Oakland Focus News | Oakland News Online Blog

In Loring, Oaklanders have a great new cafe and restaurant to look forward to - when it opens. Loring's - or "The Loring" - is located on Grand Avenue between Broadway and Webster in Downtown Oakland. It has the best interior of any place of its kind in Downtown Oakland. The trouble is, Oakland's building inspector is taking a ton of time in approving it. Here's the video:

Loring Cafe's already generating buzz and it's not even opened yet. Here's my latest video tour of the eatery and hang-place on Grand Avenue betwen Webster and Broadway that's sure to be a hit place in Downtown Oakland - whenever all of the building inspections are finished, that is. Read more at Zennie62.com: Oakland's Loring Cafe Bet. Webster And Broadway On Grand Will Be A Hit, When It Opens

The California Center For Sustainable Energy has announced that it hired Rear Adm. Len Hering as its new Executive Director. Alan Ball, an energy consultant and chair of CCSE’s board of directors, said Hering was selected after a nationwide search to succeed long-time CCSE executive director Irene M. Stillings who served as the center’s executive director from 2002 to 2012. CCSE is a San Diego-based nonprofit organization that works with stakeholders throughout the state’s energy sector to meet California’s aggressive energy goals and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. "CCSE’s entire board of directors is very excited to have an individual with Admiral Hering's sustainability credentials take over leadership of our organization,” Ball said. “We are confident that Hering, working with CCSE’s talented staff, can provide the knowledge, skills and direction to take the organization to higher levels, offering its energy services statewide and beyond." Hering, a resident

Oaksterdam University's symbol is gone. The incredible 7,300-square-feet mural that came to define Oaksterdam University, was a highly visible work in Downtown Oakland, and became a good representation of the new Oakland itself, is suddenly, inexplicably, gone. More detail at Zennie62.com, here: Oaksterdam University Mural Erased In Oakland

For some weird reason, California Athletic Director Sandy Barbour picked former Louisiana Tech Football Coach Sonny Dykes over former Oakland Raiders Head Coach Hue Jackson. More at Zennie62.com: Sonny Dykes: Cal AD Selects Him Over Hue Jackson For Cal Football Coach

AutoReturn is a new tech way of dealing with the problem of getting a towed car back to its owner. Right now, Kansas City just adopted the system for its towing matters, and San Diego and San Francisco use it, too. It's time to have an alternative to the trip one makes down to A&B Towing in East Oakland. That has gone on for too long. AutoReturn. Oakland should have it. Kansas City Uses AutoReturn: New Municipal Towing Management Solution