Oakland Focus News | Oakland News Online Blog

Not only are we facing chances of fires starting but the air quality in these times are poor. Everyone is encouraged to SPARE THE AIR, and use public transportation. The full story by the Oakland Tribune is below: By William Brand, Staff Writer Article Last Updated: 08/27/2008 10:46:10 AM PDT Red flag fire warning for East Bay hills today It's a familiar story this time of year of the Bay Area. The combination of hot winds blowing out of the Central Valley, rising temperatures and bone dry conditions has caused the National Weather Service to issue a Red Flag fire warning today. The fire-danger warning is for the Diablo Range and the North Bay and East Bay Hills, especially the southernmost East Bay hills near San Jose, the Weather Service said. Temperatures are expected to hit 102 degrees in Livermore and Concord this afternoon; even next to the bay, Oakland can expect 90 degrees. Tomorrow's going to be even warmer, up to 104 in the Concord - Pleasanton-Livermore corridor and

Flawed Oak To Ninth Referendum Killed By City Attorney, But Lawsuit Challenge To Action Dropped In October of 2006, and pointing to a major flaw in a referendum to delay the controversial Oak to Ninth Development Project, Oakland City Attorney John Russo killed the petition drive. The reasons he gave at the time were: Here are the facts: • The City of Oakland is required, upon request, to provide a date-stamped, certified, hard-copy of any ordinance; • The Referendum Committee finally requested a certified, hard-copy of the ordinance on September 8 th –several weeks AFTER the signatures had been turned in; • The Referendum Committee claims they were told by the City Clerk’s office they could download the ordinance from the website, but cannot tell us who specifically gave them this direction; • The copy of the ordinance that the Referendum Committee used read “NOT ACCURATE –TO BE UPDATED” on the Table of Contents; • Even though one of the primary concerns for the Committee was a pote

Although it's one year -- actually less than that -- away, the website for the Fox Theater is now live and operational. It's an informative publication at http://www.oaklandfox.com and shows how the "Fox Theater Restoration Project", under the direction of California Commercial Group and Phil Tagami, is coming along toward its October 2008 completion. Visit the site, and donate to the construction effort . When you do, this is what you get... $250 Friend of the Oakland Fox: 2 Grand Opening Gala Tickets $500 First Nighter: 4 Grand Opening Gala Tickets $1,000 Key Grip: 8 Grand Opening Gala Tickets, Lobby Recognition Plaque and more! $2,500 Best Boy: 8 Grand Opening Gala Tickets, Tile on the Fox Walkway of Stars and more! $5,000 Stage Manager: Reserved Table at Opening Night Gala, VIP Access for 4 guests and more! $10,000 Promoter: Your Name or Logo on the Promoter Banner, 2 Tickets to exclusive Green Room Reception and more! $25,000 Headliner: Your

While this Oakland Tribune report explains how the East Bay -- which includes Oakland -- has a declining hate crimes rate, this article in the San Francisco Examiner points to a finding that San Francisco, while seeing a declining rate as well, as a statistic higher than that for any city in California. Drop in East Bay hate crimes defies trend By Matthias Gafni, STAFF WRITER - OAKLAND TRIBUNE Article Last Updated: 11/20/2007 08:26:24 AM PST Despite a jump of nearly 8 percent in hate crime incidents nationwide last year, the East Bay continued to see a downward trend, according to the FBI's hate crime report released Monday. Contra Costa and Alameda counties have seen their combined hate crime numbers drop 36 percent since 2002, according to the statistics. Hate crimes have dropped each of those years, with a five-year low of 53 last year. The release of the 2006 hate crime statistics comes as two East Contra Costa agencies continue to investigate two high-profile alleged hate

I read the latest news on the Oakland Army Base with more than the usual passing interest. I absorbed it and chuckled. I could not help it. Why? Because the Oakland Army Base land has sat largely unused for years -- since 1999 -- while the Oakland City Council and whomever happened to be Mayor jockied with the Port of Oakland for control of its development. That struggle is also itself countered by competing ideas of what Oakland Councilmembers want to do with the land. It's these political tug of wars that have delayed development of what is still the Bay Area's best infill development opportunity. I can go over scores of examples of land uses that have been proposed for that area, from a ballpark for the Oakland A's to a farmers market, which was the proposal of long-time Oakland development activist Steve Low, my friend and for some time the with the West Oakland Commerce Association (WOCA). But as much as I like Steve, even he's been part of the enormous num

I've been heavily involved in supporting Senator Barack Obama's run for President of The United States. One of my most recent decisions was to join East Bay For Obama, a fun organization that has various fundraisers and gatherings around the objective of supporting and promoting the Senator and his candidacy. To gain a small taste of what an East Bay For Obama function is like, I made this video below. You can find out more about the group at the Barack Obama website at www.barackobama.com, just click on My Barack Obama and then "Groups." Here's the video:

I felt this one and told someone it was a 4.3; I was close. This earthquake hit in Lafayette, CA as its center. While in the report below, the research claims there's no cause for alarm, I disagree. These things are coming more frequently, and its a matter of time before we get a good sized one and its not far off. LAFAYETTE 4.2 quake jolts Bay Area -- no link to last week's temblor Keay Davidson and Wyatt Buchanan - SFGate.com Thursday, March 1, 2007 (03-01) 22:02 PST -- A 4.2 magnitude earthquake near Lafayette shook the Bay Area, just one week after a smaller quake in the same region. There's no cause for alarm, however, and judging by preliminary evidence, the Thursday evening quake is just another reminder of continual slippage on Bay Area faults, a leading U.S. Geological Survey expert said. "This is just a reminder that we all should ask ourselves, 'Do we have an earthquake kit in the car?' " USGS geophysicist Ross Stein told The Chronicle lat