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This is the executive summary of the economic report published by the Oakland Chamber of Commerce. A copy of the entire study can be seen with a click > here. The text that follows is directly from the summary. I disagree with the overall recommendations, but welcome feedback from others to start a debate. I feel that the recommendations are too weighted toward the development of large industries, ignores the impact of the sports indusry in Oakland, and has no mention of the need to develop small businesses. It's also too focused on biotech, and that's been talked about for 20 years, and we've still got nothing to show for it. I think we should make our strengths stronger, and that's small business, restaurants, shops, and information, and sports. Here's the study.... ONE: OAKLAND’S ECONOMY TODAY Historically, Oakland’s economic foundation rested on strong manufacturing, transportation, and healthcare industries. Today, these continue to be important pi

Well, first, I'm happy Skyline High, where I went, is not on this list. Second, my question -- not answered here -- is "why do these schools have that problem?" Oakland, Emeryville schools make dropout list Fewer than 60 percent of freshmen make it to senior year By Katy Murphy, STAFF WRITER - OAKLAND TRIBUNE Article Last Updated: 10/31/2007 02:47:25 AM PDT OAKLAND — Oakland High School and Oakland Technical High School made the Associated Press's recent "dropout factory" list, as did Emery Secondary School in Emeryville. According to a data analysis conducted by Johns Hopkins University researchers for the Associated Press, only about 44 percent of ninth-graders from Oakland Tech, 52 percent from Oakland High and 55 percent from Emery Secondary made it to their senior year. The high schools were among 1,700 nationwide in which no more than 60 percent of ninth-graders enrolled as seniors three years later. By looking at the size of a particular grade l

I thought I felt something but wasn't sure as I was walking in San Francisco. But this news confirms that it wasn't Godzilla. It was an Earthquake and centered in San Jose.

Wow. I've never personally been to Pastino's Pasta & Pizza, but I ran accross a blog where the writer said the restaurant on 4207 Park Blvd in Oakland, had "the worst pasta I've had in my entire life" in his words. He goes on... Bad pasta The pasta that I had tonight at Pastino's in Oakland was the worst pasta I've had in my entire life. I am an old man. I have lived 300 years. In all my 300 years, I've never even heard of pasta this bad. And make no mistake -- I've heard of pasta that was bad. For about 60 of those years I lived in Bangladesh where I was a reporter at a local paper and -- I kid you not -- my "beat" was bad pasta places and the pasta they made. Most of which wasn't very good. That was a difficult period in my life. So here I am, all these years later thinking, "I'm a guy who's eaten a lot of bad pasta." But as it turns out, those thin, flappy, granular strands of my discontent were just appe

Of all the current Oakland Councilmembers, Henry Chang stands out not just as an elder statesman, but as an honest, principled elected official who I've long admired, regardless of his position. Here's more about him. Henry was born in 1934, the second child of Frances and Henry Sr. He was separated from his parents two years later, when the Japanese attacked his hometown, Shantou. Henry fled to Hong Kong with his Aunt Barbara while his parents escaped to Northern China. Three years later, when the Japanese attacked Hong Kong, Henry returned by freighter back to Japanese-occupied Shantou and was later reunited with his mother and father. Henry's most vivid childhood memories are of the concentration camp his family called home during the occupation of China. There, they witnessed unspeakable torture and brutality. He escaped in 1941 with his brother Thomas by crawling over a wall at night and hiding in a farmhouse. Henry reconnected with his family a year later, whe

What's neat about the way Oakland's growing is the reduced institutional investor racism that's plagued Oakland in the past. Oakland's chronic underdevelopment is a child of this problem. Development leapfrogged Oakland and went to Walnut Creek or Alameda, both mostly-white enclaves. I'm not sure if some of this is due to the "balancing" of Oakand's population, where we're reaching a near racial balance that I predicted would occur in 1995, when I wrote for The Montclarion, but I'd prefer to think it's more in line with more sane attitudes toward skin color. Yes. People can be that stupid. At any rate, it's with great pride that I present Novometro's article on new eateries along AutoRow.

From the North Gate News This actually matches a Tagami Vision episode on the matter. Forum Focuses on Domestic Violence, Sexual Exploitation By Kerry Seed , October 29, 2007 at 11:49 pm OAKLAND – Police are getting more cases of domestic violence and sexual exploitation in recent years, and the victims are younger, according to a city coalition that gathered Monday to report on what is being done about the problem. More domestic violence incidents are reported in Oakland than in any other city in the nine-county Bay Area, said Jean Quan, City Council president pro tempore. And prosecutors say Internet prostitution has caused sexual exploitation cases to skyrocket. “The Internet has increased the number of cases beyond what we can handle,” said Sharmin Eshraghi, an Alameda County assistant district attorney who focuses on human exploitation and trafficking. “We have an epidemic. There’s more than we can actually prosecute.” With Domestic Violence Awareness month drawing to a close,

You may have heard of Rachel Howard as she's the dance critic for the San Francisco Chronicle. But Rachel's also an accomplished book author. Her work " The Lost Night : A Daughter's Search for the Truth of Her Father's Murder" is about the murder of her father Stan Howard and how she's coped with not just the loss of her father, but the fact that the killer was never found. On November 2nd, Rachel shares her story with Ira Glass on his show, "This American Life." Please tune in. The stations that have the show are listed here: San Francisco, CA KQED-FM 88.5 Sa 12:00 PM 12:59 PM 1/1/1998 Sacramento, CA KQEI-FM 89.3 Sa 12:00 PM 12:59 PM 1/1/1998 San Francisco, CA KALW-FM 91.7 Su 1:00 PM 1:59 PM 7/7/1996 San Francisco, CA KQED-FM 88.5 Sa 10:00 PM 10:59 PM 8/4/1996 Sacramento, CA KQEI-FM 89.3 Sa 10:00 PM 10:59 PM 8/4/1996 San Francisco, CA KALW-FM 91.7 F 1:00 PM 1:59 PM 7/11/1997

Oakland's Grand Avenue Business Association (GABA) held the 2nd annual Proud Parents Stroll along Grand Avenue. I guess you can call it a shop-hop.

The start of this video's a tad disturbing as the lady who's protesting is so far away from Senator Clinton, it wasn't worth the effort of this Hillary volunteer in the video. The Clinton camp at work, controlling the crowd. The Obama Rally didn't have such problem volunteers. I mean this is an elderly woman!

From what I was told, it was a kick-ass concert. Here's a sample.

I'll get back to politics, but here's some fun. My good friend Beth Schnitzer invited me to Pier 39s Fleet Week Party held October 5th 2007 on the roof of the parking lot at Pier 39 in San Francisco. It's a killer event that drew over 600 people and provided a great backdrop for products and events from various sponsors from Bauer's Limousines -- http://www.bauerslimousines.com -- to Sheri's Berries. There's great food and music and people, like Movie Critic Jan Wahl. This is the first movie in a series.

From SFGate.com today (10-24) 08:50 PDT OAKLAND -- Law enforcement officials raided numerous locations in Oakland today as part of a multi-agency investigation into heroin trafficking, authorities said. The citywide busts occurred at 6 a.m. and involved Oakland police officers, Alameda County sheriff's deputies and agents with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration and the FBI. San Francisco police and Internal Revenue Service agents also were involved, said Officer Roland Holmgren, an Oakland police spokesman. The raids focused on a tar heroin trafficking organization based in the Central Valley with distribution cells in Oakland and elsewhere in the Bay Area, Holmgren said. The group had the capacity to distribute between to 50 and 100 pounds of tar heroin a month, police said. Officials plan to release more details at a news conference this afternoon. That's all the information provided.