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Local children and their families are invited to a Halloween “Spook”tacular event at Hillsdale Shopping Center! Hillsdale is at 60 31st Avenue, San Mateo, California. To kick-off the festivities, participating stores will hand out treats to costumed children ages 12 and under from 5-6 p.m. Kids will also enjoy Halloween themed special events including a “Frankenswine” performance by Puppet Arts, Comedy Magic show by Count Dracula, balloon twisting, crafts and spooky science projects hosted by Mad Science of the Bay Area. For more information: 650-345-8222.

The Oakland City Council is to take up the annually thorny issue of city council district boundary changes, or what’s called “redistricting.” Tonight, as I sit here at Oakland City Council, there nine different scenarios the City Council has been asked to consider: Maps 18 and 21 through 28. What follows is a summary, based on what was written at the website at the City of Oakland’s webpage by the planning and zoning department. Map 18: “At the October 3, 2013 Rules and Legislation Committee of the City Council, the consultant produced a map, based on Map #17, which proposes the Maxwell Park neighborhood be combined into District 4; Map #18 proposes changes to Districts 5 and 6 which balance the population changes resulting from Maxwell Park being combined into District 4. Also, Map #18 shows Broadway Terrace as the boundary between Districts 1 and 4, which it was in 1993; and the map leaves the current border between Districts 1 & 3 the same as it is today: the Mosswood neighbo...

Oakland, CA – October 28, 2013 – Recently, Paul Tutwiler & Mabel Hom of the  Downtown Oakland  and  Lake Merritt/Uptown  community benefit districts’ Senior Citizen Task Force, recently renamed R.O.A.R, Resources for Oakland’s Active Retirees, were awarded the YMCA of the East Bay’s “You are the Difference” award at the Y’s 134 th  annual meeting and volunteer recognition ceremony. Last June, Tutwiler, among others, contacted the Downtown Oakland & Lake Merritt/Uptown CBDs to suggest a collaboration between the districts and local seniors.  Their goal was to get local seniors involved in the community by organizing weekly walks, beautification projects, recreational activities and more.  Since then, the program has proved to be a great success. “It’s nice to see Paul, Mabel and the senior citizen task force getting the recognition they deserve.  Together, we are happy to have been able to organize a great program f...

Artesa Winery Artesa Winery, which has perhaps the most breath-taking winery in California, has come out fighting in a Sonoma Coast California property battle against Friends of the Gualala River. Artesa Winery is fighting to improve and protect a neglected Sonoma, California property in the face of strident opposition from a controversial local group, Friends of the Gualala River. Sonoma County is a place known both for its excellent wine and its natural beauty. But, the conversation has turned ugly over the effort by one well-regarded winery to renovate part of an abandoned Sonoma property into a vineyard and preserve and protect remainder of it. Artesa Vineyard and Winery has owned the 324 acre property since 1999 when it purchased the lot with the intention to use it to grow Pinot Noir. The property has fallen into disrepair since it was used as an apple orchard in the early 1960’s. In 2009 Artesa submitted a proposal to convert 173 acres of this former orchard into v...

At Oakland FitnessSF , a man who's name I will leave out of this, harassed a couple over, of all things, how the woman was about to use a machine at the Grand Avenue facility, and the idea that he was supposed to use it before her just because he says he was a gym member for a longer period of time. I'm not kidding.  I can't believe I saw it. But as I was doing chest presses with weights, a I overheard an angry man behind me talking loudly to a man and woman (who I also know, and I'm leaving their names out of it) behind me. The angry man (Angry Man, from here on) was upset that the woman was about to use a clasp device to place on the top bar of a machine that's designed such that one can also pull weights from either side toward the person's body, or just do arm-focused lifts. The Angry Man was not even near the machine at first - he was clear over on the other side of the gym's second floor. But as soon as she started to use the machine, and he...

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan Oakland Mayor Jean Quan said this to the National Journal’s Sophie Quinton: “And so, you asked me what my challenge is. Well, my challenge is to let people know what the new Oakland looks like. Somebody just sent me an email saying, ‘Oh, you should have more black police since more than 50 percent of your residents are black.’ And I’m like, ‘Actually, no, 28 percent of my residents are black, but we’re pretty evenly divided between blacks, whites, Latinos, and Asians these days.’ But that’s their image of Oakland–and this is somebody who lives in the Bay Area.” (National Journal, October 6, 2013) In other words Quan’s saying ‘I don’t want you to think Oakland’s a black town’ because that’s a bad thing. Really? So it was bad for Oakland to be a city that elected a black Mayor in Lionel Wilson early on, and back in the 70s? It was bad for Oakland to have been the home of the Black Filmmakers’s Hall Of Fame? Oakland Mayor Jean Quan Thinks Black Oakland ...

Dr. Death, the epitome of Oakland Raiders Black Hole fandom, came to the Oakland City Council (along with about 60 other Raiders fans), and gave a classic, passionate speech imploring the elected officials to support the extension of the Coliseum City ENA. Look at it, because it's not likely you're going to see a presentation like this one for some time. Or until Summer of 2014.

