Shawne Merriman by Tila Tequila is that Merriman claims he was trying to get Tequila , who's real name is Tila Nguyen, to avoid driving while intoxicated. This is just what I speculated in my video commentary: Tila's lawyer disputes Merriman's claim, saying it's "spin" but does not offer an alternative explanation regarding what happened. Morever Tila herself now says she was not drinking, and that she's allergic to alcohol. Really interesting... But Stingaree nightclub owner James Brennan says that Tila was drinking Saturday night. Apparently Tila made the claim to an aversion to cocktails on her Twitter page but that specific tweet is now not to be found . Also not to be found is any reason why Tila's suddenly covering up he...

More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! | Get my widget! | Visit YouTube | Visit UShow.com Last Wednesday I attended the suprisingly popular public hearing held at Hayward City Hall by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) on the planned Russell City Energy Center. I've followed this issue because it's another example of what I contend is an unnecessary division between jobs and environmental health. The hearing did not result in a final decision being made but was held to gain the required public comments on Calpine's permit application to build the 600-megawatt complex. But that didn't stop people, mostly opposed by a 60 percent, 40 percent ratio, from coming out to the meeting, which I'm from here down calling "an event". I also must observe that I don't think a lot of the opponents really understood the technical issues behind the plant enough to be shown evidence that Calpine's working to have a plant that...

More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! | Get my widget! | Visit YouTube | Visit UShow.com I had to take a time out to send a little message to my friend Jack Cafferty at CNN. He has a blog post focusing on Van Jones and asking if the White House should have so many czars. Van Jones: Mayor of Oakland Now a bit of background, CNN's been very good to me by giving me a platform to feature my video work, particularly during the Democratic National Convention last year, and putting me on live TV more times than I can immediately recall. CNN essentially "made me" so after so many appearances and headquarters visits, like the one below, where I met the iReport staff that's become family to me, I've got a pretty good idea what they're looking for. Now, I know what CNN's doing - same thing I do - ask a question or go to a subject that I know will smack the hornets nest and get people emailing, commenting, and talking, er, like this one. It...