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Mehserle loses plea to have bail reduced - Inside Bay Area : “Although former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle is free on $3 million bail in his murder case, he recently sought but lost a plea to have it reduced, a court order obtained by the Tribune revealed. Michael Rains, Mehserle's defense attorney, sought a $2.9 million reduction of bail in the case, arguing that Alameda County Superior Court Judge Morris Jacobson "manipulated the facts" regarding his client's flight risk when the judge issued the original bail amount in January.”

  More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! The Worldwide sensation Susan Boyle, who was discovered to rave reviews on the show Britains' Got Talent is now faced with her second "big challenger" in as many weeks on the show, 10-year-old Hollie Steel and a process that threatens to dampen Boyle's chance for real success. The small girl from Britain wowed the crowd last Saturday on yet another show. Steel makes the second talent to emerge as a possible challenge to Boyle for the winner of the competition in as many weeks, as we were introduced to 12-year-old Shaheen Jafargholi just the weekend before, and calls into question the ability of Boyle to maintain the high level frenzy that catapulted her to stardome. What I fear is that as BGT rolls out new challengers, Boyle's ability to capture a high dollar record deal will be impacted. The only solution for Boyle is to drop out of Britains' Got Talent, and sign a record deal before the end of Ma

  More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! In a strongly worded letter I just received as of this writing from the office of Oakland City Attorney John Russo (and is reproduced in full at the end of this post), Oakland's lawyer penned what is without a doubt the strongest attack on the Oakland Athletics attempts to leave Oakland by and Oakland City Official. Russo writes: Oakland A’s managing partner Lew Wolff is a talented and smart businessman. But if Wolff thinks anybody is buying his sob story about why the A’s have to leave Oakland, he’s seriously underestimating the intelligence of the team’s fan base, the press and the people of this city.   Oakland City Attorney John Russo with me in 2008 in his office.  What started this has been a process of dissing and trying to excavate the team from Oakland almost since it was sold to Ken Schott and Steve Hoffman after the beloved Haas Family sold the organization in 1994; Schott and Hoffman then sold the t

More at Inside Bay Area : “he Oakland mayor's race is 18 months away, but you can add Alameda County deputy district attorney Scott Jackson's name to a growing list of those interested in the top post. Jackson, 39, said he was honored to be approached last year by a few people urging him to run for mayor. He is definitely interested and is "weighing his options" before making a final decision this summer. "I'm not saying yes, but I've been out there talking to people," he said. "I've got a lot support from families."”

  More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! The Oakland Raiders picked University of Maryland'Darrius Heyward-Bey even though he was rated by many behind Texas Tech Wide Receiver Michael Crabtree. Even in cyberspace, Crabtree's a better rated pass catcher. On Madden Football, Michael Crabtree is rated ahead of Darrius Heyward-Bey 84 to 79, but Darrius Heyward-Bey was taken ahead of Crabtree. For the Raiders, Draftniks here in NYC think it was a question of speed. Heyward-Bey runs a 4.3 40 yard dash versus Crabtree's 4.5 time, but Crabtree's a gamer. Still his underclassman status and his recent injury have caused Crabtree to be down-graded by some. But not so far that the San Francisco 49ers took him as the 10th pick. A number of people here at the Draft are questioning the Raiders decision to pass on him for the lower rated Heywood-Bey. Here's a video example: a conversation featuring our Bill Chachkes and Dewie from Yardbarker both in the Interv

More at Inside Bay Area : “U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder swore in Oakland attorney Tony West today as Assistant U.S. Attorney General in charge of the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Division. President Barack Obama nominated West to the post Jan. 22; his confirmation hearing last month went off without a hitch; and the U.S. Senate confirmed him Monday on an 82-4 vote. West, 43, most recently a litigation partner at Morrison & Foerster in San Francisco, has served as a Clinton Administration Justice Department official; a federal prosecutor in San Francisco; and a special assistant California Attorney General tasked with troubleshooting difficult issues. A candidate in the 23rd Assembly District's 2000 Democratic primary, he later served as a delegate for John Kerry at the Democratic National Convention in Boston in 2004 — meeting Obama there, soon after the speech that put the future president on many Americans' radar for the first time — and then for Obama in D

This video of a fight that started between a group of women at the Britnet Spears concert at the Oracle Arena on April 22nd was posted Thursday evening April 23rd. I have no idea who the people are but the YouTube channel it came from is called two28svn5. (For the record, I was not at the concert, nor in the Bay Area. I was in Georgia and now New York City.) If you listen to the video, at 1:31 someone says "back there by a partrol officer" so one can assume police stepped in.

