Oakland Focus News | Oakland News Online Blog

More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! | Get my widget! Visit YouTube You know, in this whole matter of retaining the A's in Oakland, as much as I've been upset with the City of Oakland and this newly developed Oakland subculture that wants to keep the city small, and as impressed as I am with the determination of San Jose to try and yank the team from Oakland, there's one perception I can't escape at all: San Jose just plain doesn't deserve the Oakland A's. The A's are an embeded element of Oakland's cultural history, as much as The Port of Oakland, the Hell's Angels, or The Black Panthers, The Oakland Athletics have been here during the decades that saw the rise of the Oakland Raiders as an NFL power. They were witness to, and considering the political friendships at the time during the 70s, a part of the growth of Oakland's black political base. The A's played a key role in the 1989 Loma Piereta Earthquake, and were impa

From BooksFromTLCGraphics on YouTube: Trailer for book titled "Straight Outta East Oakland," by Harry Louis Williams II Firstborn Walker wants desperately to flee the mean streets of East Oakland and attend a prestigious university. With no job, he turns to the one person who can help him secure the money for college -- a charismatic, ultra-violent crack dealer. Now part of the Black Christmas mob, will Firstborn catch that triple life sentence, catch a hot one through his forehead, or escape the game altogether? This powerful book tells his story.

From usshaolinkungfu at YouTube Oakland Chinatown Night Market 2009 Presented by the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce July 11, 2009 U.S. Shaolin Kung Fu kicked off the Night Market with an exhilarating kung fu performance that thrilled the crowds! This talented young group proudly shared their amazing skills through a variety of forms, traditional weapons, self-defense tactics, and cooperative and constructive team work- and theyve embraced this demonstration with both poise and enthusiasm. Finally a very special appreciation to Master Sun for his breath-taking performance that got the audience up on their feet! U.S. Shaolin Kung Fu was honored to have performed at this wonderful and culturally enriching event!

I just read - briefly - the matter of the $900,000 contract that was given to Mark Lundquist's firm for construction management. But I have to be really honest and get after the Tribune's Matt Krupnick and Thomas Peele for writing the article as if Harris was giving a contract to a friend, then benefiting from the contract himself. I write that because the article states how Harris and Lundquist were involved in the ownership of a radio station, then wrote how much Lundquist made off the no-bid contract. Now, that I've written that, I'll explain this: anyone who can see knows that Mark and Elihu have known each other for years. But also it should have not been a "no-bid" contract and I think that's where Elihu screwed up. But to defend a man I worked for, I will write that Elihu works to hire good people and has little patience with job screw ups. He believed - I'm sure - that what he did was the right thing to do. For those who may think Elih

More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! | Get my widget! Visit YouTube YouTube , MySpace , Metacafe , DailyMotion , Blip.tv , Sclipo and Viddler On Saturday July 11th at 5: 30 PM, I walked out of a cafe on Grand Avenue near Lake Merritt in Oakland and noticed that sweet smell that comes after a light rain and a weird amber tint of the sidewalk below me, so I looked up and was surprised by an incredible site: a remarkable double rainbow that stretched overhead and to the left and right of me.  It was such an amazing event that people came out of ZZA's and Sidebar restaurants just to take pictures of it; fortunately, I had my small Flip Video Camera.   Double rainbow in Oakland There were two rainbows, one on top of the other in a perfect arch. It was such a site that people came out to their balconies to see it, and car traffic on Grand Avenue slowed because drivers were craining their necks to get a better look at it. What was remarkable was how robust the d

More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! | Get my widget! YouTube , Yahoo , MySpace , Metacafe , DailyMotion , Blip.tv , StupidVideos , Sclipo and Viddler Peter Jackson, the Academy Award-winning producer and director of the Lord of The Rings Trilogy and King Kong took on a new and exciting movie project in 2007 that's a documentary-style movie about an alien encampment in South Africa. Called "District 9" it's set for release August 14th and features perhaps the most realistic take on the age-old story of aliens visiting Earth I've ever seen thus far. In District 9 , a giant alien ship hovers over Johannesberg, South Africa. In total the ship and its crew have been there for 28 years. Over that time, a generation, they're forced into slum-like conditions in an area called "District 9". Reportedly a government agent become a friend to the aliens and becomes a human host for their biotechnology. The Alien Encampment and th

More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! | Get my widget! YouTube , Yahoo , MySpace , Metacafe , DailyMotion , Blip.tv , StupidVideos , Sclipo and Viddler In the BART labor contract matter, one of the issues that's upset me is the union's request for a three percent wage increase. Now, I'm pro-union, that's not the issue, but we're in a terrible recession, perhaps a depression, and many people are unemployed or just trying to maintain employment. But even with that, we have BART's union workers asking for a raise! With such a request, we have the right to ask "Are you the BART worker giving riders the great service they deserve? Well, if the actions of this BART Rockridge station agent are any example, the answer's "no." I used BART to ride into San Francisco for a light dinner, and after parking at Rockridge, walked into the station as I always do, but noticed that the station agent booth was empty. I couldn't beli

From mistrsac on YouTube: 7/6/2009 -- Boston Red Sox vs. Oakland Athletics: Nomar Garciaparra returns to Fenway Park as a visitor for the first time since the Sox traded him to the Cubs back in 2004.

