Oakland Focus News | Oakland News Online Blog

Transbay Transit Center San Francisco is progressing toward its eventual 2017 completion and opening. And to the end of keeping you informed of not just the construction progress, but also areas of San Francisco that are impacted and may compromise your travel if you’re not planned for them, here’s the latest update, this one for June 14th to June 23rd. More at Zennie62.com: Transbay Transit Center SF 10 Day Construction Update: June 14 – June 23

The Second Annual MISSSEY GALA this Saturday, June 15th at 5 PM at The Oakland Rotunda (300 Frank H Ogawa Plaza Downtown Oakland, CA), is an event I’m personally asking that you attend, and not just because it will be fun – the program will include dinner, a no-host cocktail and hors d’oeuvres reception during the silent auction, and a lot of fantastic people – but it will be informative and perhaps life-changing for you. Get your tickets here, first – http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/334595 – then please watch the video and then read below it. MISSSEY GALA: An Important Event To Inspire Change - more at Zennie62.com: MISSSEY GALA: SATURDAY JUNE 15TH, OAKLAND ROTUNDA 5 PM

From Zennie62: Godzilla is still being filmed in Surrey, BC, and while that outdoor work is going on, there’s a photo from an indoor set that’s getting a lot of buzz, and another that was virtually ignored by the media, but gives the biggest clue yet to what is going to happen when the movie’s released on May 16th 2014. Let’s start with that one, because it strongly implies the title of this blog entry: that Godzilla’s going to attack San Francisco! The question is, will Oakland be devastated, too? More at Zennie62.com: Godzilla 2014: SAN FRANCISCO WILL BE ATTACKED BY GODZILLA

The New Parkway Oakland at 474 24th Avenue in the Uptown District, is something to see. It’s kind of tucked way in a warehouse that’s much larger than it looks, and is just around the corner from a corner cafe on Broadway and 24th that has been several different businesses over the years. The hosts for our video tour were Randy and Karen, who are the managers and operators and caretakers of The Parkway Oakland Theater for its owners – a group of 87 investors who gathered together and put blood, sweat, and tears into the renovation of a space that was once used by the Occupy Oakland Movement. Now, it picks up on the spirit of the original Parkway Oakland Theater, where you can lounge on big, overstuffed couches and eat great pizza or drink gourmet beer and wine – or just watch a movie. More at Zennie62.com: The New Parkway Oakland Theater Video Tour

Oaklanders who follow these things know what’s happening with the city budget. As our City Council gets ready to pass a new two-year budget between now and July 1, we have the following: The Mayor’s proposed budget; The City Administrator’s updates (here and here - and we understand more are coming); City Council President Kernighan’s “Proposed Amendments to The Mayor’s FY 2013-2015 Proposed Policy Budget” (we’ll call it “APB1”, for amendments to budget 1); “ FY 2013-2015 Budget Proposal Submitted By Council Members Brooks, Reid and Gallo” (we’ll call this one “APB2”). In this post, and the two that follow, we will show that the Mayor’s budget, with APB1, is an imperfect but reasonable approach. But as we will also show, APB2 constitutes an assault on efforts to restore public safety to Oakland. It is a potential public policy disaster, and it is based on millions of dollars in errors and wrong assumptions. More at Zennie62.com: Make Oakland Better Now! Looks a

Oakland News, more of it today. EVENT ALERT: On Saturday, June 15th at 5pm, MISSSEY will host its second Annual Inspire Change Gala at Individual tickets are now on sale for $125, couples for $200 and are available if you click on this link: MISSSEY 2nd Annual Inspire Change Gala The program will include a no-host cocktail and hors d’oeuvre reception with live music, silent auction, dinner, live auction, and dancing. Please contact Jude Wellington for event information or sponsorship opportunities at 510-214-3701 or jude.wellington@gmail.com the beautiful Rotunda Building in Downtown Oakland. The event will raise money to support MISSSEY’s goal of “Motivating, Inspiring, Supporting and Serving Sexually Exploited Youth”. More Oakland News at Zennie62.com: Oakland News: MISSEY EVENT, Glover Memorial, Mayor Ruby, Love Our Lake, Schaaf

According to Zennie62, the entire legal team of the California Public Utilities Commission charged with investigating the deadly Pacific Gas & Electric Co. explosion and fire has resigned from working on the case, the City of San Bruno has learned, leaving no CPUC legal experts with detailed knowledge of the case during the final penalty phase against PG&E. Mayor Jim Ruane of San Bruno called for an immediate investigation by the Attorney General of the State of California and the State Legislature into the resignation of four lead CPUC safety division attorneys. He said he believed an investigation is the only way to provide fairness and transparency for San Bruno and the public in the penalty for PG&E’s safety failures. More at Zennie62: CPUC’s Lawyers Quit Over PG&E San Bruno Explosion And Gas Fire Case