Oakland Focus News | Oakland News Online Blog

At the election for the 16th District Democratic Delegates on January 8th, I talked with Oakland Activists Pam Drake Mike Colbruno Sean Sullivan Vicky Kolkaski about Oakland, elected officials and the BART Shooting. Pam Drake is a long-time Oakland activist who has worked as an assistant to then-Oakland City Councilman and now Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley, and was recently head of the Lakeshore Business District Association. Mike Colbruno is the chair of the Oakland Planning Commission. Sean Sullivan ran for the District Three Council seat currently held by Nancy Nadel. Vicky Kolkaski is very active in the Oakland LGBT community.

I thought there wasn't going to be a bail set, but now I'm interested in why this turned to a bail hearing. OAKLAND TRIBUNE - OAKLAND— Bail for former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle, accused of murdering a 22-year-old Hayward man while on duty early New Year's Day, was set at $3 million Friday by an Alameda County judge who said Mehserle was both a danger to society and a flight risk. Noting that the crime Mehserle is accused of is serious and the officer's account of the events that led to Oscar Grant's death seems to contain contradictions, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Morris Jacobson said he was forced to set bail according to state law. However, Jacobson ruled that the bail amount is high enough to ensure that Mehserle will not skip town if his parents are somehow able to find $3 million to free their son

Michael Steele Is The New RNC Chairman - First Black Person To Have Role

On Thursday, Mayor Ron Dellums appointed five new staffers. Of them I don't think Dan Lindheim, the new Chief Administrative Officer or Walter Cohen, the new Community and Economic Development Director are the best choices for Oakland

This is a video of the meeting held Wednesday night and regarding the Urban Design plan for the proposed Bayview Hunter's point Lennar development which would include a stadium for the San Francisco 49ers. The video captures the anger that community members had over the process, expressing a desire to see the committee just approve the plan and build the project, but making sure the site is cleaned up and jobs are provided for them, It's the second video on this community process and includes the roll call vote. You can hear who voted and how they voted.

After being stuck in Dulles for about three days after the Obama Inauguration I finally got out -- to Chicago. But then stayed overnight and then got a nice treat on the way back to the SF Bay Area.

Documents point to Oakland police cover-up - Inside Bay Area : “OAKLAND — There is "strong circumstantial evidence" that police covered up the 2000 beating of drug suspect Jerry Amaro III, who died a month after suffering broken ribs, according to confidential city documents obtained late Wednesday. Two other people also arrested in the same drug sting and put in a police car with Amaro later told investigators Amaro was "complaining constantly that he was in pain, and wanted to see a doctor and that (he) was sweating profusely, consistent with a painful injury," the document states. Amaro was denied immediate medical care. The FBI is investigating Amaro's death, and police last week suspended a senior officer, Capt. Edward Poulson, with pay as his role in the matter is probed. Poulson is suspected of kicking Amaro and then ordering subordinate officers to lie about it. Administrative charges against Poulson were sustained for interfering in an internal affairs

Bowoto v. Chevron Is Back In U.S. 9th District Court, Northern California, San Francisco, Feb 6th 2009 and for the purpose of the plaintiffs explaining why a new trial is needed.  The plaintiffs (Bowoto) believe that the core idea that claims Chevron acted in violation of the Alien Tort Act was not understood by the jury, but given the nature of the incident -- tresspassing by Bowoto -- it's hard for me to see how they can make that claim.

More at Keepingitreal : “When you've had a 25-year career like Too Short's, what's left to accomplish? For the pioneering Oakland rapper - who has 17 solo albums under his belt, many of them gold or platinum - the answer was simple: form a band and make some more high-quality music.At 42, the guy who enthralled generations of hip-hop listeners with his salacious "Freaky Tales" has matured. And with maturity has come a willingness to expand his musical parameters. With his new project, a fledgling Bay Area supergroup called Town Bizness, nasty-mouthed Too Short has become grown 'n' sexy Todd Shaw.” -- Wait! Too Short is 42 Years old? Get out of here! You've got to be kidding me! I can't believe it. Still ballin for 42 years, well, ok, 20 of those 42 years, but still! Nice work at Keepingitreal!

More at Inside Bay Area : “OAKLAND — As he announced his resignation Tuesday, police Chief Wayne Tucker acknowledged "mistakes" in his department's investigation of journalist Chauncey Bailey's 2007 killing. Tucker also described former Your Black Muslim Bakery leader Yusuf Bey IV — who is uncharged in Bailey's slaying — as "the one we want" to complete the investigation. "We made mistakes on that case," Tucker, 65, said at a news conference. He wouldn't offer details, but did say homicide detectives "rely too much on interrogations" as a substitute for other investigative techniques "to a fault." Referring to him only as "the other party," Tucker said it is obvious that Bey IV was involved in Bailey's Aug. 2, 2007 killing.”

To me what you're about to see is Mayor Ron Dellums finest hour: the day Dellums woke up. Here, Dellums got out and adressed Oaklanders at a rally held one week after the Oakland Riot. Later, I talked with my good friend Peter Van Kleef about the riot, the BART Shooting, and where we go from here as a City.

