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The Oakland school board finally got partial control of its schools back from the state after five years, and promptly squandered renewed public hopefulness by hiring an interim superintendent in closed session, without consulting with teachers or the public. Ms. Roberta Mayor, a former member of the Fiscal Management and Assistance Team, was responsible for briefing State Schools Superintendent Jack O'Connell on Oakland's financial progress over the last five years, and its readiness to take back control of its school system. She is now the one-year interim superintendent of Oakland schools, with an annual salary of $250,000. Ms. Mayor's salary, factored in with the cost of the new internal auditor that she will be choosing, will cost the city nearly $400,000 for one year. If the Oakland school board is concerned with cleansing its image and renewing public trust after declaring bankruptcy five years ago, it should start by directly involving the community with its

I must admit, when I talked to the hypnotist on the phone, I was rather skeptical; however,after reading The Secret and trying to visualize a more positive life, I threw caution to the wind and decided to make an appointment to be hypnotized into not smoking. The hypnotist made sense. Habits were stored in the unconscious mind, which had been fighting with the conscious mind for supremacy of my body for over half of my life. It all started with my delinquent high school boyfriend, who used to cut school with his friends under the bridge and smoke Marlboro reds. Their impending expulsion made them even cooler in my eyes. This was my chance to rebel; for the straight A, good girl to shock the bad boys by taking a puff. That initial puff lasted for 18 years, coming back with greater force every time I tried to quit and push it away. Hypnosis directly addresses the habit-holding unconscious part of your brain, and uses vivid visualizing techniques to turn those neur

The Detroit Tigers are in last place in the AL Central, with a record of 1 and 8. The LA Dodgers are in the penultimate place in the NL West, at 4 and 5. For those who predicted a dismal year for major league baseball after last year's steroid scandal, time to concede defeat. Baseball is back... with a vengeance. It's kinda nice to have the game back in the limelight. It's baseball for baseball's sake once again, and the standings so far prove it. The Yankees and Red Sox are tied for second in the AL East, leaving a refreshing sense of parity in their usual place atop the division. Baltimore may not be able to hang on all year, but at least they are making it interesting. Baseball may not contain any of the sordid tabloid scandals of 2007, but it contains athletes and competition once again. It's good to have it back.

Not to put too much pressure on her, but Sarah Ann Hayes is going to be the next big thing in female bodybuilding. I met her at Gold's Gym where shes' being trained by my friends Rick and Kelly Dobbins in Oakland, CA, but she lives in Minnesota. If you want to be trained by Rick and Kelly, contact them at rickdobbins@gmail.com

Just days after ousting Coach Ben Braun, the Cal Athletics program is successfully negotiating for former Stanford Cardinal Head Coach and Golden State Warriors Head Coach Mike Montgomery to come to Cal to coach the Men's Basketball program, according to ESPN. When this deal's offically done, it will be a great shot in the arm to a program that needs one. After five years of success, Braun had totally flatlined at Cal; Montgomery brings his amazing record at Stanford accross the Bay to Cal. Mike Montgomery posted a 393-167 record with 12 NCAA tournament appearances in his 18 seasons at Stanford, making him the school's winningest men's basketball coach. Stay tuned.

The San Francisco Bay Area Interactive Group or "SF-BIG" asked me to make this video of their "Reach" event held March 20th, 2008 at the St. Regis Hotel in San Francisco. The topic was on what ad firms look for in digital ad talent and what advantage -- if any -- San Francisco has as a center of digital media. The panelists included Melinda Mettler (Academy of Art School of Advertising), Alyson Hyder (Avenue A | Razorfish); Bernie Albers (Federated Media); and David Greenwald, (i2iplacement). In all it was a great event and the breakfast was terrific.