Oakland Focus News | Oakland News Online Blog

It doesn’t matter if it’s a retail business or the Oakland A’s, all good economic development efforts start with one thing: action. Well, two things – action and aggression. Over the past six years, the City of Oakland – and I mean everyone, not just the government, has shown little of either. By contrast, Fremont, led by Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty, and Fremont’s Mayor Bob Wasserman have been both active and aggressive in attempting to yank the A’s from Oakland. What can Oakland do? Simple. Fight. Take action and aggressively work to retain the A’s. Oakland should use Jacksonville, Florida as an example. Jacksonville had no business thinking it could host a Super Bowl game, but their shortcomings didn’t stop them from trying. They were rejected by the NFL, but kept coming back until finally in 2000, they landed the right to host the 2005 Super Bowl – the one the Oakland-Alameda County Sports Commission and I worked to bring to Oakland. We had a better plan, and

Senator Barack Obama came to Oakland on St. Patrick's Day and was greeted by an audience estimated to be as large as 15,000 to 20,000 people - the largest gathering of its kind in Oakland's Frank Ogawa Plaza. This video contains his introduction by Army Sgt. Georgatos and the first five to seven minutes of his rousing 22-minute speech which included a focus on his plan for Iraq. The video is also a glimpse of the sheer size and excitement of the Oakland crowd. Take a good look at the audience, and you will see that the San Francisco Chronicle was wrong in claiming that it was "mostly African American" as a way of saying that Whites, Asians, and Hispanics didn't come in large numbers. I sometimes think the Chronicle is deliberately trying to marginalize Senator Obama's candidacy, but it can't.

Yep. Organizers for Senator Barack Obama's rally at 3 PM today, told me that over 10,000 people signed up to attend his rally at the website of the campaign. If they all show up, it will be the largest gathering of its kind ever held at City Hall Plaza. I'll be there and part of the video-blogger network the campaign has assembled.

Man arrested in threats to City Hall employee Suspect had gone to Mayor Dellums' office looking for a job By Heather MacDonald , STAFF WRITER - OAKLAND TRIBUNE Article Last Updated: 03/17/2007 02:47:15 AM PDT OAKLAND — A 26-year-old man was arrested Friday morning on suspicion of making criminal threats against a member of Mayor Ron Dellums' staff after he created a disturbance outside the mayor's City Hall office, police said. Ronald Nalls, who has lived in Dublin and Oakland, went to the mayor's office seeking a job with the city after volunteering in Dellums' transition office, said Karen Stevenson, a spokeswoman for the mayor. Nalls is on probation for disturbing the peace and making criminal threats, officials said. He ran errands and stuffed envelopes for the mayor's transition team, said Stevenson, who added that he had been pleasant and had caused no problems. While Nalls was waiting to see a member of the staff in the office's small reception area a

I just read Frank Russo's account of the Sunday planning meeting for Saturday's rally for Senator Barack Obama. The Sunday meeting alone drew 500 people. Think about that. It's about half of the number that came to see John Edwards in Berkeley, and he was there. This is a planning meeting! I'm sorry I missed it, but I'm involved in planning the Saturday fund-raiser. Too much on my plate, too!

Ok, I found the rest of the info on the hostage story. ....It's in the Chron, so I guess I missed this... (03-10) 16:36 PST -- Oakland police hostage negotiators peacefully talked an armed customer out of Cybelle's Pizza at the corner of Piedmont Avenue and West Macarthur Boulevard after a one-hour standoff Saturday afternoon. Employees called police after 2 p.m., when the man approached the counter with a handgun sticking out of the waistband of his pants, said Capt. Frank Lowe. The customer didn't threaten anyone, but refused to leave the restaurant when patrol officers arrived and evacuated the employees and eight customers out the back door. The SWAT team was called and police blocked off streets. Neighboring businesses were ordered to shut their doors and keep workers and shoppers inside. A man who was with the armed suspect told police the two men had been up all night taking methamphetamine. After an hour, the pizza customer came out and kneeled on the sidewalk wi

Senator Obama is coming back to the San Francisco Bay Area. The Bay Area Democrats are one of the hosts of a fund-raiser at The Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco, on Saturday, March 17th at 5 PM. The contribution levels are $1,000 (for the 6:30 reception), $2,300 (for the 8 PM dinner), and one TBD but lower level for a grassroots event in Oakland at 3PM on the same day. To sign up for both or either event, click here: http://www.obamainsf.com I'm a co-chair for the evening event, so don't hesitate to ask any questions. You may also call at 510-387-9809.