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At the BART Community Meeting held Sunday January 11th Alameda Co Supervisor Keith Carson criticized the BART Board for the timing of the meeting, BART Board's Carol Ward Allen to issue this response explaining timing.

Solaraqua writes: "On January 12, 2009 a group of demonstrators gathered at the United Plaza, in San Francisco to protest over the fatal shooting by a BART police officer of Oscar Jullius Grant, an unarmed young Afro-American man,. The incident occurred on New Year's Day at Fruitvalle BART Station, in Oakland and it was witnessed by standing bys and others BART commuters from a distance. Fortunately it was captured by multiple eye witness cell phone's cameras. BART completed the investigation and now Oakland District Attorney takes over to determine the charges regarding this case."

For about ten years, Kayla Brand has been a valued and popular member of the staff of the Oakland Chamber of Commerce as Events and Development Director. But now she's almost out of a job due to the falling economy and its impact on the Chambers budget. As of this writing, she's still on the Chamber payroll, but come February that may change. The Oakland Chamber of Commerce has long been a major resource for Oakland business. Supporting the Chamber via membership or donation is very important. The problem is -- according to sources -- that the Chamber's events did not reach their expected revenue levels. Of course, the best way to fix that is via good viral online marketing . I'm sure there's some celebrity the Chamber's hosted that would be great fodder for a cool video set, among other things!

More at ActionAlameda.org : “Less than a week after low-level City of Alameda functionaries appeared on the news trying to dismiss claims by Save Our City! Alameda that the city is in dire financial straits, Mayor Johnson and Council member Frank Mataresse were on the local news themselves defending cuts to fire services and fire station “brownouts.” Johnson and Mataresse were interviewed on KTVU news along with Domenick Weaver, president of the local firefighters association, about the rotating brownouts which will begin at the end of this month. Last week, the City scrambled to respond to assertions by Save Our City! Alameda in a TV ad that the City is on the path to bankruptcy, as evidenced by the City’s inability to avoid the brownouts, outstanding lawsuits against the City, and the City’s plans to subsidize SunCal’s project at Alameda Point to the tune of several hundred million dollars.”

More at SfGate : “(01-12) 21:36 PST San Francisco -- A raucous crowd protesting the shooting death of a BART passenger marched through downtown San Francisco tonight, overturning trash cans, tossing traffic barriers and lighting small garbage fires. San Francisco police in riot gear quickly moved in and closed off streets as the crowd broke up into smaller groups, scattering in all directions. No arrests were reported.” -- And I'm not sure if this constant drumbeat is going to help. The courts are the best way.

More at the Trib : “Activists plan to return to downtown Oakland on Wednesday, one week after a small group of rioters marred what had been a nonviolent protest over a BART police officer's shooting of an unarmed, prone man. This week's event, scheduled to start at 4 p.m. Wednesday in Frank H. Ogawa Plaza outside Oakland City Hall, is part of a national day of nonviolent protest over the New Year's Day death of Oscar Grant III, 22, of Hayward, at the hands of Officer Johannes Mehserle, 27, in the Fruitvale BART station. The shooting was captured on video by several onlookers, and has caused consternation around the world. Gatherings also are planned for Wednesday in other cities, including Pittsburgh, Pa.; Columbus, Ohio; Little Rock, Ark.; and Erie, Pa., according to a Web page hosted by the Oakland-based Ruckus Society , a nonprofit that teaches nonviolent protest and civil disobedience methods to activists.” -- I'm not sure if all of these protests are a good idea o

BART Board's Lynette Sweet said BART Police did not explain that they talked to Officer Johannes Mesherle until Sunday. What Gee said is here. BART also has not posted an apology to the Grant Family on its website.

At Sunday's BART Board Committee Meeting, Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson took the mic and let lose, expressing his frustration with the BART Board and the slow pace of the investigation into the matter of the murder of Oscar Grant. Carson was particularly upset that the meeting was held on a Sunday at 2 PM, when community religious leaders were either in church or just getting out of church.

More at KTVU.com : “OAKLAND, Calif. -- Oakland police have a mystery on their hands after the discovery of a woman who was naked and unconscious beneath a freeway overpass near Fruitvale Avenue Monday night. The woman was found at around 5 p.m. early Monday evening along East 8th Street at Fruitvale after police received a phone call from a passerby. She died at the hospital a short time later. Officers say the woman still had a faint pulse when they arrived at the scene. "We found a woman that was unconscious and was transported to the hospital," said Captain Rick Orozco. "She passed away at the hospital. Now we're investigating this and seeing what exactly happened."”

