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This is a video of a typical day on the "57" Bus line ran by AC Transit and which runs through the heart of Oakland from the San Leandro Boarder to North Oakland. This captures the crowd of students that use the bus to get home. In the days before Prop-13, AC Transit had special student-only buses that served Skyline High, where I went to school, and other places. Maybe they still do, and this isn't a normal bus. I guess I drive too much. Here's the video:

I was presented with this letter below by a friend who works at a local establishment on E. 18th Street. I later saw this on the Adams Point Yahoo! Message Board. It's about time someone communicated the message of the importance of community in fighting crime, as many people around here don't even know each other's names. The letter also states a painful fact: that Whites are the targets of assault and theft crimes committed by African Americans in the area. For whatever reason that has been true -- but not talked about -- for years. It's got to stop. MUGGINGS ON ATHOL Neighbors, We live on Athol Ave , between the lake and the Parkway. The night before last, as my fiancé made his way home from the theatre at 8:30 pm, two African-American men who had been loitering by the stop sign at Athol and Wayne in front of 228 Athol ran at him across the street and grabbed him. A gun was put to his head, he was choked, dragged down one of these driveways, pistol-whipped, ...

City Council Fireworks Here This is a screen shot of the sponsorship matrix for the upcoming Mayoral Inauguration for Mayor Ron Dellums. The cost range is from $10,000 to $50,000. The second photo shows what benefits each sponsor gets. Actually, the sponsorship package is quite extensive considering the public exposure the event -- or events -- will certainly get. Oh, if you're saying "I can't read this" just double click on the photo itself, then you'll see it full size for viewing. As you can see it lists the different events and the costs of sponsorship. I mean look at it this way, it's not taxpayper dollars they're using. Plus, the Black And White Ball, which I referred to, also had sponsors and an extensive cost list. Yet one could get in for a fee, or just sneak in. Now, some -- including me -- have misunderstood this to mean that the "common folk" can't come, and that doesn't appear to be the case at all; the event pl...

A new tickets exchange just for Bay Area sports and events. Here's the current calendar below, but go to Bay Area Sports and Events for tickets and information. NFL 12/23 Kansas City Chiefs At Oakland Raiders Tickets 12/24 Arizona Cardinals At San Francisco 49ers NBA 12/12 Sacramento Kings At Golden State Warriors 12/14 Houston Rockets At Golden State Warriors 12/26 Philadelphia 76ers At Golden State Warriors 12/29 Boston Celtics At Golden State Warriors 01/06 Seattle Supersonics At Golden State Warriors NCAA Basketball 01/03 California At Stanford Basketball NHL 12/11 Phoenix Coyotes At San Jose Sharks Tickets 12/14 Los Angeles Kings At San Jose Sharks Tickets 12/16 Anaheim Ducks At San Jose Sharks Tickets 12/21 Dallas Stars At San Jose Sharks Tickets 12/23 Calgary Flames At San Jose Sharks Tickets 12/26 Anahiem Ducks At San Jose Sharks Tickets 12/28 Phoenix Coyotes At San Jose Sharks Tickets 01/04 Detroit Red Wings At San Jose Sharks Tickets 01/06 Columbus Blue Jackets At San...

Hey, even if I had $50K, I wouldn't spend it on a party for myself. The Dellums people are planning to spend that much money per donor, up to a half-million dollars. I think this is a terrible way to go. No party should be structured this way. What the Dellums people should do is turn to San Francisco Black and White Ball head Paula Goodrich for advice on what to do. Or just follow her model, which is to take a part of the city, rope it off, erect tents, book bands, get corporate sponsors, and charge a fee. Bingo. That's it. In other words make it an Oakland event for the many, not for the few. Wow. I'm a fan of the Mayor, but what they're doing is the wrong way to go.

by Hiroko Kurihara, Chair, RCPC Land Use Committee At press time, Albertsons was preparing to close their parking lot to the public because of Albertsons LLC and Terranomics’ difficulty in accessing the loading dock and showing the property to prospective tenants and developers. The RCPC Land Use Committee is working closely with Albertsons representatives and Councilmember Brunner’s office to help broker a solution that keeps the lot open and provides designated parking slots for Claremont Middle School teachers. Merchants are concerned about the closure and might be able to help monitor the lot. Regarding ROSS: Dress for Less Stores as a potential new tenant, the Land Use Committee has learned that the Rockridge site is most likely not among the 40 sites under consideration by the company. Nevertheless, we will be sending a letter to senior management at Cerberus Capital, to convey the concerns and preferences for the site expressed at the community meeting last July. We’ll keep you ...

