Oakland Focus News | Oakland News Online Blog

We hear alot about Michael Phelps and Natalie Coughlin, especially in the San Francisco Bay Area, where Natalie's a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley -- Cal! But we don't hear alot about heroes like Emily Silver, Natalie's teammate , fellow Cal-grad, and friend. Emily planned and trained to race in the 100 free, 100 fly, 200 free, and 50 free, but because she broke two fingers, Emily qualified for the 4 by 100 relay, where she played a major role in the United States taking the silver medal in that category. Congratulations Emily and GO BEARS!

This is the video that was the focus of a front page Oakland Tribune article, where it was refered to as the "secret tape". It has Yusuf Bey IV of Your Black Muslim Bakery talking to two other unidentified associates in an Oakland Police holding room, and whispering as if they did not want to be heard, but they were. What's revealing in this tape is the sheer insensitivity of the three to the fact that Bailey (or anyone) had been murdered. It's also hard to pin down who did what from the tape. But it's clear the Oakland Police were trying to form a case against Your Black Muslim Bakery. To date, Bey has not been charged and the only person who has been is Devondre Brousard .

Harry arrives at the Balboa Cafe From San Francisco Scene / SF Politics If you'd have told me that I'd end my evening into very early morning trying to convince the legendary Harry Denton not to lay down in the middle of the intersection of Filmore and Greenwich after what he admits was a drunken bender, I'd have said you were nuts. Well, you weren't. What I saw was the embodiment of Old San Francisco in action. Harry Denton's a throwback to the days of a bar called "Henry Africa" and Herb Caen and the Three Martini lunch, and Carol Doda. Denton is fun, San Francisco style. But what I now understand that to mean is a kind of ultimate freedom we don't see today. And when we do see it, we just don't know what to do. Ok. This is what happened. I decided to visit the Balboa Cafe in San Francisco, really because I'm used to the place and thought that the Olympics would be on television and I could watch the games with a crowd that may be ye...

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 .. ...

Richmond City Council Approves Chevron Upgrade Plan 5 to 4 After a long and bruising Tuesday night-into-Wednesday morning Richmond City Council meeting, the City Council approved Chevron's Richmond Oil Refinery Upgrade Plan on an emotional 5-4 vote and approving the community development plan 6 to 1. I attended the packed meeting which seemed to draw every media person in the Bay Area to Cutting Boulevard and the council gathering. It was indeed a people-circus, with folks representing those who wanted to save their Chevron jobs (which probably weren't going any where anyway) and others who were in opposition to the idea that Chevron was breathing, let alone upgrading an existing facility. The main issue is the assumed production using crude oil: Chevron says they don't use it at the plant; opponents say they're lying. The project has been the source of much controvery, with California Attorney General Jerry Brown weighing in, saying that the Environmental Im...

If you've never taken a canoe ride on Lake Merritt, and I have yet to do so, this is what it looks like, thanks to YouTuber laurenneutral -- the screen name:

According to today's NY Times , the newspaper industry is in trouble, as papers suffer from competition from the Internet. The SF Chron has been losing $1 million a week since last year. As Tim O'Reily wrote last year, he reads the online version of the SF Chron 95 percent of the time, and the "offline" version about 5 percent of the time. That's probably true for me, as well, but Tim and I are both in the Internet business. What can be done? Well, my answer is "nothing" -- the offline news people have to adjust to this New Media world, as do institutions and PR people who have been oriented toward using offline newspapers to get the news out. This also includes sports leagues like the NFL, which has a long standing relationship with such organizations as The Associated Press, but not the Huffington Post , which draws 14 million visitors a month. The SF Chron seems to be trying to find its way on The Internet, where it gets about 5 million visitors...

Kofi Bonner | Bonner With Lennar in SF Bay Area | 49ers Stadium Issue After a stellar career as an executive in the National Football League and with a credit card company, my friend Kofi Bonner is back in the San Francisco Bay Area as Director Of Urban Land for Lennar Corporation. Here's some background on the person who was once Interim City Manager for Oakland from the SF Business TImes. Kofi Bonner is back. Lennar Corp. has hired the former Bay Area planning and political whiz to help in its Hunters Point and Treasure Island developments and search for fresh Bay Area opportunities from San Jose to Sacramento. "It's wonderful to see the old faces. Many have moved onward and upward and are as cantankerous and loving as ever," said Bonner. "It's great to be back." Known for his aggressive role in redeveloping Emeryville during the 1980s, Bonner also served as the head of economic development and interim City Manger in Oakland before becoming an...

This video is based on the lawsuit that Bob won and is discussed below and here. Kids Get $3M in Mom's Death Montereyherald.com June 20, 2007 Original Montereyherald.com article: Kids Get $3M in Mom's Death A Monterey County jury awarded almost $3 million to the children of a woman killed when a Monterey cypress toppled on her car on Highway 1 north of Moss Landing on New Year's Day last year. 'There was a message with this,' said Bob Schock, an attorney representing two of Jacine Calderon Sarmiento's children. 'After the verdict, the jurors said they hoped the state of California would do something about the trees along the highways.' Sarmiento, 45, was driving along Highway 1 during a raging storm on Jan. 1, 2006, with her 5-year-old daughter when the tree fell on her vehicle. Sarmiento was killed and her daughter, Athena, suffered minor injuries. At the time, emergency crews reported that two other cypress trees from the grove along the highway fell ...