There's a planned BART Protest set for 5 PM in San Francisco, but why the heck someone would try San Francisco is weird to me. Whatever the case, this is what KGO put out: SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A different kind of obstacle is expected in downtown San Francisco Monday night, when BART protestors are expected to take their outrage across the Bay for the first time. The latest noisy protest over the shooting of Oscar Grant at the Fruitvale BART station will be held in San Francisco around 5:00 p.m. and could affect traffic. There could also be a vocal turnout when BART explains a new review of its police Monday afternoon. Monday morning, BART riders found a quieter form of protest in their seats waiting for them as they boarded. They found flyers that look like something BART might issue, until you read the text. The anonymous author compares BART Police to a violent gang saying, "All members of this gang, which refers to itself as the "BART Police" are known

More at washingtonpost.com : “WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Justice Department has sent mediators to Oakland, Calif., to help resolve tensions arising from the fatal New Year's Day shooting of an unarmed black man by a white transit police officer. The officials are from the department's Community Relations Service, which was created by the 1964 Civil Rights Act to help resolve and prevent racial and ethnic conflict and violence. DOJ notified California's U.S. senators and  Rep. Barbara Lee on Thursday of the deployment, according to a department memo obtained Monday by The Associated Press. The memo says Justice officials will "meet with law enforcement officials and African American community leaders in response to community racial tension." The officials will conduct an assessment and provide needed follow-up.” -- Personally, I'm not sure what good they're going to do unless it's to make sure that all of this is quickly resolved.

Oakland City Councilmember Desley Brooks takes on the BART Board and BART Board Member Carol Ward Allen at the community meeting held on Sunday, January 11th at 101 Eight Street. Ward Allen walked out of the meeting. Councilmember Brooks anger is understandable. There's too much in the way of meetings and no action that anyone can point to that shows progress. She's right. IF anyone else shot another person, charges would have been filed by now. Still, the process must be respected and must take place. The person who calmed Ward Allen down was none other than former Oakland City Manager Henry Gardner. We went into his office for a spell, then Allen emerged and went back to the meeting. Gardner has and always has been a class act.

This video covered the 2009 California Delegate election for the 16th District. The event was held on Saturday, January 10th at The Alameda Hospital. For those who think this is not important at all. Not so. The delegates vote on matters impacting California State Elected Officials and often determine who you get to vote for before you vote for them. The delegates set the party platform and for all practical purposes are the "Face" of the local Democratic Party. I talked to a number of people running for the 12 delegate positions, and even talked to a couple of people about the matter of the BART Shooting and the Oakland Riot. WINNING DELEGATES: WOMEN: Ronnie Caplane Alice Fried Frieda Edgette (Glantz) Sumi Paranjape Esperanza Tervalon-Daumont Tara Marchant Wilson MEN: Mark Briggs Joel Freid Abel J. Guillen Wayne Nishioka Dan Rush Jakada Imani

BART Spokesperson Linton Johnson expresses his frustration over the bad PR BART has received regarding the BART Fruitvale Shooting just before the start of the community meeting held at MetroCenter on January 11, 2009

For me this was a ton of fun to do. But it's even better when someone takes time to let folks know you did a great job. Such was the case with the CNN iReport and CNN.com, who contacted me regarding my question for CNN's Ali Velshi on what he thought of giving $3,500 to each American taxpayer under $100,000. Here's the video: Embedded video from CNN Video This is what CNN iReport's Rachel8 wrote : Would you go head-to-head with CNN's top economic expert on an economic stimulus plan? How about live on the air? Fearless iReport superstar Zennie Abraham did. After submitting an iReport suggesting a taxpayer stimulus package, he discussed his plan with CNN chief business correspondent Ali Velshi on CNN.com/live. Velshi said the plan -- which calls for a $3,500 stimulus check to those making less than $100,000 a year -- was not targeted enough to work. But Zennie courageously defended his idea. "I disagree, with all due respect," he said to Vels

This was from the Yahoo Adams Point Message Board: A friend called this a.m. to say he and two others were walking home yesterday mid-evening and were held up at gun point by one man: black, wearing black hoodie and black pants. This occurred on Euclid between Lagunitas and Van Buren. Thankkfully, no one got hurt. He will post more details himself when he gets to a computer with Internet service, but in the meantime, I wanted neighbors to be alert.

