Oakland Focus News | Oakland News Online Blog

On June 19th, Oakland Council President Ignacio De La Fuente gave a concession speech at his headquarters and after learning that Ron Dellums secured enough votes to become Mayor-Elect of Oakland. De La Fuente pledged to keep working hard for Oakland, and indeed has done so, presiding over last night's Oakland City Council meeting, where the council approved the plan for a new Kaiser Hospital complex. Here's the InsideBayArea.com video:

In both a funny commercial and a good use of the Internet, Jerry Brown's record on crime in Oakland is attacked by his Republican AG opponent Chuck Poochigian. The commerical compares Jerry Brown to such fictional crime fighters as Batman and Dirty Harry, and not in a favorable way. It's totally funny. But it's also a weird kind of boost for Jerry in that it uses his name rather than Poochigian's, who's name recognition is far lower than Brown's. It goes like this: "There have been some classical fictional crime fighters: Batman, Dick Tracy, Sherlock Holmes and Dirty Harry. But for sheer audacity, one stands alone ... Jerry Brown. During Jerry Brown's time as mayor of Oakland, burglaries are up 9 percent, robberiesup 18 percent, auto theft up 84 percent, and homicides up a staggering 54 percent. And now this caped crusader wannabe says he wants to do for all of California what he's done for Oakland. ... Holy scary thought, Batman!"

I remarked to a friend that a visit to the Oakland Lake Merritt Farmers Market -- and to stores on Lakeshore -- revealed something I've never seen before: very few African Americans. It was the first time in all my life that I was able to look into a place like the Lake Merritt Cafe and see not even one black person for a time. The friend remarked that Oakland had more white people than black -- so I found this article below. And while it may not be accurate, it does seem that the flight from San Francisco's high housing costs have produced this dynamic. And it also may -- in fact I assert that it does -- explain the rising level of racism in the City's core neighborhood. Oakland historically has been the most diverse and less segregated city in America. I fear that era may be coming to an end. To be sure, the picture is more complex. There are more interracial couples than in the past, but the city itself seems to have divided into black, Latino, and white areas, wi

Wow. One person keeps sending comments about the incident at Easy, and no, I didn't post them. First, the matter is a painful one for me. Second, this person not of color doesn't seem to get that. Third, I made my point. Fourth, the owner sent an appology. Fifth, the person wasn't there. Sixth, someone else made the same "explain it away" comment -- with insults. Enough. What's equally hard for me to experience is the constant example of the racial dvide that exists -- and is growing -- in Oakland as based on the fact that African Americans I talk to understand what I experienced and some -- not all by any stretch, thank God -- white Oaklanders try to explain the matter away. Again, the owner of Easy emailed an appology. When I was a columnist with the Montclarion, we didn't publish every letter we received, but we knew who wrote it. By contrast, the people who tend to comment don't want you to know who they are, which (they think) leaves

A nice story that shows a different side of Oakland. Transvestites charm macho Fruitvale bar Glamorous performers dazzle crowds with their weekly show By Angela Hill, STAFF WRITER - OAKLAND TRIBUNE OAKLAND — Danny Hernandez came out of the closet-sized dressing room in a gown that was sequined enough for a woman but made for a man. A little thicker in the shoulders. A little straighter in the hips. Techno-mariachi music throbbed a deep pulse -- not the kind of loud that hurts your ears, but the kind of loud that hurts your internal organs. A rainbow of colored spotlights twirled. A smoke machine puffed. The crowd in the tiny bar went wild, and the Mexican transvestite show was on. "The Queens of the Night" -- a troupe of four transvestites and one transsexual — perform at La Frontera nightclub in Oakland every Tuesday night. Kind of an odd sight to behold in this straight bar in the middle of the Fruitvale, and often an uneasy fit with macho Mexican traditions. But there'

PRESS ADVISORY FROM Office of Councilmember Nancy Nadel, District Three Contact: Marisa Arrona, (510) 238-7031 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 23, 2006 OAKLAND CITY COUNCILMEMBER NANCY NADEL INVITES COMMUNITY INPUT ON PRELIMINARY DESIGN OF THE LAKEVIEW LIBRARY DOG PARK. Thursday, June 29, 2006, 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Resurrection Lutheran Church, 397 Euclid Avenue at Van Buren. Oakland, CA - Please join Oakland City Councilmember Nancy Nadel, the Department of Public Works, the Northlake Neighborhood Group, and O'DOG at a public meeting to review and comment on the preliminary design of the Lakeview Dog Park. The Community Meeting will take place on Thursday, June 29th, at 7:00 pm at the Resurrection Lutheran Church in Oakland. The idea of a dog park near Lake Merritt was first proposed by the Northlake Neighborhood Group back in 1998. This unique park-within-a- park will have garden pergolas at both ends and the outer fencing will be covered with hummingbird and butterfly friendly plants.

Two of the best hours of mu life were spent talking to a very wise Lionel Wilson at a table in front of Starbucks on Lakeshore in 1997, just one year before he passed away. We talked about what it means to carry on with your goals regardless of opposition. He gave me a lot of advise. But the best thing he told me to do was to listen to people. After five years, the downtown building that carries his name-- the terminal also known as the "Southwest Terminal" also has his name -- finally has the appropriate designation. Rededication honors Oakland's first black mayor Name of Lionel J. Wilson, who fought against discrimination, emblazoned on city building By Zuri Berry, CORRESPONDENT - OAKLAND TRIBUNE OAKLAND — In his 13 years as Oakland mayor, Lionel J. Wilson worked to stop discrimination in the city, rebuild downtown Oakland and create jobs for minorities. Wilson, who died of cancer in 1998, was elected the first black mayor of Oakland. He became mayor in 1977 after