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First, I got wind of this Thursday night at the gym, and looked into the article. The person who told me about this was right. The comments in the Tribune article are as distasteful as the way Mr. Carey reportedly came after Phil Tagami. I've captured both below. And as a word of warning, I do not publish anonymous comments. Don't try. As to where I was during all this? The MLB All Star Game, happily. Oakland business leaders in near-brawl at City Hall By Cecily Burt, STAFF WRITER - OAKLAND TRIBUNE Article Last Updated: 07/12/2007 12:58:35 PM PDT OAKLAND — Two men known to blow off steam at city meetings from time to time nearly came to physical blows outside City Hall Tuesday afternoon, although the only casualty appears to be Councilmember Larry Reid's bad back, wrenched while trying to keep the peace. The near dust-up happened in the middle of Tuesday's Community and Economic Development Committee meeting. The room was packed because comedy film mogul Keenen Iv

On the first Saturday of each month, Cafe Van Kleef, a great electic hangout at 1621 Telegraph features a dance group called The Hot Pink Feathers. It's a San Francisco-based group of women who described their performance as "Hot Pink Feathers is the world's premiere samba burlesque dance troupe. These San Francisco-based dancing darlings are spreading the glitter gospel across the globe with their exuberant extravangzas. From family friendly to all-out risque revues, the Feathers entertainment themes range from Brazilian Carnaval, New Orleans Mardi Gras, French Can Can, Gypsy Cabaret, Tropical Sambafest, to Bawdy Bollywood and beyond." They dance to the music of a band called "Blue Bone Express" and in the hottest outfits anyone's ever seen. They pack the house. I've only seen them once before this video, and when I did I told Peter Van Kleef, the establishment's owner, than I'd film the event -- that's what it is, really -- the ne

The Uptown Bar is known for hosting music groups of all kinds from rock to rap and hip hop, which pretty much means they're going to see all kinds of personalities. Tuesday, July 3rd was no exception. On that evening, Uptown hoted a hip hop group called Mista Masta, which is repped by ATM Records , at least that's true according to Uptown's calendar as it looked for this week -- that will change. Anyway, the group got a little rowdy and after their performance didn't clear the stage to close. Uptown Manager and Owner Kevin Burns decided to take matters into his own hands, and got up onto the stage to tell the group it was time to clean up. As he did this, he was hit by a woman on one side and then clobbered in the head by a man, both unidentified, but also part of the group. Kevin called the cops, but by the time they arrived, the Mista Masta clan was out of the door and gone. When I conducted an online search, I learned that the only Mista Masta is someone als

We were all very excited when Ron Dellumns became Mayor of Oakland as w wanted a fresh face and a new start. But since he assumed office, Mayor Dellumns has been largely quiet. But what's personally distressing to me is that when I call the Mayor's Office main number -- 510-238-3141 -- I've gotten a voicemail message during business hours on several occasions. It's happened so much that I now call another number I used when I needed to directly contact Jerry Brown. I'm not giving that number out just yet, because once I do, the Mayor's Office may change it. Oaklanders have echoed the same feelings I express here. Take a look at this forum exchange I found on Topix.com: Graham Carter Berkeley, CA Reply » | Flag | #1 Jan 12, 2006 If he moved elsewhere HE would not be missed - as major HE was a total failure. deeba dabba Saint Louis, MO Reply » | Flag | #2 Saturday Jun 16 yep, i don't doubt it, crap always seems to like to stick around Oakland Kevin San

Yep. You read that clear as day. I will repeat the title: "Oakland and The SF Bay Area Slowly Becoming More Racist Than The South" Before I explain, let's recap exactly what the definition of racism is by referring to this Wikipedia definition: In practice, racism takes forms such as racial prejudice, segregation or subordination (subjugation). Racism can more narrowly refer to a legalized system of domination by one ethnic group over another, such as in institutional racism. Racial prejudice refers to a pre-formed notion of individuals based on their perceived racial heritage. It involves hasty generalizations about members of a group based on the perceived characteristics of one or more members of the group. Generalizations include beliefs that every member of a group has the same personality traits, interests, language, culture, ideas, norms and attitudes. Racial prejudices are sometimes promoted by the mainstream media. Racism has started wars and slavery. It is,

I walked into a local restaurant off Piedmont Avenue and got both a great meal and a great conversation with two Oakland School teachers. Unfortunately, I learned that one of them was just mugged at gunpoint on Palm Avenue last week. That's the same street I live on. The pattern's becoming all too familar: white women being the target of someone Black or Latino in their teens or maybe 20 at best. I stopped writing for a while here because I was sick to my stomach of reporting crime. I still am.

I've been heavily involved in supporting Senator Barack Obama's run for President of The United States. One of my most recent decisions was to join East Bay For Obama, a fun organization that has various fundraisers and gatherings around the objective of supporting and promoting the Senator and his candidacy. To gain a small taste of what an East Bay For Obama function is like, I made this video below. You can find out more about the group at the Barack Obama website at www.barackobama.com, just click on My Barack Obama and then "Groups." Here's the video:

Here's the info on the Earthquake you may have felt in Oakland. It's from the US Government's site. Magnitude 3.0 - duration magnitude (Md) Time Wednesday, May 2, 2007 at 12:20:19 PM (PDT) Wednesday, May 2, 2007 at 19:20:19 (UTC) Distance from Emeryville, CA - 2 km (1 miles) NNW (345 degrees) Berkeley, CA - 3 km (2 miles) SW (218 degrees) Albany, CA - 4 km (3 miles) S (177 degrees) Kensington, CA - 6 km (4 miles) SSW (192 degrees) Oakland, CA - 9 km (5 miles) NW (318 degrees) Coordinates 37 deg. 51.2 min. N (37.853N), 122 deg. 17.6 min. W (122.293W) Depth 8.5 km (5.3 miles) Location Quality Good Location Quality Parameters Nst=136, Nph=136, Dmin=4 km, Rmss=0.18 sec, Erho=0.1 km, Erzz=0.4 km, Gp=28.8 degrees Event ID# nc51181496

