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While this Oakland Tribune report explains how the East Bay -- which includes Oakland -- has a declining hate crimes rate, this article in the San Francisco Examiner points to a finding that San Francisco, while seeing a declining rate as well, as a statistic higher than that for any city in California. Drop in East Bay hate crimes defies trend By Matthias Gafni, STAFF WRITER - OAKLAND TRIBUNE Article Last Updated: 11/20/2007 08:26:24 AM PST Despite a jump of nearly 8 percent in hate crime incidents nationwide last year, the East Bay continued to see a downward trend, according to the FBI's hate crime report released Monday. Contra Costa and Alameda counties have seen their combined hate crime numbers drop 36 percent since 2002, according to the statistics. Hate crimes have dropped each of those years, with a five-year low of 53 last year. The release of the 2006 hate crime statistics comes as two East Contra Costa agencies continue to investigate two high-profile alleged hate

According to the Newsletter of Ron Dellums, Lenore Anderson's the Mayor's newest public safety diretor. This is what the Mayor's Office reported on November 16th 2007: Per the recommendations of the Public Safety Task Force, Mayor Dellums appointed Lenore Anderson as public safety director. Lenore job will be to implement the mayor's public safety vision - a vision that incorporates Prevention, Intervention, Enforcement and Sustainability strategies to bring peace to Oakland communities. Since joining the mayor's office, she has been working to expand the number of officers on the street to the current city-mandated ceiling, while partnering with community organizations to provide intensive intervention and prevention options for Oakland. "Public safety is my Administration's top priority," said Mayor Dellums. "Lenore Anderson is an Oakland resident who understands what our city is facing and knows how to get things done." Anderson lives

This news comes from the same Newsletter by Mayor Ron Dellums as the other post below. I don't know anything of value about either appointee. Margaret Gordon' a long time player in West Oakland, so I guess that's some information of value, eh? Mayor Dellums' two Port Commission appointments were overwhelmingly approved by the Oakland City Council this month. "Both Margaret Gordon and Victor Uno embody my sincere interest in addressing the critical and wide-ranging issues facing our City's port," said Mayor Dellums. Over the last decade, Gordon, a West Oakland resident, has become a strong public health and environmental advocate for her community, meanwhile gaining regional and statewide respect for her knowledge of the issues. Victor Uno, brings to the Port Commission an extensive labor background, as he is currently a National Board Member for the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO, and the Business Manager for the International Brothe

I got this note from the Newsletter of Ron Dellums via email. This is part of the Mayor's Office' push to get it's message and work properly communicated to Oaklanders. OAKLAND - Mayor Dellums joined city leadership, community groups, and tenant families to announce a major victory when a settlement was reached to preserve 50 affordable housing units at the Pacific Renaissance development in Chinatown, as well as facilitating the development of at least 50 new low-income housing units in the same community. "The affordable housing need of the Chinatown community greatly outstrips the current housing stock. With the growing numbers of families and seniors overburdened by rent, it was imperative for me to resolve the Pacific Renaissance litigation in a way that would optimize the number of new affordable housing units in Chinatown to provide stable, quality, and affordable housing," he stated.

Well, this was one Cal - USC game I expected us, Cal, to win. We came up on the back-end of a 24-17 score to a team we should have beat. But as much as people will talk about the game, they'll talk about the rain more. That was perhaps a one-in-a-lifetime experience to be at a Cal-USC game where the rain not only played a role on the field, but off. It was everywhere. Fortunately, I had my umbrella and stood and walked the entire time. That's more than I could say for a lot of people, who undoubtedly have colds by now. Watch "the rain come down."

I got into a conversation with this person (who didn't want to be named) on Oakland and politics, when she started talking about why she supports Senator Mike Gravel for President. This was so frankly unusual -- because so many people mention Obama or Clinton or Giuliani or Ron Paul -- that I asked her if I could get her to talk on camera. She agreed and this was the result.

Governor declares state of emergency Coast Guard scrutinized for response time, investigation continues By Kristin Bender and William Brand STAFF WRITERS - Oakland Tribune Article Last Updated: 11/10/2007 02:37:05 AM PST IMPACT TO BE FELT FOR YEARS Oil spoils plans for weekend As the governor declared a state of emergency Friday that will bring state money to oil spill cleanup efforts, hundreds of crews and a hefty amount of oil-skimming equipment had soaked up about 30 percent of the oil that gushed into the San Francisco Bay on Wednesday. As cleanup of the 58,000-gallon oil spill in the Bay continued full-bore, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger came to Fort Mason and signeda proclamation of a state of emergency. This allows the state to deploy emergency personnel and equipment and gives officials the right to tap into a state trust fund to ensure that resources are being used to expedite the cleanup, Schwarzenegger said. Officials estimated that roughly 17,500 gallons of bunker fuel oil had

As I was leaving a visit to the then-new Oakland headquarters of Obama for America, I literally ran into Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson. He was kind enough to stop and talk with me on camera about the presidential campaign, Barack Obama and the youth vote, and his issues of concern.

Since the new Whole Foods opened on 27th and Harrison, it seemed to me that there were fewer people at the Lake Merritt Farmers Market. On Saturday, I decided to take camera in hand and ask the vendors for their views. What I learned is that overall vendors feel it's too early to tell, but off camera two people said "Yes." But two others, also off camera, said it may be a seasonal development. One other person said that the Whole Foods was too far away to have an impact on the Farmers Market.

Oakland- Bay Area Women In Black v. SF Voice For Israel - Grand Avenue War Part One Part Two Each Saturday morning on the corner of Grand Avenue and Lake Park, and in front of the historic Grand Lake Theater, two groups stage a protest against U.S policies in Iraq and The Mid East, and against each other. I titled this "Oakland Culture War" because that's really what it is. Two groups of people who -- even though some may not live in Oakland -- picked this corner in Oakland to protest, and who have such differing views on The Mid East, they have agreed to stand away from each other, on opposite sides of the street to avoid arguing. After walking by these groups and saying nothing -- like everyone else -- I decided to take camcorder in hand and get information. The video contains some very interesting information, particularly by SF Voice for Israel. What was also of note, and comes out in the video, is how the Bay Area Women Against War seem afraid to talk to

Phil Tagami Hosts Bill Clinton According to the Oakland Tribune, Bill Clinton is the featured guest of a cocktail reception thrown by Phil Tagami , Managing Partner of California Commercial Group, and to be held at The Rounda this evening. The details from the Trib are below... Former President Bill Clinton will headline a cocktail reception tomorrow night at the Rotunda Building in downtown Oakland’s Frank Ogawa Plaza to raise funds for the presidential campaign of his wife, U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton , D-NY. It’s $500 a head, or $2,300 to get into the VIP reception starting half an hour before the 7 p.m. main event. The event’s co-chairs include Clear Channel Outdoor executive and noted Democratic politico Michael Colbruno ; Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums ; attorney Kenneth Katzoff ; state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata , D-Oakland; Assemblyman Sandre Swanson , D-Oakland; and developer Phil Tagami . And among the hosts for the evening are Oakland City Council President Ignacio

Novometro.com | Novometro On Uptown Night Club Reopening Novometro's VSmoothe -- whatever the hell that means -- is back with a review of the reopened Uptown Night Club near the corner of Telegraph and Thomas Berkeley. It's good to see the establishment alive again. Perhaps the new management will focus on concerts and live performers.

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