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City to settle lawsuit over public housing - Inside Bay Area : “OAKLAND — The city will settle its public-nuisance lawsuit against the Oakland Housing Authority today, hoping the agreement ultimately will improve the conditions of the city's public housing. City Attorney John Russo and Housing Authority Executive Director Jon Gresley are scheduled to sign the agreement at a 10:30 a.m. news conference at a Housing Authority property in the 2100 block of East 28th Street. When the city sued the Housing Authority in February 2007, Russo described the agency as the city's largest slumlord and said rundown housing units posed problems for public health and safety. Russo said Tuesday the number of complaints his office has received about Housing Authority properties has declined, and he believes the settlement will put the city in a stronger position to help people living in public housing. "I'm confident that this is the beginning of a much better coordination and approach

Oakland internal affairs wants state to take over Bailey probe - Inside Bay Area : “OAKLAND — Police internal affairs detectives investigating the handling of journalist Chauncey Bailey's slaying will have state investigators present when they interview members of their department's command staff. Investigators from the attorney general's office will be there to monitor the interviews, according to a letter the Department of Justice sent to Mayor Ron Dellums in November. But the Justice Department won't take over the whole investigation — which is apparently what Oakland internal affairs investigators wanted, the letter stated. "We do not believe, as has been suggested by the Police Department's Internal Affairs investigator, that the Police Department investigation be halted or postponed pending our review," George B. Anderson, Director of the Division of Law Enforcement, wrote to Dellums on Nov. 26. While urging the mayor to order police to keep probing

Morning fire damages West Oakland home - Inside Bay Area : “OAKLAND - Firefighters extinguished a blaze in a single-family West Oakland home this morning less than half an hour after it was reported, officials said. The one-alarm fire at 949 W. MacArthur Boulevard was reported just before 6 a.m. and under control by 6:30 a.m., according to dispatchers. Nobody was reported injured and investigators are still trying to determine the cause of the fire.

An Insurmountable Task , originally uploaded by 4horsemen . This is a totally funny photo that shows that the unexpected can happend when an unusual event is held. In this case, that even is the Thursday, December 4th grand opening of Ozumo Restaurant on the corner of West Grand and Broadway. I don't know what this kid was thinking!

Living in the O reports - Safeway stakeholders meeting canceled (or postponed?) « Living in the O : “I’ve been planning to write another long post about the College Avenue Safeway rebuild, but haven’t quite found the time. I did want to alert everyone who’s interested that the meeting that was planned for this Tuesday, December 9th has been canceled. Unfortunately, there’s no further info on Safeway’s site about when the next meeting will be or if there will be one so that’s all the information I have.” -- The main problem is still the scale of the development proposed. Plus, the process of design did not include the residents from the start, so in perfect Oakland fashion, they're going to clobber it until Safeway understands and changes the process.

Dance This Mess Around! Benefit Concert : The Bay Bridged - San Francisco Bay Area Indie Music : “he Mills Dance Collective are putting on a benefit fundraiser show this Tuesday at the Uptown Nightclub in Oakland. Proceeds will go towards the Mills College dance program and their scholarships, as well as the local music scene.”

Randy Johnson could land in Bay Area | DailyHeadlines.org