Oakland Focus News | Oakland News Online Blog

A bit of catching up to do on Oakland News, so here we go. Occupy Oakland Occupy Oakland continues to "occupy" the collective minds of Oakland and much of America, just one week after Oakland's Brutal Tuesday, where police and Occupy Oakland protestors clashed. The result were some injuries to protesters - one fatal and to Iraq War veteran Scott Olsen. After suffering in critical condition for some time, the good new is that Olsen is out of that status, and is recovering. Mr. Olsen was visited by both the Mayor of Oakland, Jean Quan, and Interim Police Chief Howard Jordan. And in related news, Jordan got to the media to defend the actions of the police who hurt Olsen. Jordan said “I want to ensure you that all allegations of misconduct and excessive uses of force are being thoroughly investigated by internal and external investigative sources,’’ Jordan said. “I am confident in our abilities to conduct thorough and fair investigations into the actions of p

The Oakland News is dominated by the Oakland Raiders trade for now-former Cincinnati Bengals Quarterback Carson Palmer . In case you missed it, here's the first seven minutes of today's press conference at Raiders Headquarters: What cracked me up about the start of the press conference was that Coach Jackson said "There's a report out there that this deal was Hue Jackson's.." And then went on to congratulate the Raiders Organization. At that time, the number one Google News result in a search for " Carson Palmer" was "Carson Palmer Trade To Raiders Has Hue Jackson Mark " - by this blogger! Some of the questions concerned Palmer's quitting the Bengals in protest, and wondered if he still has passion for the game. I think of it as the reverse: the fact that Carson quit in protest means he has passion for pro football. The Lawsuit Against CEDA On Code Enforcement I got this email today that was sent by Gwin Martin and to M

In Oakland's political history, or at least since Mayor Lionel Wilson, no Mayor of this town has ever been associated with a speech that could even be twisted as having a racial or ethnic bias. And for two basic reasons: 1) it's not in step with Oakland's wonderful melting pot, and the pride of diversity expressed by Oaklanders for decades, and 2), it's just politically stupid to do in California, let alone much of urban America. That's what makes Oakland Mayor Jean Quan's recent speech given before a San Francisco Chinese community organization all the more unfortunate. This blogger cyber-walked over the video today, and while searching for videos regarding Occupy Oakland. The objective was to find any video showing Mayor Quan talking with Occupy Oakland protestors, but the keywords "Occupy Oakland Quan" didn't yield the immediate desired result. But what stopped the presses was a video with this title: "Mayor Jean Quan says Chinese

The email from the City of Oakland's media contact had a title that was clear as a bell: "Oakland City Administrator Appoints Howard A. Jordan as Interim Chief of Police." So, this blogger immediately thought it was a misprint. After all, the Oakland City Charter that now-California Governor, and then Mayor Jerry Brown worked hard to get Oakland voters to change to give the Mayor of Oakland the power to make one key appointment and to be responsible for showing "community leadership." To that end, every Mayor of Oakland has presented their choice for Chief of Police, even as it's really the task of the City Administrator. With Jerry Brown and Robert Bobb, the selection was Richard Word. Under Mayor Ron Dellums, Anthony Batts was the choice, and Dellums led the press conference to introduce him: Even though the Oakland City Charter gives the Mayor the power to appoint only the City Administrator, that hasn't stopped Mayors Brown and Dellums from

Two years ago, Calpine Energy Company embarked on an effort to build a new power plant that has a voluntary cap on greenhouse gas emissions. This blogger talked to Norma Dunn about the-then proposed Rusell Energy Center in 2009: Now, it's one of the largest construction projects in the Bay Area is underway right now in Hayward with 200 workers on site. Here's Calpine's description of the project: The Russell City Energy Center is a proposed 619-megawatt combined-cycle electric generating facility that will bring much-needed energy capacity to western Alameda county and the San Francisco peninsula. The facility will serve the needs of 600,000 households. The Energy Center, which will use clean, natural gas for fuel, will allow for a greater than 90 percent reduction of emissions and will be 40 percent more fuel efficient than older, fossil-fueled generating facilities in the Bay Area. To celebrate the beginning of construction, Calpine CEO Jack Fusco will be on the

A lot of Oakland, Ca. news, so let's get to it. (Oh, and that's Oakland, California, for international readers who may not know.) First, this blogger was a late attendee at a party thrown by "Men of The East Bay" for Emerge California. The idea was created by AC Transit Board Member Joel Young as a way to welcome Emerge California (the non-profit organization that mentors women who want to enter local politics) after its move from San Francisco to Oakland. Held at Hibiscus Restaurant at 17th and San Pablo in downtown Oakland Thursday night, the event (which costs $20 for attendees) was well-attended and well-received by all. That Young, who has been fighting a domestic violence accusation, produced the event for women raised more than a few eyebrows. But the good news is everyone was supportive of Young's effort, even his rival candidates for the 18th Assembly District seat, Kathy Neal and Able Guillen, who were in attendance. The only bit of grous