I was just informed today, Saturday evening January 10th, 2009, that BART is holding a "community meeting" on Sunday, January 11th, which is tommorrow, from 2 PM to 4 PM at 101 Eighth Street, the Joseph P. Bort MetroCenter in Oakland, off Lake Merritt BART. The timing of the meeting is questionable because I got the intel on it today (Saturday) in the afternoon. And it was clear that today was the date of the creation of whatever release went out on the meeting. I think BART's officials were trying to prevent the activation of New Media to annouce the meeting to any possible "undesirables" that may attend. In other words, they were trying to control the spread of the message. It's clear BART has learned NOTHING from this entire affair. The knoweldge of the shooting and the reaction to it was the child of New Media. Traditional media played a bit part because it was not able to do what New Media can do, constantly repeat an event in the pasttim

Haaziq4News is all over the Mayor's press conference. But he didn't get the Mayor's full statement -- that was missed by many and is not on YouTube in full as of this writing. I've got to impress upon Mayor Dellums how important it is to use New Media to talk to people.

From The Contra Costa Times: "BART held it's Board of Directors meeting and the public showed up in force to voice their frustration and anger about the shooting death of Oscar Grant III by a BART police officer on New Year's Day." I missed this because I was litterally sitting on my ass first doing CNN.com with Ali Velshi then HLN Headline News right after that. Hard to be in more than one place at once. This I wanted to attend. But thank God for New Media.

This man makes a great point about how the media did not show the peaceful protest at Fruitvale BART and did show the violent riot. The only problem is his video gets a bit nasty toward the end, so be warned. He's pissed. But part of the problem -- he does not know this -- is Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums called a press conference at exactly the same time as the BART protest and press conference. Why? DaveyD has his view:

YouTuber darrincoe expresses his emotions over seeing the shooting video, and he doesn't even live in Oakland. But it shows the impact this has on the national mood because New Media has allowed people to see it again and again.

This time Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums got out into the streets and talked with people. This one was smaller and ended almost as quickly as it started.

The YouTuber write that this is new, but it's not. However it's still worth another look, if only to see that the man next to Oscar Grant on the ground was very still and silent. He was also not dark-skinned Black. I hate to point that out but it seems there was a kind of selective treatment based on race and evident in the video, and led to the taking of Grant's life by the officer. Why? More on that later.

As I left City Hall there was a small group of people carrying home-made signs reading "Stop Police Brutality" and screaming "You're fired!" At passing police officers in cars. I talked to them, and it turned out at least one person was from West Oakland.

More at SFGate.com : “(01-07) 19:14 PST OAKLAND -- The BART police officer who shot an unarmed man to death on a station platform early on New Year's Day quit the force Wednesday, avoiding an interview with police internal affairs investigators trying to get to the bottom of an incident that has prompted broad outrage. Officer Johannes Mehserle, 27, was supposed to make a statement Wednesday about why he shot 22-year-old Oscar Grant as the supermarket worker lay face-down at the Fruitvale Station in Oakland, BART said.”

'I have yet to see any widespread nationwide coverage on the New Year's execution style murder of Oscar Grant by a Bay Area Rapid Transit - BART - police officer. Somebody told me that they saw 5 minutes of coverage on CNN last night. I would think they would syndicate it across all networks by now.' read more | digg story

OAKLAND, Calif. -- More than 100 demonstrators were arrested overnight as a march to protest the slaying of a Hayward man by a BART police officer erupted into violence in downtown Oakland. read more | digg story

Protests erupted shortly after a young man killed by a subway police officer was laid to rest in Oakland on Wednesday night. read more | digg story

HipHop Reporter Davey D vents his frustration with Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums at the BART Fruitvale Press Coference and protest. Davey D explains that Dellums could have met with the people and had a press conference rather than "hiding" behind his staff.

This is my report of the riots that broke out during what was planned to be a peaceful protest of the death of Oscar Grant at the hand of BART Police Officer Johannes Mehserle. It's a story of what happeened from points of view as its happening.

More at Inside Bay Area : “OAKLAND — Art Michel, the Oakland school district police chief who detained a Tribune videographer last fall during a student protest, will leave the department this week, school district spokesman Troy Flint confirmed Tuesday. Flint would not give the reasons behind Michel's departure, saying that it was a personnel matter that had yet to be approved by the school board. But some familiar with the situation say the police chief's resignation might have been triggered — at least, in part — by concerns about compensation and benefits, rather than by his confrontation with photojournalist Jane Tyska on Oct. 31, which was captured on video. Michel retired from the Oakland Police Department as a sergeant in 2003 after 31 years of service. In 2007, he joined the newly resurrected Oakland school district force as a lieutenant and was promoted to interim chief in January 2008. But questions recently arose about Michel's employment in light of his retirem

