Oakland Focus News | Oakland News Online Blog

Maria Ayerdi Will Cause Development Dollars To Flow From Oakland When the currently proposed new Transbay Terminal comes to reality, you can thank the direction of one person for its completion and subsequent drawing or more development dollars away from Oakland: Maria Ayerdi-Kaplan. Who? Kaplan is the Executive Director of The Transbay Joint Powers Authority (TJPA) , the organization responsible for the development and financing of this massive project, which was featured in this video I created last year: The authority's work will result in the tallest building ever constructed in San Francisco, over 1,000 feet tall and a retail and mixed use complex of over 2 million square feet of space. Maria Ayerdi-Kaplan's resume is perfect for the role. She was Maria Ayerdi-Kaplan is the Executive Director of the Transbay Joint Powers Authority (TJPA) and a former TJPA Board Member. A member of the State Bar of California, Kaplan has served as the Mayor of San Francisco’s ..

For me, covering what turned out to be this three-part video documentary started with a call from a friend and fellow Cal Alum who said that I should get "down there" with my camera because there was no video on what was happening. So, fresh from a meeting, and with two hours to spare, I went over to the Grove in front of Cal Memorial Stadium, the site of the clash between the Cal Tree Sitters and the UC Administration and Police. The overall story is that we -- Cal -- needs an upgraded stadium facility and the plans for this have been in the works for almost ten years. With the success of Cal Coach Jeff Tedford, it became easier to raise money toward this objective. As part of the effort , the University of California was able to secure $500 million from British Petroleum, most of which would go to the creation of a new research institute, and the rest toward what will be an athletic facility upgrade -- a new training center where the Grove is. (CORRECTION - The BP D

Oakland- Bay Area Women In Black v. SF Voice For Israel - Grand Avenue War Part One Part Two Each Saturday morning on the corner of Grand Avenue and Lake Park, and in front of the historic Grand Lake Theater, two groups stage a protest against U.S policies in Iraq and The Mid East, and against each other. I titled this "Oakland Culture War" because that's really what it is. Two groups of people who -- even though some may not live in Oakland -- picked this corner in Oakland to protest, and who have such differing views on The Mid East, they have agreed to stand away from each other, on opposite sides of the street to avoid arguing. After walking by these groups and saying nothing -- like everyone else -- I decided to take camcorder in hand and get information. The video contains some very interesting information, particularly by SF Voice for Israel. What was also of note, and comes out in the video, is how the Bay Area Women Against War seem afraid to talk to