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I heard about this one at the Bill Lockyer event in Sacramento. Wow. Seems like we're in for a weird year. Council president booed but re-elected De La Fuente says he felt racially attacked by disrespectful audience By Heather MacDonald, STAFF WRITER Article Last Updated: 01/09/2007 02:55:07 AM PST OAKLAND — Ignacio De La Fuente hung on to the presidency of the Oakland City Council on Monday, after beating back a surprising challenge from erstwhile ally Larry Reid and weathering a hostile assault by some audience members. With the majestic Paramount Theatre packed to the rafters with Oaklanders eager to see Mayor Ron Dellums publicly sworn in, the raucous audience booed loudly when De La Fuente was nominated and more than a dozen people urged the council to choose someone else for president. Loud cheers erupted when Councilmember Desley Brooks (Eastmont-Seminary) nominated Reid. However, only Brooks and Councilmember Nancy Nadel (Downtown-West Oakland) cast their votes for Reid,

This was from the Yahoo! Message Board Last nite at 9pm my wife and friend just pulled up to driveway at Prospect/Kenwyn a man with gun approached car- they set off car alarm and locked door..I ran out and told him *get the F outta here I'm calling the cops* he proceeds to point gun at me- I run in grab phone- he proceeds to bang on window of car 5 times- finally breaking glass - clicking chamber of gun while getting both purses of women- then running away to fleeing car...cops here in 3 minutes- they were gone. Was told they were just on our block 30 minutes ago looking for same people who did same thing 4 blocks away- the cops were so pissed they just missed him/them. Am always diligent about outside street- they were awaiting cars to pull in with lookouts. BE ON YOUR GUARD!!

Well, I'm back to blogging after a long illness on top of a landlord battle that caused me to move and will result in an Oakland Rent Board hearing next month as well as several complaints to the authorities in general. Let's just say this. If you're looking for an apartment in the Lake Merritt area, do you want one where the heater does not work after you moved in? How about a water heater that was 20 years old? What about several days with no hot water? How about PG&E declaring your heater a hazzard and your landlord not only refusing to repair it, but saying it's your responsibility and still asking for rent? What about the fact that one can legally withhold rent for such problems and boy were there more of them? What about your landlord entering your apartment while you're away and without your knoweldge or permission, fixing the heater, and then working to evict you? How about your landlord frequently coming in to your place without your knoweld

This is a video of a typical day on the "57" Bus line ran by AC Transit and which runs through the heart of Oakland from the San Leandro Boarder to North Oakland. This captures the crowd of students that use the bus to get home. In the days before Prop-13, AC Transit had special student-only buses that served Skyline High, where I went to school, and other places. Maybe they still do, and this isn't a normal bus. I guess I drive too much. Here's the video:

I was presented with this letter below by a friend who works at a local establishment on E. 18th Street. I later saw this on the Adams Point Yahoo! Message Board. It's about time someone communicated the message of the importance of community in fighting crime, as many people around here don't even know each other's names. The letter also states a painful fact: that Whites are the targets of assault and theft crimes committed by African Americans in the area. For whatever reason that has been true -- but not talked about -- for years. It's got to stop. MUGGINGS ON ATHOL Neighbors, We live on Athol Ave , between the lake and the Parkway. The night before last, as my fiancé made his way home from the theatre at 8:30 pm, two African-American men who had been loitering by the stop sign at Athol and Wayne in front of 228 Athol ran at him across the street and grabbed him. A gun was put to his head, he was choked, dragged down one of these driveways, pistol-whipped,

City Council Fireworks Here This is a screen shot of the sponsorship matrix for the upcoming Mayoral Inauguration for Mayor Ron Dellums. The cost range is from $10,000 to $50,000. The second photo shows what benefits each sponsor gets. Actually, the sponsorship package is quite extensive considering the public exposure the event -- or events -- will certainly get. Oh, if you're saying "I can't read this" just double click on the photo itself, then you'll see it full size for viewing. As you can see it lists the different events and the costs of sponsorship. I mean look at it this way, it's not taxpayper dollars they're using. Plus, the Black And White Ball, which I referred to, also had sponsors and an extensive cost list. Yet one could get in for a fee, or just sneak in. Now, some -- including me -- have misunderstood this to mean that the "common folk" can't come, and that doesn't appear to be the case at all; the event pl

A new tickets exchange just for Bay Area sports and events. Here's the current calendar below, but go to Bay Area Sports and Events for tickets and information. NFL 12/23 Kansas City Chiefs At Oakland Raiders Tickets 12/24 Arizona Cardinals At San Francisco 49ers NBA 12/12 Sacramento Kings At Golden State Warriors 12/14 Houston Rockets At Golden State Warriors 12/26 Philadelphia 76ers At Golden State Warriors 12/29 Boston Celtics At Golden State Warriors 01/06 Seattle Supersonics At Golden State Warriors NCAA Basketball 01/03 California At Stanford Basketball NHL 12/11 Phoenix Coyotes At San Jose Sharks Tickets 12/14 Los Angeles Kings At San Jose Sharks Tickets 12/16 Anaheim Ducks At San Jose Sharks Tickets 12/21 Dallas Stars At San Jose Sharks Tickets 12/23 Calgary Flames At San Jose Sharks Tickets 12/26 Anahiem Ducks At San Jose Sharks Tickets 12/28 Phoenix Coyotes At San Jose Sharks Tickets 01/04 Detroit Red Wings At San Jose Sharks Tickets 01/06 Columbus Blue Jackets At San