Oakland's Law Corps wins 'profound honor' Organization has dealt with drug dealing cases, including crackdown on liquor stores OAKLAND TRIBUNE Article Last Updated:12/05/2006 02:51:44 AM PST OAKLAND — The National League of Cities on Monday named Oakland one of nine winners of its 2006 award for municipal excellence, honoring the work of the Neighborhood Law Corps. City Attorney John Russo, who founded the organization five years ago, said the city constantly seeks innovative, creative ways to address chronic urban problems. "It's a profound honor to be recognized for such a prestigious award," Russo said. Oakland was also named one of three Gold award winners. Law Corps attorneys, who are usually fresh out of law school, focus on quality-of-life issues and have tackled dozens of cases involving drug dealing and building-code vio-lations. The Law Corps has also led the city's crackdown on liquor stores that blight the community when they provide a haven fo...

"San Francisco Red Sox Fan" points to the East Bay Express article on how the Oakland A"s execs managed to work a deal to -- perhaps -- move to Fremont. The article's just ok. Another typically long piece of work that in this case doesn't get to the heart of the matter of the problem of sports in Oakland. In fact, in this case, the authors seemed to write as if they were looking to talk to "names" rather than determine what really happened. But leave that one to another person. I'm diappointed in their work. It's a wimper, not a bang.

"Black Sheep Girl" complains of the terrible bus service and the "creepy dudes" that hang out at the "Oakland BART" station -- don't know which one, but could be 12th or 19th Street -- so she decides to walk home. All the better to see Lake Merritt. We used to have a shuttle that drove around Lake Merritt; we need it back. It was paid for by the Oakland Redevelopment Agency, when for one moment it really understood what city building was all about.

Wow. I happened to catch this bit of news over at the blog called BiggAndyy, which you can go to with a click on the title of this post. He reports that the awards for Oakland kids turning in their guns are tickets to -- LOL -- a Guns and Roses Concert! What genius came up with that? It's supposed to be some weird pun, get it? Turn in your guns for Guns? It's not something the folks in the neighborhoods would come up with. First, it's just not a good idea -- better to give money. Second, and I'm just gonna haul off and write this, the person who came up with the idea certainly wasn't Black or Latino, and yet the program, let's face it, is aimed at African American neighborhoods in Oakland! What's going on over at the City of Oakland? You gotta wonder. Makes you shake your head.

This is Oaklandish's bus, or what they call a "Mobile Operations Unit." But I've got to ask what do they really do in that monster thing? Here's their info... This classic '67 Clark Cortez camper van has been outifitted with A.V. equipment (projector, FM radio transmitter, P.A. system), a kegerator, the Folklandish library of books, videos, collectibles & memorabilia, as well as our line of 'local love' goods. So basically we're rigged and ready to turn it out on-location at the drop of a hat! This completes our long standing dream of being fully equipped to bring our message & media to events and parties all over the town. Look for it November 5th at Dia de los Muertos in the Fruitvale!

I found this link to an interesting group called Oakland Ecovillage and their calendar, which features Sunday walks around the Lake with a group of anti-war neighbors. I'm sure the group realizes that it needs to be more diverse than is shown in this photo, so I will not spend too much time on this except to say if you're a person of color check it out, and to the group's organizers, make a concerted effort to bring African Americans, Latinos, and others in. It's disheartening to see this kind of photo in a city that was once prized for its diversity. Not to mention eating just popcorn! How about potato salad? A potluck with baked chicken? Something!

