Oakland Focus News | Oakland News Online Blog

More at Inside Bay Area : “OAKLAND — Members of the Oakland Police Department and the families of four slain officers will take a step toward closure today following one of the darkest chapters of their lives. They won't be alone. Law enforcement officers from all 50 states and a handful of foreign countries are expected to pour into the Oracle Arena for an 11 a.m. funeral honoring the four officers killed in related shooting incidents last Saturday. A list of tentative speakers includes acting police Chief Howard Jordan, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, state Attorney General Jerry Brown, and family and friends of the officers. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is scheduled to meet privately with the families before the service around 10:15 a.m., police said.”

On May 19th Alameda residents will be able to assure the economic future of the City of Alameda by voting for the Alameda Point Development Plan for the redevelopment of Alameda Naval Air Station as planned by the Alameda Base Reuse Committee and its subsequent evolutions to the Alameda Reuse and Redevelopment Commission of today. The plan consists of a mix of uses and an ambitious plan adding over 4,000 much-needed housing units. But the most important fact is the plan will mark the begining of the replacement economic development we have worked to achieve for so long. Opponents point to Measure A as the reason why the plan should be defeated, but the fact is Measure A was passed in 1973 and represents a time when Alamedans were interested in restricting development and maintaining Alameda from people of color. Those days are long gone. Now, Alameda needs jobs and the region wants to see The City of Alameda have an economic development project that replaces the closed Naval Air Statio

Brief video of Alameda Point with voice over narration on history of Alameda Point and Naval Air Station Alameda

  News is coming in that the election season has started early in Alameda this year and it looks like islanders are finally going to get a chance to make something exceptional happen out at the city’s run-down old Navy base. The backers of a plan to clean up and reuse the old Naval Air Station at Alameda Point today submitted the initiative language to the city. Now they will start collecting signatures to place the plan on the Nov. 3 ballot. This is frankly great news for Alameda. That old Navy base has sat unused and neglected for a long, long time. Finally a plan that someone can pay for is coming forward to get the place cleaned up and ready for real public use again. A lot of ideas have come and gone out there, but this is the only one makes any damn sense at all. Look, this has been a long time coming and I’m sure voters are going to get an earful from professional nimby’s who will oppose anything that even resembles a plan that could actually be achieved. And see my vid

The NFLTA crew talks Tom Cable, JaMarcus Russell, and what to expect from the Raiders in '09. This video belongs to NFL.com Courtesy of http://www.nfl.com/videos

This statement by "The Uhuru Movement" (Uhuru means "freedom") has been making the rounds unfortunately. It's not reflective of what many feel regardless of color, but it's important to know how cold some people can be. The African People’s Education and Defense Fund thanks all of our friends and supporters who have voiced their concerns about the position taken by the Uhuru Movement on the March 21 killings of four Oakland policemen and twenty-six year old Lovelle Mixon. We unite with your interest in dialog and resolution to this situation and in building unity among the various communities in Oakland through genuine social justice. The Uhuru Movement has always understood that our friends may disagree with some of our positions — positions that always uphold justice for the African working class community. We understand and unite with your concerns that the tense situation in Oakland must be resolved. It is unfortunate that it takes a

More at Inside Bay Area : “OAKLAND — In the wake of the shooting deaths of four police officers, African-American leaders from around the city gathered Wednesday morning for a closed-door meeting to discuss issues facing the black community. They said the killing by Lovelle Mixon, a 26-year-old fugitive parolee, was the tipping point for black clergy, civic leaders and police to air their concerns and create an action plan to address youth violence. The slayings also provide a lens to look more closely at existing rehabilitation and re-entry programs for ex-offenders and parolees, they said. "We are saddened and in shock," said Raymond Lankford, a pastor and founder of Healthy Oakland, a community organization that promotes nonviolence. "Words can't express what we feel."”

