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Second Oakland "Taco Truck Killing" On Foothill in One Month

I don't know what's going on, but the last thing I'm going to do is get a Taco over on Foothill Blvd. The Oakland Tribune reports that on Thursday another man was killed while waiting on a Taco on Foothill. The last time this happened was on January 15th. I don't know the motive and I do know from reading that this person or persons who are doing this have not been caught as of this writing. If the murderers are trying to close down a certain Taco stand, they're doing a good job with these actions. That's not a flip comment; it's true. Why Foothill and why a Taco stand? The Trib reports "The killing was Oakland's 24th homicide of the year. Last year at this time there were 14 homicides. Police and Crime Stoppers of Oakland are offering up to $10,000 in reward money for information leading to the arrest of the suspect. Anyone with information is asked to call Oakland Police at 510-238-3821 or Crime Stoppers at 510-238-6946. " St

"Flower Thief" Brings Out Unconstitutional Acts Among Adams Point Residents

I saw this at the APAC 14 X Yahoo Group: > Hi All, > > I just posted a recent photo of the flower thief. See the group's ""Photos" folder, and inside > that, a folder called, not too cleverly, "Suspect Photos." > > I'm still trying to determine for certain that he and "Smiley" are one and the same, though > we've gotten some confirmation on that from a few different neighbors. It's also unclear > whether he's still of interest to the police. Several of us have seen him around since he was > supposedly picked up, so we're not sure if the police are done with him, etc. > > At the very least, he's stealing flowers from all over the area. At worst, he's dangerous. If > anyone has any additional information, please post. > > Also, the Suspect Photos folder is public. Anyone ought to be able to add to that folder. > > Thanks, > > Mary Which caused me to write this reply. H

Oakland CrimeSpotting Is Back

This annoucement came from the Yahoo Message Board. It's a great news source, but what's depressing is the number of crime reports on it. Hello Everyone, We're happy to announce that Oakland Crimespotting is back, thanks to the generous help of Oakland's City Information Technology Department. After three months without access to report data, we've been granted a reliable, regularly-updated source of crime report information. This is great news: it means that the website is back up and running with current information, e-mail alerts and RSS feeds work again, and we at Stamen Design can explore new ways of presenting and publishing this important information. Here are a few things you can do, now: Visit the site at http://oakland.crimespotting.org/ View a map at http://oakland.crimespotting.org/map/ Sign up for alerts at http://oakland.crimespotting.org/alerts We are also interested in what additions to the site you would find useful or interesting. So far, we

Kofi Bonner | Bonner With Lennar in SF Bay Area | 49ers Stadium Issue

Kofi Bonner | Bonner With Lennar in SF Bay Area | 49ers Stadium Issue After a stellar career as an executive in the National Football League and with a credit card company, my friend Kofi Bonner is back in the San Francisco Bay Area as Director Of Urban Land for Lennar Corporation. Here's some background on the person who was once Interim City Manager for Oakland from the SF Business TImes. Kofi Bonner is back. Lennar Corp. has hired the former Bay Area planning and political whiz to help in its Hunters Point and Treasure Island developments and search for fresh Bay Area opportunities from San Jose to Sacramento. "It's wonderful to see the old faces. Many have moved onward and upward and are as cantankerous and loving as ever," said Bonner. "It's great to be back." Known for his aggressive role in redeveloping Emeryville during the 1980s, Bonner also served as the head of economic development and interim City Manger in Oakland before becoming an

County to Fund Housing For Homeless People With Mental Illness

It's about time! OAKLAND -- Alameda County hopes to attack two root causes of homelessness next year with new social service programs aimed at the mentally ill. Using a portion of a annual $20 million grant from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, the county and two partners will seek to offer permanent housing and services to mentally ill homeless persons. "The programs will serve a very under-served and chronic homeless population in our county," said Riley Wilkerson, manager of the county's community development agency. "We are really starting to make inroads and focus in on the populations that have a high level of use." One of the new programs will focus on mentally ill homeless who have criminal histories. The program, Forensic Assertive Community Treatment Shelter Plus Care, will give permanent housing to 13 homeless individuals and provide each with services. The other program, STAY Well Housing Project, will focus on 31 menta

Sports Business Simulations Turn Five Years Old This Month

In 2002, a former aide to The Mayor of Oakland met the head of the University of San Francisco Sport Management department to discuss stadium financing, and the need for a new stadium for the Oakland Baseball. In that meeting, USF Professor Dr. Dan Rascher, PhD, took note of Zenophon "Zennie" Abraham’s web-based simulation game The XFL Simworld, and said "I need that for my class." When Mr. Abraham finished his second simulator in late October 2002, the Oakland Baseball Simworld, he met again with Mr. Rascher, and Sports Business Simulations (SBS) was born. On January 24th of 2003, SBS became a Delaware Corporation, with seed capital, and based in Oakland. Now, SBS is about to turn five-years-old. SBS is the first company who's products are built around the Forio Macro Language (FML) programming language developed by San Francisco-based Forio Business Simulations. "Forio's partners, Michael Bean and Will Glass have been our friends and advisers over the

YouTube's Chad Hurley & VC Tim Draper at BizWorld Lunch

I had the pleasure of attending a great lunch event. YouTube Co-Founder Chad Hurley was the featured guest at the BizWorld.org luncheon on December 4th, 2007. He was introduced by MySpace Co-Founder Brett Brewer and interviewed by Tim Draper, VC & Managing Director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson. In the talk, Draper asked Hurley questions surrounding YouTube after its acquisition by Google, and really focused on the changing landscape of the online advertising industry and how YouTube was responding to it. Hurley said that Youtube's success rests in the constantly growing inventory of video content that people want to see. As for the Google relationship, Hurley commented on their food and the large resource base that they have at their disposal for growth and for legal protection, although he didn't say that directly. Hurley also pointed to YouTube's new relationships with educational institutions like UC Berkeley and MIT, where students can view class lectures online.

Montera Elementary School - In Trouble? Times Have Changed!

This is news to me. In the 70s and 80s, Montera was a well-regarded school. Not any more. I think many of the school problems have to do with a lack of money and a too-easy society that let's kids go without any discipline or comment. New principal brings order to Montera Direct approach to difficult issues at Oakland school paying off, parents say By Katy Murphy, STAFF WRITER Article Last Updated: 12/23/2007 02:38:39 AM PST OAKLAND ON A COOL evening in early November, dozens of elementary school parents gathered at Montclair Elementary School to hear a sales pitch from the man who could soon be their children's middle school principal — if they liked what they saw. Russom Mesfun is the new principal of Montera Middle School, an ethnically and socioeconomically diverse school in the North Oakland hills. A native of Eritrea and a former assistant principal at Skyline High School, Mesfun returned to Oakland after a one-year stint as principal of Christa McAuliffe Middle Sch