Oakland Focus News | Oakland News Online Blog

Darren McFadden for Yardbarker, where he talks about his return to the Oakland Raiders for offseason workouts this year.

Girls in Tech is a social network enterprise focused on the engagement, education and empowerment of like-minded, professional, intelligent and influential women in technology. read more | digg story

After a tumoultous on again off again flritation between the Oakland Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars free agent offensive tackle Khalif Barnes, they have reached agreement one year deal. read more | digg story

Wolff's opening line: "We have fully exhausted our time and resources over the years with the City of Oakland, dating back to previous A's ownership."Fully exhausted? OK, we catch the A's drift. Oakland is dead to them.If foam fingers came in the middle-finger variety, the A's just hoisted one from atop the Oakland Coliseum. read more | digg story

From the inaugural game in 1960 though three Super Bowl victories, a move to a new city, through the 1985 the Oakland Raiders started two men at center in Jim Otto and Dave Dalby. read more | digg story

More at Inside Bay Area : “BARON DAVIS, the former prince of Oracle Arena, makes his first appearance tonight as a Los Angeles Clipper in the facility where he once raised the Warriors from the dead. For Warriors fans, the sight of Davis most assuredly will summon memories of the spring of 2007, when their favorite team blasted into the NBA playoffs for the first time since 1994 and, for two brilliant weeks, lit up the landscape. "It's definitely like a homecoming," Davis said last week, anticipating his return to Oakland. "A lot of memories are there, and the adrenaline is going to be circulating. It'll be good to see a lot of familiar faces in the stands."”

IWant Democracy Now -- US Consul General Says Awaiting Israeli Report on IDF Shooting of American Citizen An American activist from Oakland, California was critically injured Friday when Israeli soldiers fired a tear gas canister directly at his head at the close of a weekly nonviolent protest against the wall in the West Bank village of Nalin. Thirty-seven-year old Tristan Anderson underwent brain surgery on Saturday, and parts of his right frontal lobe and shattered bone fragments were removed. He remains in critical condition. We go to the hospital in Tel Aviv to speak with Andersons partner, Gabrielle Silverman, and to Andrew Parker, the US Consul General in Tel Aviv.

Pastor Lucy Kolin - from PICO affiliate Oakland Community Organizations in California - appeared on CNN's Faces of Faith program to talk about PICO's "Recovery Express" cross-country caravan and what people of faith are doing to stem the tide of foreclosures.

There's a lack of Black men in the Star Trek trailers and director J.J. Abrams called and invited Tyler Perry to be in the movie to make up for the oversight

According to OaklandGoods there's an Old Oakland Community Celebration on March 19th from 6 PM to 10 PM for $10 at the Washington Inn, near 11th and Washington.  Now get this, the logo someone designed did not have the address!   Yikes! Sometimes people don't think about other people, ya know? 

Now, I know what you're saying: that's a weird title.  Well it's borne of my unusual Sunday, March 15th 2009.  In this case I was on the indoor rowing machine and saw Van Jones who's a friend -- not buddy buddy so careful there -- getting out of his car and walking to the gym: Gold's Gym on Grand Avenue . Frankly, I've never seen him in the gym, so I was a bit surprised he was headed in.  I finished my 2000 meters in 11 minutes -- hey, I'm finally back to that rowing pace! -- and went over to talk to Van. "Hey!  I thought you were in DC", I said.  Van explained that he was leaving Sunday night and to a morning White House meeting.  He was excited about the opportunity, sad to leave Oakland, but apparenly humbled over the task ahead "We've got to go and make sure people get jobs" he said.  Unless, you've lived under a rock, you know that Jones has carved a niche as a green energy and sustainable jobs advocate.  His latest boo

On the way to a fundraiser for Senator Barbara Boxer on Sunday (March 15th 2009), I walked into the Four Seasons Residences on Market Street and boarded an elevator that was already to be occupied by two women just eight steps ahead of me, with their backs to me.  When I boarded the elevator they both turned in conversation, the one closest to me was the person-of-the-hour, Senator Barbara Boxer. Always gracious, Senator Boxer shook my hand, then after a few seconds on the elevator I asked her if she was "going to get involved in keeping the A's in Oakland."  She immediate said "You know, I live in Oakland, and that's important to me."  Boxer stopped short of stating what her action would be, but that response was all I needed to know that it's on her radar screen, and it doesn't spell good news for Lew Wolff because the rest of our talk consisted of me calmly but in cold detail explaining to her how Wolff had treated Oakland with great disrespect, m

This is the companion video to my segment on "Why I Vlog" and shows the process I use to make a vlog: camcorder, computer, and software. I recommend a MacBook computer with iMovie, a Flip Video camera and a basic camcorder.