More at Inside Bay Area : “Geoffrey's Inner Circle, the popular black-owned and -operated nightclub in downtown Oakland, is closing. Owner Geoffrey Pete said little Tuesday other than he is transferring the lease to a church and a nonprofit. Pete has complained in the past, however, that police were unfairly targeting his night spot as well as other black-owned clubs downtown, many of which have closed in the past few years. Some of the clubs closed voluntarily or were pressured to do so by the city after crowds leaving the establishments were involved in fights, shootings and sideshows that resulted in injuries and death. Police said the incidents ate up overtaxed police resources as officers from beats around the city were called in to restore order and make arrests. Geoffrey's drew a mature, well-heeled crowd and had relatively few problems compared with other now-defunct nightclubs, such as Mingles and Sweet Jimmie's, but Oakland police Sgt. Kyle Thomas said that change

This is a review of the latest (to this date) information on the BART Police shooting of Oscar Grant. The Grant family lawyer John Burris has filed a $25 million damage claim. Two protests are planned for Wednesday one at 3 PM at Fruitvale BART.

More at SFGate.com : “A man was found stabbed to death in downtown Oakland, police said today. Nemekhbayer Gaitav, 42, was found inside an apartment on the 1400 block of Jackson Street near Lake Merritt about 10 p.m. Monday, authorities said. He had been stabbed and was pronounced dead at the scene. No arrests have been made.”

This is the video that "started it all" for me as a nationally-known video-blogger. It was one of several I made for the CNN / YouTube Democratic Debates, but the one CNN producers really liked. "The Coin Question."

The Oakland BART Police Fruitvale Station shooting was a horrifying act of an individual police officer that, upon reflection, went insane for a moment. I'm glad people had video cameras and used them. But I'm not happy with the state of the police in Oakland and the East Bay. What the officer did to young Oscar Grant was shameful. If you look at the videos, the officer first drags Grant over the station floor then positions him against the ground, and then pulls out his gun slowly then shoots him, but then looks up as if to say "Oh, that was an accident." It did not look that way. This should prompt a major investigation into how police are trained and the backgrounds and attitudes of the people that are recruited and how they're trained. There's something wrong and where there's smoke,there's fire. Now, Oakland Lawyer John Burris has introduced a $25 million lawsuit against the police department and BART, and given the look of the videos -- ther

Of all the videos I've seen on last New Year's Day Morning's shooting by the BART / Oakland Police at Fruitvale BART Station, this one is the first I've seen that expresses an urban anger that was not expressed before. The evidence is clear the officer directly shot Oscar Grant, even if it was by accident. I have to have a closer look at his actions -- if he reached for his gun and took it out deliberately, then it was not an accident. This is tragic.

Famous stylist and restauranteur B Smith and Dan Gasby are the hosts for a major party to be held in Washington D.C during Inauguration Weekend, Saturday, January 17th at the lovely B. Smith Restaurant in Union Station, which can be seen in this video: There's a great list of Oaklanders and even former Oaklaners who now live in Washington DC, like former City Manager Robert C. Bobb, To attend, you have to fill out a form, which you can obtain here: REGISTRATION FORM  . Tickets are $150 per person. For more information, call 510-562-5560.

Today, as I was attending the memorial service for Dr. C. Diane Howell, the Oakland City Council selected Councilmember Jane Brunner (D-1) as its new President, replacing and breaking the long string of Councilmember Ignacio De La Fuente (District 5) serving in that role. Frankly, I say "Congratulations" to Jane, who was rewarded for her long term of service to her North Oakland constituents.   But I can't help but feel that Councilmember Larry Reid should be the President.  But then one has to have the votes for that to occur, and perhaps Larry counted heads and saw they weren't there.   Regardless of who the head of the helm is, the City has a laundry list of large problems.  According to my friend Tom Guarino of Pacific Gas and Electric, Oakland City Attorney John Russo gave what Tom called an "incredible speech" about how Oakland needs to improve and what to do.    Sorry I missed it.  The City Council has it's first meeting every year, I'

"Phishing" is the act of sending a "safe" looking email that asks you to give out sensitive information: your username and password. That practice has found it's way to Twitter. Here's what you should do if it happens to you.

