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The City of Oakland and Alameda County must reject AEG, the Anschutz Entertainment Group, from being even considered as stadium manager for the Oakland Coliseum, and for one reason: AEG does not have the best interest of the Oakland Coliseum in mind. Why would an organization openly court the Oakland Raiders to move to Los Angeles, work to buy a portion of the team at a cut-rate price (something that Colts Owner Jim Irsay has threatened to block), and yet turn around and even think to ask to replace SMG (Spectacor Management Group) as manager of the Oakland Coliseum? A one-word-answer: power. And its that interest in power that would wreck the Oakland Coliseum for the foreseeable future. Right now, the Oakland Coliseum, and the City of Oakland, is under a wave of negative sports industry PR not of its own making. The Oakland A's were making noise about leaving for San Jose. The Golden State Warriors have made noise about wanting a new stadium in San Francisco. And Oaklan

In an action that comes as no surprise to anyone, an Ecuador appeals court confirmed the decision by Ecuador to award an $18 billion damage award to Ecuador. Ecuador's court, long accused of bribery and beset with scandal, would not dream of going against the wishes of that country's President Rafael Correa. Consider that President Rafael Correa recently sued a popular local newspaper and its columnists and editors for $80 million, as I explain in this video, when the cost was just $10 million.... ...then took the "pledge" (if you will because those news guys don't have $80 million in their pockets) and attached it to the $116 million that he said would stop Ecuador from drilling in the Yasuni park region. And Correa has allowed his state-run oil company Petroecuador to continue oil drilling and environmental damage, and to the point where it and other foreign oil companies have committed over 100 oil spills since Chevron left the country in 1992. St

[caption id="attachment_14777" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Sanjiv Handa"] [/caption]Sanjiv Handa, RP? Still can't believe it. It's a good idea to blog to get out of my head the idea that in my reality Sanjiv Handa, Oakland's Gargoyle - head of the East Bay News Service, expert on Oakland Government, gossip about Oakland's elected officials, and source of intel on the next local government party - is putting together his next newsletter, all set to tell us the whole matter was all a mistake, he's just fine, and that the effort to recall Mayor Quan was going slow because of disorganization and lack of money (which is true). But what's true is that Sanjiv is gone from our physical presence. I've never used the term "gadfly" because I never saw Sanjiv as an irritant, and I have little respect for those who describe him that way anyway. Why? Because some of those same people either wrote about o

Oakland Food Truck Pods Coming to a Neighborhood Near You! After three years of sometimes contentious discussions, the Oakland City Council is poised to propose a pilot plan to allow Oakland’s numerous and varied food truck offerings a chance to set up in “pods” that is, groupings where few restaurants or other food services already exist, and be permitted as a group. [caption id="attachment_14012" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Karen Hester"] [/caption] Karen Hester, long time event promoter, said that it will allow Oakland entrepreneurs like her to plan ahead knowing how many trucks will be allowed and what will be required of them. Previously, food trucks were only allowed in the Fruitvale district where Taco trucks have blazed a trail of high quality, less expensive offerings in areas where people are comfortable walking up and taking their food elsewhere to eat. But, as a result of some problems encountered in the Fruitval

(First posted at http://zenie62blog.com ) [caption id="attachment_13222" align="alignleft" width="235" caption="Oaklland Mayor Jean Quan"] [/caption]Is the Oakland Business Community really behind the planned recall effort of Mayor Jean Quan? As one blogger who's lived in Oakland since 1974, it's easy to gain the temperature around town because people either call or talk about the matter every day, including today. Let's say this: the issue of the recall of Mayor Jean Quan is not being officially driven by any recognized Oakland large business organization, as of this writing. Indeed everyone who's talked to this blogger, and in total, that's adding up to about 50 people so far, has said that, while they don't want to be quoted for political reasons, they're "on the fence" about supporting a recall effort against Mayor Quan. Here's my video on the Quan recall details: A large reason for this i

There's an idea from certain racist types that this blogger was blocked from posting at the SF Chronicle website because of "ties" to a "Chevron operative." That's bullshit. What the truth is, is that the new SFGate.com executive director Alana Nguyen did not, by her own written admission, like my take on the Rick Perry issue, as well as my statement that the position she holds was one that I believed I was better suited for. Moreover, at over 3,000 posts, far more than any other City Brights blogger my content was undoubtedly starting to tax their server budget. This video explains it all: No one pays me to hold an opinion - I do support Chevron in Ecuador because I think Ecuador's political system is corrupt and anti-American. This is a view I've held for some time, and before I started blogging at SFGate.com. I also happen to feel that there are certain knee jerk non-profits that just make money off challenging oil companies like Chev