More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! | Get my widget! Remember the blog post I wrote about a week ago stating that Oakland District Two Councilmember Pat Kernighan should get the Oakland Redevelopment Agency (ORA) involved in the effort to save the now-closed Parkway Theater? Well, I was just contacted by an unnamed source who explained in great detail how and when the ORA will work to redevelop the Parkway Speakeasy Theater, located at 1834 Park Blvd in Oakland. The effort will mean the "best of" the Parkway's employees will be asked to return to their jobs, if they want to do so. First a brief review. The once-popular Parkway Theater closed its doors on March 22, 2009 after its owners, Katheryn and Kyle Fisher of Downey Street Productions, received an eviction notice from their landlord, the Cheng family of San Francisco just four days before closing. The news caused a major panic within the ranks of Parkway employees, who didn't know what t

More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! | Get my widget! According to Matier and Ross in the SF Chronicle , former Oakland City Administrator Deborah Edgerly's suing the City of Oakland for unlawful termination (They used the term "unfair" but it's "unlawful").  At any rate, it was an expected action given the way she was let go and the kind of statements made about her before the action took place.  I wrote then that a defamation of character lawsuit would have been appropriate , but Edgerly apparently feels she was wrongfully terminated.  Again, Edgerly's way of protecting family and favorites caught up to her, that's certain.  But, and I state this again, Edgerly was put on the chopping block for actions that are common in the City of Oakland. I wrote a while back - stating that SF Chronicle Columnist Chip Johnson was right about Oakland favoritism - and will continue to assert this: Don't think that favoritism starts with Deb

By Oakland City Attorney John Russo For once Oakland is getting some news about crime that isn’t horrible. Despite recent high-profile cases of violence, including the murder of four Oakland police officers in March, major crime in Oakland is down significantly this year. Homicide is down about 20 percent, according to police department statistics. Assaults with firearms – down almost one third. Part 1 crimes – everything from assault to burglary – are down about 15 percent this year. Credit is due to our police department – to the patrol officers who risk their lives and to the investigators and commanders who are using smarter and more effective tactics to fight crime during difficult times. And whether or not it’s the popular thing to say, one other person deserves some credit – Mayor Ron Dellums. At critical moments, Mayor Dellums took a stand to reform policing in Oakland and to fully staff the police department, and it looks like those decisions have helped the departmen

More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! | Get my widget! On YouTube.com You know it's a special day when your T-Mobile cell phone allows you to make "Emergency Calls only", you know you paid the bill, and you can't even call customer service. I've seen a lot of days and a gaggle of events, but nothing like this. If you didn't know Michael Jackson passed way, today, you do now. This memorial is incredible: Stevie Wonder just gave a terrific performance. Now, former LA Lakers great Ervin "Magic" Johnson is giving a really personal, funny, ("I didn't know Michael Jackson liked Kentucky Fried Chicken!") and touching speech. And now, Jennifer Hudson's taking the stage. It's simply amazing this was asssembled so quickly and yet so well. It's moving. Unfortunately, in death, Michael Jackson is more powerful than in life. His power was always to make us happy, if just for one moment in time, feel carefr

Berkeley City Council and the Marine Recruiters by CalTV Journalism. A report on the conflict where the Berkeley City Council gave permits to anti-war groups and the Marines retaliated by taking money away from the City. An old story that CalTV just posted.

jonpaulvd on YouTube is not an Oakander, but has this video perspective on the State's budget and how it's impacted colleges:

http://www.newsy.com - Newsy covers the State of California's new currency, IOU's. Now, the state has the lowest credit rating in America and the legislature is still far from a budget agreement.

More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! | Get my widget! On YouTube.com The passing via murder of former Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair is really hard to take.  It's hard because McNair was a major player in my first Super Bowl: Super Bowl 38 (or XXXVIII) in Atlanta to open the new century in 2000. I was their as a guest of the NFL as I was working to bring the Super Bowl to Oakland. (We eventually lost to Jacksonville for the right to host the 2005 Super Bowl .) McNair's Titans weren't favored to win that game agains the "Greatest Show On Turf", the St. Louis Rams.  The Rams were blowing-out and steam-rollering opponents that year and there was no indication that wasn't going to be the case in The Super Bowl. But someone forgot to tell that to the Titans, led by a stalwart defense and Steve McNair.  With the Alcorn State legends fancy footwork, laser passing, and quick decision-making, the Titans stayed within scoring dist

Ok. The questions asked by Panini America's Don Russ are TERRIBLE. I had major problems watching this interview with Raiders WR Darrius Heyward-Bey.

From Californialcv on YouTube who reports: Is it OK that a child born in West Oakland will die 15 years earlier, on average, than a child living in the Oakland hills? That was one of the questions asked of the attendees of the CLCV-hosted Environmental Leadership Forum and reception about air quality and health equity issues surrounding the Port of Oakland on May 1, 2009. (In case youre wondering, everyone in the room responded to that question with a resounding No!) The featured speakers at the forum were: * Senator Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) * Marc Hershman, District Director for California State Assemblymember Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) * Dr. Anthony Iton, Director of the Alameda County Department of Public Health and County Health Officer * Margaret Gordon, Board of Commissioners, Port of Oakland * Doug Bloch, Director, Coalition for Clean and Safe Ports The forum was moderated by CLCV Board member and Port of Long Beach commissioner Mario Cordero, who spearheaded the development

More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! | Get my widget! Saturday July 4th was a great day to be out-and-about in the San Francisco Bay Area. A tradition shared by my friends and I - and thousands of others - is to attend the Fillmore Jazz Festival, which is a good 10 blocks of music, food, and fun. One of the favorite stops along the stretch is Harry's Bar, which serves up a great combination of beautiful people dancing and socializing to funk and rock music. After hanging with friends inside, a group of us ventured outside as it was just too hot. I came back later, but after perhaps a few minutes inside, determined that the outdoor weather was better. I go to Harry's each year with the same group of friends - except we didn't see Monte Poole this year - so I'm used to the vibe during the festival. I give the staff a lot of credit for keeping the crowd at a manageable level; not that it was ever out of control in the past, or this year for that mat