An event for this " News Bash " at Spot.us Host: Spot.us Type: Causes - Fundraiser Network: Global Start Time: Thursday, April 30, 2009 at 9:00am End Time: Friday, May 1, 2009 at 2:00pm Location: New Delhi Restaurant Street: 160 Ellis Street, SF 94102 City/Town: San Francisco, CA Phone: 5103840788 Email: kara@spot.us

I just got a message about this: Host: Save The Parkway Speakeasy Theatre In Oakland Type: Other - Festival Network: Global Date: Sunday, April 26, 2009 Time: 1:00pm - 5:00pm Location: FM Smith Park (just up Park Blvd. from the Parkway) http://bit.ly/fmsmithmap Email: bbq@iliketheparkway.com On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=92788939965

  More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! Have you ever walked by a group doing something interesting and yet never stopped to, or perhaps feared to, inquire what they were doing?  If so, this video-blog is for you .  I'm in Georgia as I write this and visiting my Mom, but two Saturdays ago I saw a YouTube video of people playing drums under the "Columns" at Lake Merritt in Oakland, where I live for those of you reading this in, er, Japan.  I said to myself, and wrote on the Oakland Focus Blog , that if I ever encountered that group I was going to have my camera at the ready and interview them (if they let me of course). Well that's what I did on that Saturday morning.  The group is called "Emeryville Taiko" at www.etaiko.org , and as Sensei Susan Horn informs us in the video, they were located in Emeryville, but are now at 27th and Harrison St, near the Whole Foods Market and near Lake Merritt.   But on Saturday's they have this Taiko c

Bloc Party performing 'Talons' live at the Fox Theater in Oakland, California on April 20, 2009.

  More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! Van Jones , President Obama's new "Special Advisor For Green Jobs Enterprise and Innovation" who I have featured in our "Oakland Focus" blog and videos several times and I last talked to as he closed his account at Gold's Gym in Oakland where he was a member for years, is the guest on CNN's "Larry King" show tonight starting at 6 PM PST, 9 PM EST but CNN runs a "loop" so if you missed Van at 6 PM or 9 PM respectively, you can catch him again later in the evening and the video on CNN.com two days later. (I hope.) Mr. Jones is the author of the New York Times best-selling book, "The Green Collar Economy" and the co-founder of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights in Oakland. Over his career as activist and author, Jones has tirelessly fought for alternatives to violence and incarceration. In her tribute to Jones, Rosemary Pritzker wrote: Van Jones has been maki

More at Inside Bay Area : “BERKELEY, Calif.—City officials say a student at the University of California, Berkeley has been diagnosed with tuberculosis. The Berkeley Division of Public Health and the University's health services are contacting about 225 students and faculty who may have been in close contact with the infected student. Health officials say tuberculosis can spread when someone with the disease coughs or sneezes and people in close contact "directly inhale the TB germs over an extended period of time." Officials say brief or casual contact with an infected person does not spread the disease.”

An interesting trend. Real estate brokers and developers in the Bay Area are taking an interested in underdeveloped mostly minority neighborhoods in East Palo Alto and now West Oakland. This video is by Coldwell Banker and I found it on YouTube.

More at East Bay Express I just saw this over at the Express Blog... “The East Bay Express is moving to Oakland's Jack London Square area on May 16. The Express has been in Emeryville for nearly eight years, after spending its first 23 years in Berkeley. The paper is leasing office space at 620 Third Street, between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Jefferson Street, three blocks west of Broadway.” GREAT! Welcome to Oakland Bob Gammon, but does that mean your newsroom staff will diversify? Would be nice to see a video with some people of color representing the Express. At any rate, welcome to Oakland.

This video released by the BART Board of Directors, who are finally getting New Media to a small degree, features Oakland City Attorney Jane Williams explaining what her law firm will be looking for in investigating the actions of BART Police which led to the murder of Oscar Grant. Williams says that they will look at the actions of the officers and conduct with the public and recommend discipline measures to the BART Board. Here's what the BART Board New Media rep wrote on YouTube: BART has turned over its internal affairs investigation to the Oakland-based law firm of Meyers Nave. Meyers Nave is an independent, third party that will investigate the actions of all the officers present during the events leading up to the shooting death of Oscar Grant on January 1, 2009, on the Fruitvale Station platform. ABOUT MEYERS NAVE Meyers Nave is known throughout the state for its expertise in a broad range of police work and public law. The Oakland based law firm has a solid reputation bui

Green Day playing Longview Live at the Fox Theater, Oakland, California, April 15, 2009