According to Zennie62.com Jeremy Renner's went from good actor, to up-and-comer after his breakout movie The Hurt Locker , and now he's a true A-list star, working alongside Tom Cruise and going off to exotic locations like Dubai to shoot, in this case, the newest Mission: Impossible movie, Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol . Filming in Dubai created trying challenges related to the Middle East heat, and that brought out the worst in Renner. According to a source who worked close to Mr. Renner on the set of Mission: Impossible , the very demanding and well-liked actor was given to the occasional vulgar outburst because of the searing conditions - most famously this one: 'How long am I going to sit here playing with my balls with my tongue?' Renner was also said to be impatient with others to be ready to go when a scene was about to be made. In all, set workers are faster to blame the heat than Renner, saying that they were pleased to have worked with him.

Concerned that fans and patrons think Andronico’s is totally out of business with the close of its Telegraph Avenue store in Berkeley, the food retailer's went on a big push to let you know they're still going strong, and their facilities on Shattuck Avenue, and on Solono Avenue, both in Berkeley, are still going concerns as the firm emerges from bankruptcy. [caption id="attachment_13477" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Andronico's "] [/caption] The Telegraph Avenue store was the final one to close and marks the end of a financial restructuring program that started last year, and managed to save 375 jobs in the process. Bill Andronico, third generation member of the family which founded the markets, said... “Investment in the future of Andronico’s Markets can begin now that we are financially stable after the sale of the company to Renovo Capital. Our focus now is to build upon the strong brand built over three gener

A rumor started that Whole Foods on 27th and Telegraph Avenue in Oakland, the 50,000 square-foot store that has revitalized a long-dead part of Oakland's Adams Point, and can be seen in this Zennie62 video from September 26, 2007... was going to leave Oakland after an attack by protestors at first connected to Occupy Oakland, but later found not to be associated with the mainstream managers of the movement, as seen in this video from Russia Today: Here's an email that was circulated: Subject: Say it isn't so! Dear Mr. Lennon and Mr. Brizee, A rumor has begun to circulate that WholeFoods is contemplating pulling out of Oakland! I do find it difficult to believe, given the capital investment you’ve recently expended renovating the store. However, if there’s any truth to the rumor, I’m sure that it is strictly a business decision, so I’ll skip the part where I wax poetic about your cheese department, the bakery, the prepared foods, and the produce! Instead

In the wake of the law enforcement clearing of Occupy Oakland from Frank Ogawa Plaza on Monday morning, and the news of similar actions in Portland, Denver, New York, and other cities, come the previously unknown news that the events were the result of an 18 city collaboration. The deliverer of that news? Oakland Mayor Jean Quan. On a BBC interview, Mayor Quan said she was "part of an 18-city" collaboration that centered around a large conference call to all parities. That explains a whole lot. It explains why it seemed the same message was being blasted by mayor after mayor around the nation. Constantly repeating the words "the encampment caused a heath issue" (or words to that effect) on television in city after city served to grab the overall communications message away from the Occupy Movement, and replace it with a narrative which says that the Occupy Movement is chaotic, dangerous, and dirty. From the looks of things now, the strategy seems

The latest news in the Occupy Oakland constellation of information is the effort to recall Oakland Mayor Jean Quan.  According to an email from a source, Sanjiv Handa, East Bay News Service reports that $100,000 has been pledged toward the effort to recall the Mayor.  Also, the latest Occupy Oakland news is that Oakland Police and law enforcement will move in to clear the encampment at Frank Ogawa Plaza at 4 AM, Monday, November 14th. Here's the text from the email sent to Zennie62.com: FYI from Sanjiv Handa, East Bay News Service: The Oakland Bulletin SM The Authoritative Source About Every Nuance of Oakland Politics and Process Since 1994   SM $100,000 Pledged to Qualify Quan Recall A petition to force an election to recall Mayor Jean Quan has been certified for the signature-gathering phase. Proponents have a maximum of 160 days to turn in about 19,800 signatures from registered Oakland voters on petitions that are now available. Special interest groups and po