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HIGH BLACK ARREST RATE RAISES CALL FOR INQUIRY Range of explanations offered by experts, officials for S.F.'s disparity with other cities Susan Sward, Chronicle Staff Writer Sunday, December 17, 2006 San Francisco police arrest African Americans for serious crime at a much higher rate than officers in California's other biggest cities. Black people in San Francisco are arrested for felonies at nearly twice the rate they are in Sacramento. They are arrested at twice the rate of black people in Fresno, three times the rate in San Jose, Los Angeles, Long Beach and San Diego, and four times the rate in Oakland. The disparity between San Francisco's black felony arrest rates and the seven other largest cities' -- measured by the number of African Americans arrested per 1,000 black residents -- is so large that many experts and civic leaders who reviewed the numbers said they are "disturbing" and require an investigation. The numbers prompt several questions, all o

peter, bryan, sugarbunni Originally uploaded by cicamica_ali . Ok, so if you've wondered who Peter Van Kleef is, that's him. The photo is from his restaurant / bar, or just bar now called Cafe Van Kleef. When it opened, Peter had good finger food!

cindy and sugarbunni Originally uploaded by cicamica_ali . I can't claim this photo, but if you're wondering who the blonde woman is she's Peter Van Kleef's wife and both run the now famous Cafe Van Kleef at 1621 Telegraph in downtown Oakland.

This gem of an entry comes from swtazzguy over at MySpace. It's very extensive and includes sayings I've not heard before. It's perfect for advertisers looking for ideas on how to reach the Hip Hop generation. It's also good lingo for politicians. Note that Oakland is called "City of Dope." 151- Stands for 151 Bacardi, which is the amount of proof in it, also pronouced One-Five-One 415 - 415 is the area code for San Francisco. It roughly describes the physical area of San Francisco City. 415 used to be the area code for the Bay Area, but is now broken into several area codes. 415 is also the name of a now defunked group out of Oakland, featuring Richi Rich. 6-9 Village - The 69th street projects in East Oakland (Longwood Gardens). 707 - North bay 850 - 850 Bryant, San Francisco is the address for the San Francisco County Jail. It stands omniously in SOMA, and can be seen from the freeway to the Bay Bridge. Many San Francisco rappers refer to this build

This position is listed as open on the SMG website as of the date of this blog post. California - Director of Event Services - SMG McAfee Coliseum and Oakland Arena, Oakland, CA POSITION: Director of Event Services REPORTS TO: AGM FLSA STATUS: Exempt SMG, the leader in privately managed public assembly facilities has an excellent and immediate opening for a Director of Event Services at the McAfee Coliseum and Oakland Arena. The Director of Event Services controls and monitors the customer contact aspect and front-of-house division of the facility. Plans, monitors, directs and manages event coordination. MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES: Hires, trains and supervises event service staff. Ensures successful event coordination activities by supervising and training Event Mangers. Plans, organizes and assigns all day-to-day work assignments for event coordinator. Researches, reviews and recommends equipment, materials and supplies required in providing event services and planning. Coordinates outs

This blog post just sat there, but it's worth reading as it explains how upset Raider fans are over the parking problems down there at the Coliseum. This person names every Coliseum contact. JPA MEETIING FRIDAY GREAT DAY RAIDER NATION Alrighty RAIDER NATION, with two months left and ticking for the current 10 year PSL lease to expire, it’s my belief that the problems that have arised are not the fault of us RAIDER fans. It’s the the gurantee the JPA made to the RAIDERS when they first moved back in 1995:”every game would be sold out”. We all know what the result has been. But, if you the RAIDER FAN do not step in and start to make noise regarding PSLs, the parking fiasco, etc., the powers that be may think they can continue to function in the same fashion that has brought about these current problems. I have been hearing many RAIDERS fans lately complain about how they are being treated regarding parking. I, like you do not like what I am seeing with the parking but I am getting

Old news, but still worth posting at any rate. Ending weeks of speculation, Mayor Ron Dellums on Friday named his senior staff, saying they had the experience necessary to help him turn Oakland into a model city. Dellums’ chief of staff will be Dan Boggan Jr., a former Berkeley city manager and University of California, Berkeley administrator who has long been active in a number of Alameda County organizations. Boggan will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the office and for coordinating with City Administrator Deborah Edgerly, who said Dellums has asked her to stay on. Victor Ochoa, an Oakland attorney who was part of Latinos for Dellums during the mayoral campaign, will serve as deputy chief of staff for public safety and economic development. He will also work with City Attorney John Russo. Michele R. Brown, who worked in the Labor Department during President Clinton’s administration and for the Democratic National Committee, will be deputy chief of staff for consti

I found this on the blog "Thoughts From A Strange Mind." "Now the president of the council represents the district that I live in. The only reason that I voted for him was because he was the only one to come to my door and ask for my vote for city council (I voted for someone else for mayor.) After seeing what I did today, he will never get my vote again. I have never really cared for the man's policies, as he has cost the city millions of dollars, he has used is position to get away with things, and his son was arrested for multible rapes. After what I saw today, he will not be getting my vote in the future if he wants it. I'd rather vote for Sadaam." These are the words of Earl Williams as he reports on his first Oakland City Council meeting, the one held on Monday.

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