Oakland Coliseum wins Raiders lawsuit By DAVID KRAVETS, AP Legal Affairs Writer Fri Nov 17, 8:18 PM ET SAN FRANCISCO - A state appeals court on Friday threw out a jury's $34.2 million award to the Oakland Raiders over accusations that managers of the Oakland Coliseum falsely promised a sold-out stadium to lure the team back to the Bay Area. The case dates to 1995, when Raiders owner Al Davis maneuvered to get his team out of Southern California after revenues waned, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum's foundation was shaken by an earthquake and a deal collapsed to build a new stadium and horse track. The Oakland deal, first inked in 1995 and renegotiated a year later, gave the Raiders a $53 million loan, $10 million for a training complex and $100 million to renovate the coliseum, which they share with baseball's Oakland Athletics. The 3rd District Court of Appeal in Sacramento said in a 2-1 ruling on Friday that because the Raiders agreed to the deal a second time, the team...

OAKLAND A family dispute ends with 3 killed, 2 in custody Man dives from window to escape gunfire after holiday gathering turns violent Steve Rubenstein, SF Chronicle Staff Writer Friday, November 24, 2006 Three people were killed and another wounded when a North Oakland holiday get-together turned deadly Thursday afternoon. Two men were taken into custody in connection with the shooting. There were nine people, including a child, in the third-floor apartment at 5321 Telegraph Ave. when gunfire broke out shortly before 3 p.m. One man and two women were killed and another man wounded in the gunfire, while another man suffered a broken back when he leaped from a third-floor window to escape the bullets. Oakland police described the incident as a family dispute gone horribly wrong. "There was an ongoing disturbance within the group,'' which had started well before the bloody Thanksgiving shooting, said Officer Roland Holmgren, an Oakland police spokesman. He declined to elab...

This is not the press conference, but a presentation on the new technology that would be in what Cicso -- the developers of the router for the Internet -- calls "The Stadium of the Future." These improvements will find their way into the planned new A's stadium to be located in Fremont, but they could be used anywhere in any stadium. The question is how much will this increase ticket prices at the new A's stadium? I'll be we're not going to see Dollar Wednesday's again after it's built -- if it is.

I found this post on the Yahoo Message Board for Adams Point. It's a long response to the proposal to ease conversions of apartments to condos. SAY NO TO OAKLAND'S URBAN REMOVAL PROGRAM--CONDO CONVERSIONS REVISITED! * 3 City Councilmembers led by Ignacio Dela Fuente have put a city-wide proposal to gut Oakland's existing condo conversion protections ON THE FAST TRACK with only 2 months of public hearings and no study on the impacts, including displacement of vulnerable tenants and exacerbating declining school enrollments. They want it passed before Mr. Dellums takes office. * IF YOU ARE A RENTER, increased condo conversion means that you may be evicted from your home and forced to find new housing in an even more difficult rental market. * There will be NO RENT CONTROL PROTECTIONS if the new condo units are re-rented. Over 25% of Oakland's current condos are already being rented out. * OVER 90% OF OAKLAND RENTERS won't be able to afford the new condos. Average c...

Oakland City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente made a terrible mistake yesterday when he said this to the San Francisco Chronicle: "To be candid, we made more money in one Rolling Stones concert than the A's made (us) in a whole year. We will deal with it," De La Fuente said. Wow. Apparently, Ignacio De La Fuente and the Coliseum Authority think that Cisco Field will only be used for baseball and not concerts. Does anyone at the Coliseum Authority understand that a new competing facility will open and threten to pull over half of the Coliseum's events away from it? I really think that Oakland Officials don't understand sports and entertainment as an industry, and yet are too ego-driven to know when they're making a mistake. This is a massive error.

Here's an example of failure in the making. Instead of forming a private sector task force on the A's matter, Oakland City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente calls on stadium manager SMG for advice. Anything to put money in SMG's pocket. It makes me wonder what SMG does for them -- tickets to events? That's not right. The Coliseum Authority's enabiling resolution contains a provision to establish a 20-person private sector advisory board. But it's never been done at all. The SF Bay Area has some of the World's top sports business minds, but we in Oakland don't call on them. What's Ignacio afraid of? Good advice? In the days when the Coliseum was ran by Oakland business people, they would get together and devote time to solve the problem. Instead, we get Ignacio making more negative comments about the A's, as in "We make more money without them." Know where they got that idea from? SMG. SMG's not an economics firm -- ...