More at Inside Bay Area : “OAKLAND — Bay Area Women Against Rape, the nation's first rape crisis center, held a house party recently to raise money for programs and services that could lose out on thousands of dollars in state and federal funding in the coming year. About 50 turned out at the home of State Treasurer Bill Lockyer and Nadia Davis-Lockyer, executive director of the Alameda County Family Justice Center and a supporter of Bay Area Women Against Rape, the Oakland-based crisis and prevention organization that was founded 38 years ago. The group raised $2,050 for direct client services, which includes about 4,000 calls for rape crisis services annually and the education of another 11,000 people annually through its programs. But BAWAR officials said they also raised awareness about restorative justice programs conducted inside state prisons — some of the "most compelling rape prevention work that the agency has done since its inception in 1971," said Marcia Black

More at Inside Bay Area : “The Raiders dismissed an ESPN report Sunday that said managing general partner Al Davis is negotiating to sell part of the team to a group with designs on moving it to Los Angeles. The report was written by ESPN's Chris Mortensen, who Davis called "a professional liar" on Sept. 30 for his penchant for writing stories about the Raiders without attributing them to named persons employed by the Raiders. On Sunday, Mortensen wrote that Davis and chief executive Amy Trask are negotiating a transaction with a group led by C. Dean Metropoulos a transaction that would turn over at least 10 percent of the Raiders. Mortensen attributed the story to unnamed "league sources." Raiders senior executive John Herrera spoke with Davis on Sunday morning and characterized Davis' reaction to the report as "incredulous." He also vehemently denied the report.”

To say that the year of 2008 was tumultuous for the Oakland Raiders would be in the running for the understatement of the decade. The year started and ended with questions about the head coaching situation, and saw a wide receiver beat up along the way. In fact, for much of the year the actual team on the field was more of an afterthought. read more | digg story

Disturbing home video obtained and broadcast by Bay Area television stations Saturday evening shows the killing of an unarmed 22 year-old Hayward man by a San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit Police officer at the Fruitvale Station in Oakland, Calif. during the early morning hours of New Year’s Day. read more | digg story

This is the first of several videos that are literally flying around the Internet. This one shows the actual clip that has an unarmed BART rider, 22 year old Oscar Grant, shot apparently by accident by a BART police officer. It's followed by the explaination of Karen Vargas who made the video. On Saturday, January 3rd, this newspaper account in the San Jose Mercury News has BART police claiming that Mr. Grant had scuffled with them. But the video does not show this. Here's the newspaper: Oscar Grant was unarmed when he was shot by a BART police officer who was standing over him at the Fruitvale station early on New Year's Day, said Oakland civil rights attorney John Burris, who has been hired by the victim's family to investigate the death. Grant, 22, of San Leandro, was fatally shot on the BART platform shortly before 2 a.m. Thursday, police said. BART officers were called to the station in response to reports of fighting between two groups of men on board a train bou

"Brighter colors, brighter future," were the words Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis used to preface his call with reporters early Sunday morning... read more | digg story

Yes, there are Oakland Apartments in safe places! You can indeed find them, especially if you use our Oakland Apartments Blog. You can give us tips on the best landlords too! read more | digg story

According to the family's lawyer, it sounds like there is a lot of gaps and holes in this story. This is a very sad story, and I can't imagine the frustration and agony that this family is going through trying to piece together exactly how their loved one died in such a public place on one of the busiest nights of the year. VIDEO COMMENTARY: full story on the Oakland Tribune.....

More at SFGate.com : “(01-02) 23:22 PST -- McClymonds senior guard Will Cherry didn't score until the second quarter, but he provided plenty of buckets when the defending state champions finally awoke from an early slumber Friday night. Cherry poured in 26 points and host McClymonds, The Chronicle's top-ranked team, beat Fairfield 66-45 in a physical, turnover-laden game between Division I schools. It was the 45th straight victory for the Oakland school, which improved to 13-0.”

More at Inside Bay Area : “OAKLAND — The trial of Devaughndre Broussard, charged with murder in the August 2007 killing of journalist Chauncey Bailey, is unlikely to begin until late March, it was decided Friday. Broussard's attorney, LeRue Grim, said during a brief appearance in Alameda County Superior Court that he was not yet prepared for trial and asked for a postponement. Judge Joseph Hurley set another hearing for Jan. 30. "Hopefully, we set a trial date at that time," Hurley said. Prosecutor Christopher Lamiero did not object. Broussard, who was working as handyman at the now defunct Your Black Muslim Bakery, stands accused of gunning down Bailey on Aug. 2, 2007. He recanted a confession he now says was false to protect bakery leader Yusuf Bey IV. Broussard is the only person charged in the Bailey case. Bey IV is jailed awaiting trial in an unrelated kidnapping and torture case for which he and three co-defendants face life sentences if convicted. They are also exp