As Oakland's Downtown grows with places to go, increasing jobs and commerce, there are small signs of class tensions developing. This was evident in the wake of the Moneyball Premier at The Paramount Theater. No, this blogger did not have a ticket to the event, and considering the work that was to be done, attendance suddenly wasn't an option anyway. Still, around 10-ish, at night, after working on videos related to my new Atlanta VidBlogger Nation Show on Comcast XFinity in Atlanta, going down to check out the scene and have dinner seemed like a good idea. (So if you're in Atlanta, I'm on 24 and 7.) So, the first stop was Luka's for a great burger and fries. Got to say that Luka's burger is still consistently excellent, and the fries are a meal themselves. The crowd was the typically cool interracial mix the tap room is known for. But wanderlust set in and I headed off for other parts of the Uptown Entertainment District. It's best to divide Upt

That the San Francisco TransBay Terminal Area Plan has been released, let alone that the new San Francisco TransBay Terminal is under construction (and forget for the moment Wednesday's press conference) is just plain remarkable. As the video from the press conference will show, this is a huge project, and a much needed one. When this blogger first saw plans for what this TransBay Center will be way back in 1995, I really never thought this was going to get off the ground. Then, the cost was estimated to be $2 billion, and now it's $4 billion, and all of the building complex that was the historic Transbay Terminal is gone. A thing of San Francisco Bay Area history. Its shocking, because I've used that complex so many times I forgot to count them. For those who are new to the area, or just growing up to become aware of what's happening, The Transbay Terminal was the place AC Transit Buses came over from the East Bay, and SamTrans buses came over from Marin County, b

UPDATE: Kajeet updates service, offers new smartphones. If you're a parent who's wondered how to virtually corral the chance that your kids will use their cell phone for something called "sexting," you've probably pounded your head in frustration. Well, there's an answer: Kajeet , a cell phone service "for kids" located in Maryland, but funded by Silicon Valley investor Rick Bolander, who serves as managing partner. Bolander brought his experience in "working with digital content providers and service providers" to bear in his role in helping to form Kajeet. Why do I mention Rick Bolander first and before its CEO? Because under his direction, Kajeet has raised $82 million. Bolander is not just managing director at Kajeet, he's also "Rick Bolander co - founder of Gabriel Venture Partners." Bolander, together with Kajeet CEO Daniel Neal, are creating a new company that's right for the times. A period where it see

Platinum is an Oakland dance group like no other. It's the all-women dance group product of Oakland's New Style Motherlode, and includes a friend of my from my Skyline High School days, Amy Larsen. If that name rings a bell, it's because she was in this space earlier just one year ago , talking about the then-upcoming New Year's Eve performance called "Heat." Since that time, Platinum has performed at a number of venues around Oakland and the East Bay. As Amy explains "The group grew out of a performance workshop program initiated by NSM (New Style Motherlode) about 5 years ago. We dance to stay in shape and because we love it. However we PERFORM to INSPIRE our audiences to do what they love to do, no matter the age, no matter the experience level, just get out there and dance! And dance is what this group of hotties does. Platinum's next stop: Oakland Pride, this Sunday, September 4th. The women will perform at the Uptown Stage at 1:20 P

UPDATE: My name is Jonathan Arnold and I am the Volunteer Coordinator for Oakland Pride. We are looking for volunteers in all areas of the festival, and our greatest need now is for volunteers for our entry gates, our volunteer check-in area, and recycling technicians. Anyone who wants to volunteer for Oakland Pride should contact us directly at volunteer@oaklandpride.org for information on attending a volunteer orientation and to sign up for a volunteer shift. Oakland Pride is this Sunday, September 4th at 19th and Franklin in downtown Oakland's Uptown District, and this email from Sean Sullivan presents it well, puts out a call for volunteers, and has email contacts for your use: Friends, After an amazing and impressive 1st year that drew over 50,000 to downtown Oakland, Oakland LGBT Pride is back this September 4th. I might have told you about the fundraiser Richard Fuentes and I hosted with the Mayor and Councilmember Kaplan a few weeks ago. It was a tremendous success th

A lot of catching up to do on San Francisco News, so lets get started.  There's yet another protest planned to disrupt the evening commute, this one set for 5 PM outside of Civic Center BART Station in San Francisco.  The group Anonymous has reportedly said it would have a protest each week, and to point not just to the shut down of cell phone service that got Anonymous so riled up (this blogger too), but the recent police action that took the life of Charles Blair Hill in July.  On the matter of BART protests, I had a long talk with a good friend of mine who's become a fixture in Bay Area Law Enforcement (and I will not name).  His take was predictably, well, him, but representative of how some of his collegues think.  "BART has handled this poorly," he said. "What they should do, it turn us (police) lose and arrest people who protest down there.  If they get out of line, and don't follow orders, that's it.  Billy club them."  He and I totally disa

My celebration of the suddenly free "Oakland Tribune" from the hands of the Bay Area New Group, or BANG, both ruffled feathers and gained supporters. One email I received went something like this: I just read your blog about the Tribune. I was all set to dis-agree with Yipee. However, if the OAKLAND TRIBUNE can be resurrected on line I am enthused. Newspapers are what in my lifetime, helped give a city identity. In my opinion, the fact local media is SF centric has exaggerated the negatives of Oakland, but there has not been a positive voice out there. I have long promoted the idea of the A's the Warriors, the Raider's and possibly Cal going partners on a sports and news station that is Oakland centric....Let me know how I might be a help in this. The others I will not bother with, except to say that no one, least of all me, celebrates anyone losing a job. But my issue in all this is that we're in a time of digital media, yet what I see are media people consi