Oakland Focus News | Oakland News Online Blog

Someone just sent a comment to one of my posts -- that I published -- in which he attributes Oakland's property value boom to Jerry Brown. Gimme a break! Property values in Oakland started increasing just two year's before Jerry was elected and that was Bay Area wide; not just in Oakland -- memories are short. All of us in Elihu's administration said that Jerry was lucky: he was taking over as Mayor at a time when the Bay Area economy was booming and all of the office and housing projects Elihu helped to get off the ground were being constructed. From the new skycraper on 11th street and just behind the APL Building, to Old Oakland Housing Phase II, to The Rotunda, and all of the government buildings downtown. All of that -- the modern Oakland skyline -- was Elihu's stamp; not Jerry Brown's. Heck even Jerry himself said this. I was there when he did at the ceremony for the new Rotunda building. That structure was redeveloped by Phil Tagami and California Com

Cops: Killing, holdup may be tied Police want to question man in crimes at liquor store, restaurant By Harry Harris, STAFF WRITER - OAKLAND TRIBUNE OAKLAND — A liquor store holdup may be related to the robbery-slaying of a Grand Avenue restaurant manager four days later, homicide detectives said Tuesday. Killed in the April 24 robbery at Bangkok Palace, 3300 Grand Ave., was 29-year-old Sonethavy Phomsouvanhdara. "There is potential that (the liquor store) case is related to the robbery-murder," especially since the suspects in both cases are similar in appearance, homicide Sgt. Lou Cruz said Tuesday He declined to say more, except that the liquor store robber is "certainly someone I would like to talk to." Cruz released surveillance pictures taken of the gunman during the April 20 robbery at Grand Express Liquors, 363 Grand Ave., about a mile from Bangkok Palace. Cruz said the man entered the store through the front door about 9:50 p.m. and demanded money from the r

You know what kills me is the handful of bloggers that seem to "speak" for people in Rockridge and who attack Ron Dellums for not being specific. Many of them -- ah, all of them -- don't even understand Oakland's history, nor have seen it change over 32 years as I have. Moreover, all of them are not black and none of them have been true insiders. They write without a knoweldge of history and an understanding of Oakland's culture. They're blind. Blind to the way Oakland's changed. Blind to the inner-workings of Oakland government. Blind to the unusual crime wave plaguing Lake Merritt and the reasons behind it. Blind to how Oakland works. And yet they blog. Because they do so without knoweldge of their subject, I'll call them "Bloogers" -- a Blooger is a person who writes just for the matter of expressing an opinion, but not sharing new knowelge. Thus, it's no surprise to me that they can't "see" the basic and c

From the Yahoo! Message Board Walk for our communities, our lives We are the Community Coalition Against Crime. We are unsatisfied with the response that city leaders have given to this issue. For instance, the walking officer on Grand Ave ends his/her shift at 8pm – while most crime happens after dark. We believe the City can do more to combat the ongoing violent crime wave in Oakland. We refuse to simply lock our doors at 7pm and live in fear. We will not be quiet until we know our voices have been heard. 7 pm Wednesday, May 17, 2006 Splashpad Park We want to achieve the following: 1) increased awareness about crime 2) building community 3) organizing real, permanent solutions For more information contact us at ccac_Oakland@hotmail.com

This is from the NCPC 15X Yahoo! Group: Lakeshore NCPC Meeting (15X) Wednesday May 17, 2006 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm This event repeats on the third Wednesday of every month. The next reminder for this event will be sent in 3 days, 4 minutes. Event Location: Leaning Tower of Pizza Street: 498 Wesley Ave. City, State, Zip: Oakland, CA 94606 Phone: 510/444-6824

I will not post the name of this person, but that doesn't matter. What does is the complaint. The Oakland Police Department should take action on this. "Out of curiosity, has anyone actually met or observed a police officer who was in the new police substation at the Albertson's in our neighborhood? I have visited four times (morning and afternoon) over the last two weeks in order to introduce myself, but it has been empty. FYI: When I talk to folks in the neighborhood about the empty/ unattended police substation which was seemingly constructed to molify concerned and frightened neighbors and not actually be used, we agree that the criminals who see it know that (thus far) it's a farce and are NOT the least bit intimidated. If there have been a decrease in panhandlers in that parking lot, I'd like to see some written evidence of that, and if there have been potential criminals apprehended by officers who work that station, please give us evidence of such.

This, again, is from the NCPC 14 X Yahoo! Group. Hello Everyone, Below is a summary of Monday's 14X NCPC meeting, for folks who were unable to attend. Those who were present at the Veterans Memorial on Monday know what a huge crowd we had, with over 100 people gathered! The meeting was longer than usual, so forgive the lengthy summary; a lot of ground was covered. And thanks to everyone who attended; we're really moving forward with forming a cohesive Adams Point network. 1) Introductions: Our new Neighborhood Services coordinator [NSC], Hoang Bahn, introduced herself and invited first-time attendees to do the same. New faces included both long-time residents and recent arrivals to Adams Point asking "What can we do to make our neighborhood safer?" Hot-topic issues included robbery, break-ins, loitering, car theft, Golden Bear/ Round Table Pizza noise and traffic safety, Casual Carpool problems, and the Whistle Stop program. NCPC Board Chair Conor Hickey emphasized th