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Proposal Would Raise West Berkeley Skyline. Category: Front Page News from The Berkeley Daily Planet - Thursday April 02, 2009 : “City planning staff have dropped a bombshell on anxious West Berkeley activists: a proposal that would double the height of new buildings and potentially open the area to office complexes. The staff proposal, if enacted without changes, could mean a West Berkeley skyline studded with 90-foot-tall office towers—a host of buildings as tall as the area’s currently dominant high-rise, the Fantasy Records Building. Even some of the more developer-friendly commissioners had questions after Assistant Planner Claudine Asbagh presented the concepts, which are the latest round of a City Council-mandated effort to ease development rules in the only part of the city zoned for light industry and manufacturing. ” -- And drive the poor out of West Berkeley. What's the deal with Berkeley's planning staff? A drive for more property taxes?

From The Berkeley Daily Planet - Thursday April 02, 2009 The BART strategy is unfolding and it spells a grim future for the Oscar Grant case and potentially even more unrest. The BDP reports that BART lawyers are saying Oscar Grants own actions contributed to his murder. I find that hard to swallow and it's a terrible message to have released into the public given the existence of the cell phone videos. BART continues to make PR blunders one after the other.

This phase of work, work, work is not done (and this is part of it) but not yet taking its toll. To make sure that doens't happen, I did two things: 1) I went to the gym and 2), I went out to just relax. The first thing, the gym, I do every day, or try too. I'm working to keep by weight below 200 pounds. I find I feel best at less than 196. Yesterday I was at 198. The second act was just plain going out. I wound up, as they say, at Luka's and ran into my neighbors and their friend who can dance up a storm. So, for the first time in a a while, I danced to some combination of "house" and reggae. Then, once enough sweat was produced to make think of my desire not to sweat a lot, I stopped, and fortunately so did they, and left. That was fun. It's also a blast to do it with people from your hood. Then I wound up at another place called Mua and ran into a couple I generally see at Cafe Ven Kleef. They had a friend in West Oakland who had a story tip f

On March 22nd, the Parkway Theater in at 1834 Park Blvd in Oakland played its last set of films to a large audience, then stopped after 12 years of operation and a lot of memories. This is the video story I made from that night: A victim of the economy and a landlord seeking higher rents, Parkway Owners Catherine and Kyle Fisher made a decision to close the legendary business just four days before the last opening night. But no sooner did that happen than a group of concerned Oaklanders sprang into action. They set up a website called http://iliketheparkway.com and a facebook page called "Save The Parkway Speakeasy Theater", then held now three meetings. This video presents much of the action and talk from the second meet: a large event at Roos Cafe on Park Avenue, just three doors from the Parkway itself. Here's the video from the meeting: The meeting attendees divided into several sub-groups and determined possible future programming and business models fo

I just received this letter copy via email.  It comes on the heels of the news that A's Owner Lew Wolff called Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums to request a meeting regarding keeping the A's in Oakland.  SEN. BOXER WORKS TO KEEP A’S IN OAKLAND Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) today sent the following letter to Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig: March 31, 2009 Allan H. (Bud) Selig, Commissioner Major League Baseball 245 Park Avenue, 31st Floor New York, NY 10167 Dear Commissioner Selig:             I appreciate the announcement you made yesterday that you are forming a committee to review the various proposals regarding the future of the Oakland Athletics.  As your committee does its work, I urge you to do everything possible to keep the team in Oakland.             As you may know, Oakland has recently gone through some difficult times and families there deserve some good news. As someone who splits her time between Washington, DC,

More at Inside Bay Area : “OAKLAND — Members of the Oakland Police Department and the families of four slain officers will take a step toward closure today following one of the darkest chapters of their lives. They won't be alone. Law enforcement officers from all 50 states and a handful of foreign countries are expected to pour into the Oracle Arena for an 11 a.m. funeral honoring the four officers killed in related shooting incidents last Saturday. A list of tentative speakers includes acting police Chief Howard Jordan, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, state Attorney General Jerry Brown, and family and friends of the officers. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is scheduled to meet privately with the families before the service around 10:15 a.m., police said.”

This statement by "The Uhuru Movement" (Uhuru means "freedom") has been making the rounds unfortunately. It's not reflective of what many feel regardless of color, but it's important to know how cold some people can be. The African People’s Education and Defense Fund thanks all of our friends and supporters who have voiced their concerns about the position taken by the Uhuru Movement on the March 21 killings of four Oakland policemen and twenty-six year old Lovelle Mixon. We unite with your interest in dialog and resolution to this situation and in building unity among the various communities in Oakland through genuine social justice. The Uhuru Movement has always understood that our friends may disagree with some of our positions — positions that always uphold justice for the African working class community. We understand and unite with your concerns that the tense situation in Oakland must be resolved. It is unfortunate that it takes a