Yesterday, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced that the effort to bring the 2016 Olympics to San Francisco was over. As the head of the Oakland Super Bowl XVIV Bidding Committee, which from 1999 to 2001 worked to bring the Super Bowl to Oakland, I hated to witness that event. I thought San Francisco had its best chance yet to land the Olympic Games because it had a large set of people who seemed to be equally committeed to doing it. The SF 2012 Olympic effort was the largely the story of the work and energy of one person, Anne Cribbs, whereas this time the heavy lifting was spread out more to others. In the case of Oakland's Super Bowl that effort was totally the story of my work and enthusiasm. But in all three cases, one element of Bay Area society came forward again and again: the selfish action of one key player, perfectly timed to wreck the chances of winning. What makes the Bay Area a great place to live is also that which keeps it from really growing as a socie...

In their blog of the same name, Brooke and Lian point to a growing movement in West Oakland to reduce the tide of social change driven by gentrification. They point out that since 2000, 20 percent of Oakland's black population has left Oakland, and -- they claim -- most of that departure from West Oakland. There's a campaign to stop this and the leaders of the effort have posted signs and even a large billboard in protest of what is called "predatory development." This has been ignored in the mainstream media, with people like the East Bay Express' Chris Thompson calling retailers like Walgreens champions of urban development, but offering no proof to back his claim. Still, the drive -- as uncoordinated as it seems to be -- moves on. My prediction is that it will eventually lead to the first full scale riot Oakland has ever seen. All of the drivers are in place: wildly disparant income levels, high crime, poor neighborhood job opportunities, angry police off...

This was posted on the "local" Yahoo! Message Board Earlier this evening [Thursday night], one of the ground-floor apartments in our building was burglarized. We are at 405 Blellevue, which is at the corner of Bellevue and Van Buren. The thief[ves] came in through the window and exited through the front door. No one saw or heard anything. The tenant came home around 2:30 a.m. so we're not exactly sure when it happened, but we think it was around midnight. The burglar(s) took an Apple laptop, iPod, and a Dark Blue LeMond road bike, as well as some small personal items. The also took a red suitcase, presumably to carry the smaller loot. The thief could still be out in the neighborhood with these items. The tenant said that last night they awoke to a knocking. At the time, they thought it was the front door, so they went to the door to find no one there. It seemed peculair, but at the time they thought it was maybe the wind or something else that made the sound. Now, in retr...

I just found this video while looking for other content, and wondered why Councilmember Pat Kernighan's staff didn't place it on her website. In this video, made by the "Choose Or Loose The Oakland A's" effort, the District Two representative says she will raise the matter of the retention of the A's to the level of public discussion. Well, Pat, lets' get started! Here's the video:

The San Francisco 49ers annouce they're going to move -- or try to move -- to Santa Clara (and to a parking lot and an area rife with environmental impact issues). SF Mayor Gavin Newsom says he will fight to keep the 49ers in San Francisco, and to that end, he's already dispatched SF City Attorney Dennis Herrera to build a case that will do so. Meanwhile, Lew Wolff annouces a deal to move the Oakland A's to Fremont, and Oakland Mayor-Elect Ron Dellums (yep, I'm calling him out since Jerry's now Attorney General) and Oakland City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente do nothing. In fact, De La Fuente thinks there's nothing that can be done. Boy is he wrong. At about this point, I'd give the free advice that Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty told me I was giving and Ignacio told the SF Chronicle he doesn't listen too, but I'm not gonna do that. Instead, I'm going to rag on both Dellums and De La Fuente for a lack of pride and a poor ...

Aimee, according to this Tribune article below, your not talking to the press in the wake of your District Two loss. This is a big mistake. Aimee, I know you're upset, but the future of your political life in Oakland started the very second you knew you were going to lose to Councilmember Kernighan. In order to set a path for your proper growth in Oakland politics, talk to the press, don't blame people for the loss, call Pat and congratulate her, and pledge to help her. In short, don't hold a grudge. Move on. What political capital you've generated will vanish if you come off like a sore loser. Let's see a more upbeat article about you than what appears here... Kernighan hangs on to her seat with runoff By Heather MacDonald, STAFF WRITER - OAKLAND TRIBUNE Article Last Updated:11/09/2006 02:59:04 AM PST OAKLAND — After two elections, an avalanche of campaign mail and bruising personal attacks, Patricia Kernighan won the Grand Lake-Chinatown seat on the Oakl...