Medical Malpractice is a large problem, and over 90 percent of doctors sued win their cases. But not in the case of Oakland Lawyer Robert G. Shock. Bob Schock represented the plaintiff, A'Daja Daniels -- a then-seven year old child (who's now 14 years old). He won a judgement of over $800,000, when he was expecting perhaps $300,000, but the jury was swayed by the severity of damage caused to her by doctor error and the impact it has on her ability to reach her economic potential, or to put it another way, to gain money from the best job for her. In this video, Bob talks about the case and his law practice. Bob's office is at 1970 Broadway in Oakland. His phone number is 839-7722 and website is Legalpros.org

If it's true that law follows society, then this is a sure sign of the end of the conservative era and the start of a period of fairness. BERKELEY Judge allows race as factor in enrollment Decision is first since Prop. 209 to let school district integrate Bob Egelko, SF Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, April 11, 2007 Berkeley's public schools, the first in the nation to desegregate voluntarily, can consider the racial composition of a student's neighborhood in an enrollment system designed to keep each campus racially diverse, an Alameda County judge has ruled. The decision by Superior Court Judge Winifred Smith could lead to the first California appellate ruling on a school district's ability to maintain a voluntary integration program under Proposition 209, the 1996 initiative that banned race and sex preferences in public education, employment and contracting. The case may also be affected by a pending U.S. Supreme Court decision on the constitutionality of school i

This came from the Yahoo! Message Board. It details crimes in the Lakeshore Business District. To be frank, there's a history of young Black men from outside the neighborhood praying on those who are White or non-Black and living in the neighborhood. Why this is, I do not know. I can say that in the 16 years I've lived in this area, and walked home at all hours of the night, I've never even come close to being the victim of a crime. But I've walked with friends who are White and in one case, it seemed like a young brother on a bike basically aimed right at my friend -- until I intervened. Pretty weird. But I have a friend who's White and Blond and walked home at midnight from her job; nothing ever happened to her. She says it's for two reasons: 1) she's not scared, and 2) she keeps her head up. Here's the information from the group... To be more specific about patterns of robberies in the Grand Lake area, it seems that the Lakeshore Avenue Business

Well, this should prove just how much Jerry and Gil Duran had to hide (its not the first time they've been accused of a cover-up) -- and how damaging his term was to Oakland. It should be against the law for anyone to do this, but hey, Jerry's AG now, he's really protected. And what about all the talk of wanting "open meetings"? Right! Who voted him in to that office? Mayoral files for Jerry Brown are missing By Thomas Peele and Heather MacDonald MEDIANEWS STAFF - CCTIMES Some public records of new state Attorney General Jerry Brown's eight years as Oakland mayor are missing and others were apparently improperly destroyed, raising questions about whether the state's top law-enforcement official has violated California's public records law. Two former Brown aides said they removed records from the office late last year. One of them, Gil Duran, said he consulted Michelle Abney, the public records coordinator in the city attorney's office, befor

To say this is terrible is an understatement. Oakland school sustains damage in possible arson Firefighters get the blaze under control in about 45 minutes By Katy Murphy, STAFF WRITER Article Last Updated: 03/28/2007 08:24:45 AM PDT OAKLAND — A possible arson fire tore through the once-serene courtyard of Peralta Elementary School late Monday night, damaging parts of the office, library and adjacent classrooms and possibly canceling school for the rest of the week. No one was injured in the 11:45 p.m. blaze, which Capt. Melinda Drayton of the Oakland Fire Department described as "a suspicious fire, possibly arson." But the destruction to the beloved school between Alcatraz Avenue and 63rd Street felt deeply personal to the close-knit group of teachers and parents who gathered outside the building Tuesday to survey the damage. "Who would want to hurt this school?" asked Kathy Rieves, a co-chair of the school's parent-teacher group. Firefighters had the blaze un

I just spotted this blog post by A.W. Woodall , which must be read. The many Oaklands Fruitvale district: by day a sunny, colorful neighborhood where you are more likely to hear Spanish spoken than English. But at night the beasts come out. Friday afternoon my older daughter and I were hanging out in Fruitvale, devouring tamales and empenadas at World Cup Tamale near the BART station. Friday night a 19-year-old man was shot dead while walking with friends to a party. Even if the murder was more

The main question is why can't Oakland streamline its spending to smooth these wild swings in surplus and deficit? Are they conducting decent forecasts? I guess not. Oakland looking at budget shortfall City projected to be $13.5 million in the red for next fiscal year By Heather MacDonald, STAFF WRITER Article Last Updated: 03/23/2007 02:53:16 AM PDT OAKLAND — Less than a year after reveling in a $16 million surplus, the City Council must grapple with a projected budget deficit of nearly $13.5million. At a daylong retreat Monday at the Joaquin Miller Community Center, the council began working in earnest to craft a spending plan for the next two years. In addition to the deficit projected for 2007-08, the shortfall for 2008-09 is estimated to be $8.8 million. The council spent the surplus on a host of programs, including tree-trimming and roof repairs. In addition, each council member got $250,000 to spend as they wished on projects and programs in their districts. That windfal

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!