Taste of Oakland! And,  Zennie62 says thanks to Helen Wyman and Lamont Dawson, it’s about time, after Taste of Atlanta, Taste of San Francisco, and Taste of Chicago. And it’s this weekend! A Taste of Oakland: Uptown Block Party is a collaboration between East Bay Loop and Vail Event Services (the organizers of the Oakland Block Party, a bar crawl held in Uptown for the last three years) and A Taste of Oakland, an event series that showcases and highlights the offerings of restaurants, retailers and galleries located in Oakland’s neighborhood commercial districts. Over 20 Uptown venues will provide “a taste” of a specialty dish or cocktail included in the ticket price of $20, which is a really great deal. Partial proceeds will benefit Youth Radio and the Visual Arts Department at Oakland School for the Arts. The Taste Of Oakland Website explains the founder’s vision: A Taste of Oakland is an event series that showcases and highlights the offerings of restaurants, retailers ...

UNIQLO, the global clothing retailer, will open its new store at Hillsdale Shopping Center at 60 31st Ave., San Mateo, CA on Friday, October 11th at 10 a.m. UNIQLO Hillsdale San Mateo will welcome customers with entertainment and activities during Grand Opening weekend (this Friday through Sunday). Activities include a free tote bag to the first 300 customers each day and a free Heattech item with a purchase of $50 or more, and Japanese Taiko drum performances accompanied by popular DJs for a fresh perspective on an old tradition. More at Zennie62.com: UNIQLO Grand Opening At Hillsdale Shopping Center, San Mateo, CA

Polo For Lyme is this weekend at the Menlo Circus Club in Atherton, California. The  Bay Area Lyme Foundation hopes you can join us, and here’s the full information share for you: ATHERTON, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Bay Area Lyme Foundation will host its second annual Polo for Lyme benefit on Sunday, October 13th from 12:00 to 5:00p.m at the Menlo Circus Club in Atherton with 100% of the contributions going directly to the Foundation’s research and educational programs. More at Zennie62.com: Polo For Lyme: Bay Area Lyme Foundation Benefit Sunday, October 13th - http://www.zennie62blog.com/2013/10/09/polo-for-lyme-bay-area-lyme-foundation-benefit-sunday-october-13th-93930/

On Tuesday, the Oakland City Council will meet in public with the Bay Investment Group, which seeks an exclusive negotiating agreement that, if granted, will allow the organization the right to work to develop, “Coliseum City” a campus containing stadium homes for the Oakland Raiders and The Oakland A’s and perhaps The Golden State Warriors. But the idea of Coliseum City really started in 2009, and before Oakland Mayor Jean Quan. Here's the truth: Frank Dobson, Bob Leste, Steve Lowe Had Oakland A’s Stadium Plan Before Coliseum City - http://www.zennie62blog.com/2013/10/07/frank-dobson-bob-leste-steve-lowe-had-oakland-as-stadium-plan-before-coliseum-city-56582/

Chevron Richmond announced the start of a $15.5 million Community Revitalization Initiative, a five-year plan to stimulate the city’s economy by creating jobs, encouraging small business development and expanding job training opportunities. According to Zennie62.com, at held a press conference Tuesday morning at Richmond’s Community Greenspace Garden, Chevron officials said that $10 million will be spent on economic development, while the remaining $5.5 million will be invested in Chevron Richmond Announces $15 Million Community Revitalization Initiative - http://www.zennie62blog.com/2013/10/01/chevron-richmond-announces-15-million-community-revitalization-initiative-14227/

Rashid Al Malik According to Zennie62.com, The Coliseum City Project (the focus of an Oakland City Council closed session meeting today, Tuesday October 1st) just got the “middle eastern investor” Oakland's District Seven Councilmember Larry Reid was working on securing as far back as four months ago. That  “middle eastern investor” is Rashid Al Malik, and he’s teamed with an organization, Colony Capital LLC to form the Bay Investment Group. The Bay Investment Group’s website tells little other than that they’re located in The San Francisco Bay Area, but reads: “Bay Investment Group has experienced tremendous growth and at the urging of many investors, we are now negotiating possible investment strategy partnerships.” While none of those investment strategy partnerships are listed, one of them is the Coliseum City Project. For the rest of the story on Rashid Al Malik, visit Zennie62.com

Marina Shifrin's "An Interpretive Dance For My Boss Set To Kanye West" is a hit, having amassed over 3.8 million views since it was posted on Saturday. To read more indepth visit Zennie62.com: http://www.zennie62blog.com/2013/10/01/on-an-interpretive-dance-for-my-boss-set-to-kanye-west-by-marina-shifrin-90098/

The UC Berkeley Explosion and fire that happened Monday at 6:30 PM PST was said to have resulted from a theft of copper wire that occurred over the weekend. According to a number of sources, and on Twitter, the explosion happened below California Hall on campus. Students were asked to leave the grounds immediately. But 20 who were trapped on elevators because of a power outage were rescused two hours later, at 8:30 PM. The power went out at 4:40 PM, but the fireworks happened after crews tried to turn the power on again. "Essentially there was a massive fireball that erupted," Colin Ho, a UC Berkeley Student said to NBC Bay Area. "The fireball was two times the height of the building, and everyone just got the hell out of there." Uh oh. Stay safe guys. " @2kdei : There was just a huge explosion on campus #cal #ucberkeley campus police evacuating pic.twitter.com/RP26AChJlj " — ~^~LILITHI§Ri§en\Δ/ (@RenagadeGirl) October 1, 2013 RT @Eric_Rasmu...