Congratulations, Courtney ..Nuff said..For now. I'll be back.

Last weekend, I ran into Ted Tagami, whom I've known since Skyline High School -- he class of 81; me 80 -- at "The Vloggies" which is a great awards show for vldeo-bloggers, and then again at a brunch in Belevedere that Sunday. On the way out, Ted told me to check out the vlogs of his brother, Phil Tagami. I just happened to literally stumble over one of his vlogs on Google, and took at look at his Blip.tv vlog listings. I found this little gem of a vlog where Phil interviewed John Russo -- who's the luckiest golf player I know -- about Measure O and good government. Here's the video: Click To Play

Aimee, you ran a great and sprited campaign. Look, you only lost to Councilmember Pat Kernighan by 827 votes. To put this in perspective, that's about the number of people that generally see a first-run movie at the Grand Lake Theater. You're going to get there. Even your opponents point to your charisma and charm. Don't look down at all. If you're asking "What can I do that I didn't do this time?" the seeds of the full answer may rest in the fact that Councilmember Kernighan's party was -- according to the SFist -- at Pacific Renaissance Plaza in Chinatown, whereas yours was at Maxwells. Your choice was hip; hers was Asian. If you're asking how you might increase your presence in the Asian community, here's my answer: join the Chinatown Chamber of Commerce and get to know the players like Carl Chan and Judy Chu and others -- and listen. Face time is valuable, but ear time is golden. Meanwhile, it's time to go about the task of me...

Check this out: DEM - Phil Angelides 166636 55.68 REP - Arnold Schwarzenegger 112305 37.52 GRN - Peter Miguel Camejo 12525 4.19 LIB - Art Olivier 2750 0.92 PF - Janice Jordan 2545 0.85 AI - Edward C. Noonan 1661 0.55 Write-in 859 0.29 This is not a misprint. It's up on the Alameda County Registrar of Voters site as of 7 AM this morning. Wow. Look, I know and you know this didn't happen, but someone at Alameda County Registrar of Voters really didn't want Arnold Schwarzenegger to win. I wasn't one of them. I voted for him. Why would a stanch Democrat like me vote for Arnold Schwarzenegger for the second time? Because the California Democratic Party is in the 20th Century when it comes to an understanding of why candidates are and are not compelling to voters and seems to think it has a lock on every election in the state. We've got to get with it as a party....

If and when ground is broken to build an A's baseball stadium in Fremont, it will the fault of Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown. It was Brown, who when he announce in June of 2002 that there would be "no downtown Oakland A's ballpark as long as he was Mayor of Oakland" deliberately killed sports as we've known it in Oakland, and made our once great city just another normal second tier hamlet. It was Ignacio De La Fuente who not only got into some really stupid ego battles with A's owners, but early this year annouced to the East Bay Express that he "had no time for the A's." It was Ignacio who was known more for being upset that he was contantly out-manuevered in negotiating with the A's by Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty than for any real interest in maintaining the A's in Oakland. Score one for Alameda County, who's officials always questioned Oakland's lack of leadership in this matter. So what did they do? Work to tak...

As I've reported here, the A's had already worked out a financing plan to build a stadium in Fremont. But the real story is the almost total lack of effort and real indignation toward the team that's been shown by certain members of the Oakland City Council, and of course the Mayor of Oakland. It's not that Fremont had the land; it had the termination. Report: Athletics will build stadium in Fremont ESPN.com news services The Oakland Athletics are expected to announce next week they will build a new stadium in suburban Fremont, Calif., the San Francisco Chronicle reported Tuesday, citing sources close to negotiations for the deal. The newspaper reported the team wants to acquire a 143-acre site near the former Baylands Raceway Park and build a privately-funded 36,000-seat ballpark at an estimated cost of $300 million. The property is currently owned by the city of Fremont and is leased to high-tech firm Cisco Systems. The Chronicle reported Athletics managing partne...