In the wake of the Oakland Police Shooting, the Sister of Lovelle Mixon was arrested for a drug charge posted in 2008. Apparently from the Channel 7 report, the Oakland Police are working to determine what the family knew about Mixon's weapons possession. My guess is not much and they're probably just as much in shock over the whole matter as the rest of Oakland. Now, they're going to be judged in a way that's really unfair and I hope they over come this. What's happening is that truth and fairness could give way to anger: by the Oakland Police and by a small group of Oaklanders who have some really screwed up views of the police. More on that soon.

Councilmember Nancy Nadel is hosting a town hall meeting on the stimulus package tonight at 7 PM at The Oakland City Hall Chambers at 1 Frank Ogawa Plaza, third floor. For more information, please contact Carletta Starks, 510-238-7032

From CCTimes: A vigil was held in East Oakland on March 24 for the four Oakland police officers slain in the line of duty on March 2

From taiwanonline on YouTube - Bouquets of flowers from grieving residents piled up at a growing memorial in front of the Oakland police department after three officers were killed following a pair of Saturday shootouts. A fourth officer is in grave condition. (March 23)

On Wednesday March 18th I was a guest at a brand new Oakland restaurant called "Pican". The dream of its' founder Michael Le Blanc, it features "New Soul Food" in an elegant, high-end setting on 2295 Broadway near Grand. In the video I talk about the number of new eateries in Oakland and which ones can make it in a recession. I think all of them can survive if they market as a unit rather than separate from each other. Pican has the makings of a great restaurant that could become a classic. The opening I went to was a kind of Oakland coming-out party with those who are known and not-so-known coming to Michael Le Blanc's new place. The restaurant is next to Osumo and both are part of the Broadway / Grand structure, accross from Luka's retaurant. And in a few months a new bar will open just about 300 feet from the corner on Grand Avenue. What was once a sleepy, blighted and dangerous area has turned into something special.

In the wake of the Oakland Police murders, the Associated Press and CNN have given a false view of Oakland as having "tentions between police and community" and that is not true. Oakland Police are part of our family.

Economist Paul Krugman has been attacking the Obama / Geitner Troubled Assets Relief Plan (TARP) as using taxpayer money to pay investors to take the assets off bank's hands. But he offers no alternative. Paul is wrong in that he wants the "bad assets" to remain on bank statements, but for what? To continue to freeze the credit market? His blog posts in the NY Times on this matter are intellectually sloppy at best. That -- for a Nobel Prize winner -- is terrible. Krugman sets up straw person examples to prove the idea that the investor spends little of his or her own money -- but that is the idea. I do not know why he comes up with these half-baked statements at all. Perhaps he is just angry that Obama did not pick him to be economic advisor.

Bob Schock is an Oakland personal injury lawyer. We talk about lawsuits in a recession and how businesses can protect themselves and why people file lawsuits. Bob explains that one trend that firms practice is to get rid of "whistle-blowers" because they cause the most trouble in the view of the firm. He also explains that in general, personal injury lawsuits are down, not up. Watch the video to learn more. Contact Bob at 510-839-7722.

Jasmina is a five-year old who needs a bone marrow transplant; because she's Black it's hard to find someone who can help. You can at an April 4th event at the Oakland African American Museum: see http://oneforjasmina.com

The landlord of the Parkway Theater at 18th Street and Park Blvd in Oakland evicted the Parkway Theater after severely raising the rent. It's last day was today, March 22nd, 2009, but the theater can be saved. As an employee reports in this video, the closure was fast; the employees got the notice just four days ago, giving them little time to make adjustments and throwing lives into chaos. Apparently, the theater just had not drawn a lot of people -- or at least enough to pay the rent -- to maintain itself. In the words of the persons I talked to -- some on the video -- the movie house was not showing what the public wanted to see. I think a larger issue was marketing, or the lack of it. A new approach should include having ways that bloggers can put a Parkway widget on their blogs. Also having the Parkway on as many social networks -- like Twitter -- as possible would really keep its name out there. The bottom line is the place Kyle and Catherine Fisher raised $140,000

Scott is the friendly owner of the Hawaiian Regional Coffee Roaster booth at the Oakland Grand Lake Farmers Market. He makes great coffee, but the economy's effecting sales. He talks about the problems and asks for your support

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)