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[caption id="attachment_14777" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Sanjiv Handa"] [/caption]Sanjiv Handa, RP? Still can't believe it. It's a good idea to blog to get out of my head the idea that in my reality Sanjiv Handa, Oakland's Gargoyle - head of the East Bay News Service, expert on Oakland Government, gossip about Oakland's elected officials, and source of intel on the next local government party - is putting together his next newsletter, all set to tell us the whole matter was all a mistake, he's just fine, and that the effort to recall Mayor Quan was going slow because of disorganization and lack of money (which is true). But what's true is that Sanjiv is gone from our physical presence. I've never used the term "gadfly" because I never saw Sanjiv as an irritant, and I have little respect for those who describe him that way anyway. Why? Because some of those same people either wrote about o

Oakland Food Truck Pods Coming to a Neighborhood Near You! After three years of sometimes contentious discussions, the Oakland City Council is poised to propose a pilot plan to allow Oakland’s numerous and varied food truck offerings a chance to set up in “pods” that is, groupings where few restaurants or other food services already exist, and be permitted as a group. [caption id="attachment_14012" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Karen Hester"] [/caption] Karen Hester, long time event promoter, said that it will allow Oakland entrepreneurs like her to plan ahead knowing how many trucks will be allowed and what will be required of them. Previously, food trucks were only allowed in the Fruitvale district where Taco trucks have blazed a trail of high quality, less expensive offerings in areas where people are comfortable walking up and taking their food elsewhere to eat. But, as a result of some problems encountered in the Fruitval

(First posted at http://zenie62blog.com ) [caption id="attachment_13222" align="alignleft" width="235" caption="Oaklland Mayor Jean Quan"] [/caption]Is the Oakland Business Community really behind the planned recall effort of Mayor Jean Quan? As one blogger who's lived in Oakland since 1974, it's easy to gain the temperature around town because people either call or talk about the matter every day, including today. Let's say this: the issue of the recall of Mayor Jean Quan is not being officially driven by any recognized Oakland large business organization, as of this writing. Indeed everyone who's talked to this blogger, and in total, that's adding up to about 50 people so far, has said that, while they don't want to be quoted for political reasons, they're "on the fence" about supporting a recall effort against Mayor Quan. Here's my video on the Quan recall details: A large reason for this i

There's an idea from certain racist types that this blogger was blocked from posting at the SF Chronicle website because of "ties" to a "Chevron operative." That's bullshit. What the truth is, is that the new SFGate.com executive director Alana Nguyen did not, by her own written admission, like my take on the Rick Perry issue, as well as my statement that the position she holds was one that I believed I was better suited for. Moreover, at over 3,000 posts, far more than any other City Brights blogger my content was undoubtedly starting to tax their server budget. This video explains it all: No one pays me to hold an opinion - I do support Chevron in Ecuador because I think Ecuador's political system is corrupt and anti-American. This is a view I've held for some time, and before I started blogging at SFGate.com. I also happen to feel that there are certain knee jerk non-profits that just make money off challenging oil companies like Chev

According to Zennie62.com Jeremy Renner's went from good actor, to up-and-comer after his breakout movie The Hurt Locker , and now he's a true A-list star, working alongside Tom Cruise and going off to exotic locations like Dubai to shoot, in this case, the newest Mission: Impossible movie, Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol . Filming in Dubai created trying challenges related to the Middle East heat, and that brought out the worst in Renner. According to a source who worked close to Mr. Renner on the set of Mission: Impossible , the very demanding and well-liked actor was given to the occasional vulgar outburst because of the searing conditions - most famously this one: 'How long am I going to sit here playing with my balls with my tongue?' Renner was also said to be impatient with others to be ready to go when a scene was about to be made. In all, set workers are faster to blame the heat than Renner, saying that they were pleased to have worked with him.

Concerned that fans and patrons think Andronico’s is totally out of business with the close of its Telegraph Avenue store in Berkeley, the food retailer's went on a big push to let you know they're still going strong, and their facilities on Shattuck Avenue, and on Solono Avenue, both in Berkeley, are still going concerns as the firm emerges from bankruptcy. [caption id="attachment_13477" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Andronico's "] [/caption] The Telegraph Avenue store was the final one to close and marks the end of a financial restructuring program that started last year, and managed to save 375 jobs in the process. Bill Andronico, third generation member of the family which founded the markets, said... “Investment in the future of Andronico’s Markets can begin now that we are financially stable after the sale of the company to Renovo Capital. Our focus now is to build upon the strong brand built over three gener