On the Monday before Election Day, I met Oakland City Council District Two Candidate Aimee Allison at her campaign headquarters to really just walk and talk with her while my camcorder rolled. The video was quickly done and there was virtually no editing required. The result is a the first vlog of an Oakland City Council candidate such that the person's explaining their views and completely without the mudslinging and negative questions that have come to dominate this campaign. Here's the vlog of Aimee Allison: Click here for the Blip.tv version.

Well that's what she said. I had to pick this off from my other post on the District Two race: The blogger -- NovoMetro (why don't these people use their real names!) -- also asked Kernighan serveral questions, which got interesting responses: Kernighan: I think it's going to be interesting. I'm pretty excited to have someone who is going to be more present and engaged. Does this mean Jerry's not going to be "present and engaged" as attorney general? Hmmm....

I ran over this video totally by accident. It's of Oakland City Auditor Candidate Courtney Ruby. Yes, the video codec is screwed up, but the video does well at showing her and allowing one to hear her views on what she would do as Oakland's auditor. Here's the video:

This co-co-times report is interesting if one knows what to look for. Councilmember Pat Kernighan's financial aide has in part come from Oakland's mostly white political establishment, where Allison's money has been drawn -- at least here -- by Black notables: former Mayor Harris, Geoffrey Pete, and Steven Phillips, who although from San Francisco, is African American. So, again, this race is about that silly thing called skin color. Kernighan has financial advantage over Allison Incumbent has $57,000 to spend as of Oct. 26; challenger has $40,100 in campaign war chest By Heather MacDonald MEDIANEWS STAFF With the heated race for District 2 entering the home stretch, Councilwoman Patricia Kernighan has $57,000 to spend, according to records filed Oct. 26 with the Oakland city clerk. Challenger Aimee Allison, a nonprofit consultant and community activist, has $40,100 in her campaign war chest. Since the beginning of the year, Allison has spent about $96,200 in the fierce...

I could not help but post these two blogs I found concerning volunteers for Aimee Alison and Pat Kernighan. One post from an Allison supporter reflects on Kernighan living in the hills and being a kind of upper crust, white candidate , which really is Pat's right "to be." In other words, I don't care that she is -- more power to her. What I care about are attempts to have a diverse friendship grouping. That's my onlly issue with Pat, but by normal American standards, she's ahead. But this is Oakland, where one has to meet a higher standard, thank God. The other reports on the bloggers neighborhood walk with Kernighan and has a photo of her with supporters, all in this photo are not white -- except for Pat and one other person -- they're Asian. But some contend the District Two race will be won with the Asian vote. Still, it's very disappoiting to see no Blacks or Latinos, or anyone else of color. Asians and whites have historically mixed well...

Contrasting Styles In District Two Aside from all of the complaining and the Oakland Tribune article below which reports some overzealous behavior by Aimee Allison supporters she has no control over, one aspect of this heated race has been almost deliberately ignored: it's a race of black versus white. This fact is not lost on me when I walk by Pat Kernighan's headquarters and see all of the faces, by far white, some Asian, and I've not seen anyone black to date. By contrast, Aimee Allison's supporters are far more represented by people of color. It doens't say much that's good that Councilmember Kernighan has so little support amoung people of color compared to Aimee. But the simple reason for this is Pat doesn't reach out to anyone who is of color. I'm not talking about going to the NAACP office and begging for black friends, but just plain establishing and maintainng friends of color in Oakland. There's no trick to this. Instead, what we get...

Brown's vote may break tie on zoning Mayor's usual position on controversial plan bodes ill for commission By Heather MacDonald, STAFF WRITER Article Last Updated:10/31/2006 08:23:06 AM PST OAKLAND — With two months left in office, Mayor Jerry Brown is expected to cast a decisive vote tonight on a controversial plan to require developers to set aside at least 15 percent of their projects for low-income residents. Both supporters and critics of the inclusionary zoning proposal — and many are on both sides — believe the plan has the power to shape the future of Oakland, for good or for ill. Two weeks ago, the council deadlocked on a proposal by Councilmember Desley Brooks (Eastmont-Seminary) to form a blue-ribbon commission to study the issue. Although Brooks favors inclusionary zoning, she said she could not support the proposal before the council because it does nothing to address the needs of extremely low-income residents. Councilmembers Jane Brunner (NorthOakland) and Jean Q...