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Ok. Here's the real deal and it's the truth. The County of Alameda's key leaders have no faith in the ability of the City of Oakland's leaders to get anything done with respect to the A's. As one person who's an Alameda County official recently told me, "There's no one from the City of Oakland who seems to care" about the A's. Another Alameda County official once said he kept wondering when someone from the City of Oakland was going to show leadership, but it hasn't happened. This is why Scott Haggerty took the action he did as explained in Paul Rosunsky's article below. It's a way of telling the City of Oakland -- by action -- that they're not handling the A's matter properly. It's no surprise to me that the County side of the Oakland - Alameda County Coliseum Authority has taken the matter of renegotiating the A's lease in its own hands. Bravo! Oakland officials cry foul over A's deal Council members say

I personally met Maurice Himy on several occasions, the first time was in 2002 when he was enjoying the first Oakland Art & Soul Festival from his store, which was right on the City Hall way. He was walking with two people: Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown and Oakland City Councilman Larry Reid. I remember the moment as if it happened yesterday, because Jerry asked me how things were going; I'd left the City of Oakland the previous year. Maurice would always say to me "Yes. Come and see me sometime" I never got around to it. Oakland City Hall probe wide-ranging FBI's questions have centered on 10 to 15 city contracts, officials say By Heather MacDonald, STAFF WRITER - OAKLAND TRIBUNE OAKLAND — The arrest of a man with close ties to several city officials is just a small part of a wide-ranging investigation by federal authorities into public corruption at Oakland City Hall, FBI officials said Thursday. The probe is focusing on whether "City Official A" —

SMG is an organization that manages stadiums and arenas around the United States. They were brought in to take over management duties at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum complex in 1997, and after the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum Authority voted to discontinue running the complex. (A political move by Oakland City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente to oust long-time Coliseum President and Peerless Coffee boss George Vukasin.) Since then, SMG's performance has been less than stellar. First, the initial manager of the Coliseum for SMG, Sally Roach, told me she didn't have the facility drawings -- the kind a fire marshall would ask for -- we needed for Oakland's Super Bowl Bid; I didn't believe her, so I found a guy who "ratted out" Roach. A man by the name of Matt Veil, who called me to explain that they did have the drawing and he would get them to me. In other words, Sally and SMG were trying to throw a monkey wrench into our Super Bowl Bid effo

Well, this is quiet interesting. My friend Phil Matier of the SF Chronicle reports on a proposal for a new 42-Story condo where the current and historic Schilling garden is. I've been to the garden on many occasions, but it's seen better days in my view. Besides, in my view the Lake's development process should be permitted to reach its highest uses levels. I'm more than a little tired of the kind of NIMBY-nitpicking that goes on and is always advanced by someone who should be retiring to Tahiti. More on this later.

This video presents "SOL" , a sustainable garden farm in East Oakland, though where it is, I don't know. Keep a focus on the show's host as she's also the barista at De Bartolo's Cafe on Grand Avenue.

This video contains local jazz artist Betty Fu singing at the Oakland Chinatown StreetFest from this summer.

In this video, Oakland Mayor and California AG Candidate Jerry Brown is accused of breaking his old campaign promise of not taking over $100 in contributions. But what's interesting is that Mayor Brown's captured going to a spa reportedly in Sacramento and then getting into a Lincoln Town Car that looks like the Mayor's Lincoln owned by the City of Oakland. Is he using the Mayor's Lincoln for matters not city business? I think that's his right -- like going to the grocery store -- but I'm not sure about political campaigns.

Roy Steele has beeen the PA announcer for the Oakland Coliseum since 1968. This video's about him and includes comments from the public and even the opposing players.

This video I had nothing to do with; it features a tour of a luxury box in the East Side pavilion of the Oakland Coliseum and during the Oakland A's , Chicago White Sox baseball game. It's notable for its simple humor on top of the experience of filming the suite.