Oakland Focus News | Oakland News Online Blog

From MSNBC - March 22: Three police officers in Oakland, CA, have been killed after being involved in a shootout with a suspect who had allegedly violated his parole, another officer is in critical condition. (MSNBC)

From AP: Police say three officers and a suspect are dead and another officer is in grave condition after two related shootings, the first after a traffic stop and the second after a massive manhunt ended in gunfire. (March 21)

Oakland Police Officers  Sgt. Mark Dunakin, 40, and Sgts. Ervin Romans, 43, and Daniel Sakai, 35, members of the SWAT team and motorcycle officer, John Hege, 41, who is in grave condition, were all shot in the line of duty Saturday.  Dunakin, Romans, and Sakai are dead.  This is what Oakland Police talk about.   This is why police take the precausions they do.  It's the heart of what we all fear, both the officers and the people of Oakland.  My heart and tears go out to the slain officers who were serving all of us.  And it's a stark reminder of what I said just two days ago on Christina Marie's show "CrossTalk San Francisco": our society is more dangerous now than ever.   It's not just the police shooting.  It's the muggings and threats that impact employees at the University of California Office of The President in downtown Oakland.  These incidents are so frequent of late, that U.C.  officials are strongly considering leaving their Oakland headq

Tonight our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the officers who gave their lives defending peace in our city. This is undeniably one of the worst days in Oakland’s history. It is impossible to explain such a senseless and tragic crime. Our police officers risk their lives every day that they are on the job, and we honor them for their service, their bravery and their dedication to Oakland. The members of the City Attorney’s Office grieve the horrible loss of officers who dedicated their lives to serving and protecting our city. Our sincerest condolences go to their families, their colleagues and the entire Oakland Police Department. John A. Russo Oakland City Attorney

I exited Rockridge BART Station and walked into a protest of the New Year's Day shooting of Oscar Grant by BART Police Officer Johannes Mehserle. I talked with onlooker, protesters, and BART Spokesperson Linton Johnson. According to the protester I talked to in the video, there are a series of these events pre-scheduled at http://nojusticenobart.blogspot.com

City booster promo film from 1953 featuring beautifully shot scenes of downtown Oakland and surrounding environs. Humorous narrative accompaniment endorsing the industrious qualitites of the city. Brought to you by {Oaklandish}

Newsreel footage from 1950 featuring the ladies of Lake Merritt. Brought to you by Oaklandish.

Scraper Bike ride in Oakland, Ca. Led by Original Scraper Bikes. Filmed by Oaklandish.

Newspaper Managers don't understand New Media at all. It's the key reason why papers all over America are failing. As more media outlets - webs, blogs, video - have been established, there's less money to go around per outlet. That coupled with the credit crunch and newspaper manager's failure to understand New Media is what contributed to this problem, and it's a big one. I remember 2006, when I approached my friend Oakland Tribune Columnist Monte Poole with an idea of something called "The Monte Poole Show" -- http://themontepooleshow.blogspot.com/ -- which combined the sports columnist's columns with video presentations and then took that video and used it for television. So Monte would be on TV, in print, and in online video, expanding sponsor exposure. But Tribune Editor Martin Reynolds was having none of the idea, even as the head of KOFY TV 20 San Francisco was interested in it. Martin claimed "Monte's under contract with the Tribune

  I attended the opening event for what promises to be a great restaurant called Pican, when Councilmember Larry Reid informed me that Cleveland Bellow, a long-time friend who I got to know first when I was a columnist for The Montclarion between 1993 and 1996 passed away and his memorial is tomorrow, Thursday, at Taylor Methodist Church.   It's sad when a person who was known for so much life leaves this Earth.  Cleveland was a ball of creative, expressive energy who never seemed to age and was always a joy to be around.  This description of him on his website says it all: Oakland Bay Area artist, Cleveland Bellow, began his lifelong career as an "activist" artist back in the heady days of the Civil Rights Movement. Influenced by the words and deeds of Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, the leaders of the Black Panther Party, and campus reformers, he became a dedicated and tireless contributor to the community. Educated

More at EBE : “San Francisco Chronicle columnist Chip Johnson said today that the City Of Oakland should sue the Oakland A's to keep the team's name and uniform colors in Oakland, now that the team has reiterated its intention to leave. ” -- Hmm.. I wonder if now the City will not do it because of Dellums relationship with Johnson?

From the California Assembly YouTube channel: (Sacramento) Led by Assemblymember Manuel Pérez (D-Coachella), the Committee on Jobs, Economic Development, and the Economy conducted today its first hearing on an Economic Development Recovery Strategy for California. JEDE Committee Chairman Pérez said as the hearing began, California stands at an important junction in its history and with the passage of the federal stimulus package the state has the responsibility to maximize the impact of federal stimulus dollars. Assemblymember Pérez says numerous hearings will be held throughout the state over the next several weeks and he expects a final blueprint to reinvigorate Californias economy will be completed by mid-May. Heres more in this Assembly Access video. -- As far as I'm concerned this spending plan should have been done weeks ago. Why is this a hearing? People should be outraged over this strategy. Just get it done.