More at FREEP : “Gov. Jennifer Granholm appointed Robert C. Bobb, a Washington consultant with ties to Michigan, to become the emergency financial manager for Detroit Public Schools on Monday. "This will challenge me in ways in which I don't believe I've been challenged before," Bobb, 63, said. As the DPS financial manager, Bobb will have all authority over DPS's $1.1-billion budget. The financial takeover came after the state superintendent declared DPS in a financial emergency because of its $129-million deficit and struggles to pay bills. Bobb has served as Washington's city administrator, deputy mayor and as homeland security adviser. He has managed a workforce of approximately 20,000 and an annual budget of $8 billion, according to Granholm's office. He also served as the city manager of Oakland, Calif.; Richmond, Va.; Santa Ana, Calif., and Kalamazoo.” -- So the search for a Chief Adminstrative Officer continues.

Oakland police chief resigns, blasts City Council - Inside Bay Area : “Criticizing the Oakland City Council for paying only "lip service" to resources for public safety, embattled Police Chief Wayne Tucker announced his resignation this morning. Tucker, at a press conference, spoke for about 10 minutes and then handed the podium to Mayor Ron Dellums. "Quite frankly I've lost faith in the City Council," Tucker said. "They've given lip service to public safety in the city." Oakland City Council members on Monday said that Tucker should resign or be fired because of scandals plaguing his department -- a position they planned to announce at a news conference today while calling for a vote of no-confidence.” -- I don't think Chief Tucker understands how to run a police force in a 21st Century urban environment like Oakland, especially in the wake of the Oscar Grant murder.

Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums gave a great 2009 State of The City Address but it was twice interrupted by Oaklanders concerned about the matter of police brutality in the wake of the murder of Oscar Grant by BART Police Officer Johannes Mehserle two weeks ago. The Mayor responded to them well. Later, I talked with new At-Large Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan and Brother Keith Muhammed on their views of Dellums' speech.

I talked to Alameda County Supervisor Gail Steele at the community meeting held on Sunday, January 8th 2009 at Joe Bort MetroCenter in Oakland. Steele gave me her view before the meeting, and as she was leaving it.

More at JohnMalloy's DB : “Go to http://twitter.com/walkforlife to follow along live as the good Reverend Walter Hoye leads us in defense of the unborn! UPDATE: It was great! Good Reverend Walter Hoye led us, we had great speeches by Karen Shablin, Craig Deluz, and Pastor Clenard Childress was on fire! Jocelyn Golden was there too and led us in song throughout the march. God bless them all and all who came.” -- Wild. There are pro-lifers in my liberal Oakland? Proves Oakland has a diversity of opinions, not just ethnic groups.

More at The Eaten Path : “No well meaning trip to the reality resistant bubble of Berkeley is complete without a visit to one of its three major restaurant rows. In the city’s southeast corner, bordering the upscale settlements of North Oakland, is Elmwood, home to such neighborhood favorites as Trattoria La Siciliana and Ici. On the northern edge of the city is Solano Ave, where university and downtown dwellers can escape central Berkeley to a sunny afternoon of brunch and shopping. Between the two upper crusts of Berkeley stands the Gourmet Ghetto, the foundation of Berkeley’s reputation for delicious food in every form. Anchored by Alice Waters’ universally acclaimed Chez Panisse, the world’s first Peet’s Coffee and a collection of other culinary offshoots and institutions, this is where organic, locally grown ingredients are granted full license to gratify the taste buds of hundreds on a daily basis.”

More at Today in Montclair : “In Oakland, the best-known White Elephant Sale is about to celebrate its 50th birthday!  There’s a preview sale tomorrow, followed by the full event in March. The Oakland Museum Women’s Board (OMWB) organizes this annual extravaganza to raise funds for the museum.  They raised only $500 back in 1959, the first year the sale was held.  Fast forward, and the OMWB hauled in a whopping $1.28 million last year.”

Tony West, who you've frequently seen if you're a visitor to the Oakland Focus Blog , and my YouTube channel Zennie62 , was appointed Assistant Attorney General by President Barack Obama. Congratulations, Tony! I just interviewed Tony , who became a friend during the campaign, on November 12th here and in a talk where one can learn more about the man and his vast background (for example, he's worked in some way for six presidents and now seven) who was just appointed on Friday of this week: But that was not the first time I talked with Tony. Here's the other videos: This one last year at the California State Democratic Convention: And this one when then-Senator Obama visited San Francisco for a large fundraising event:

More at Inside Bay Area : “BERKELEY — About 40 UC Berkeley students braved a steady drizzle Friday for a protest march to call attention to the killing of Oscar Grant by a BART police officer on New Year's Day. The group picked up a few more protesters on its way from Sproul Plaza at the university to the downtown Berkeley BART station. A small group of King Middle School students from Berkeley was set to join them for a walk from the downtown station to the Ashby BART station. The protesters, shadowed by UC Berkeley police, BART police and Berkeley police, passed out petitions that demanded prison for officer Johannes Mehserle and other BART police present at Grant's killing, an open investigation of the incident, disarming the BART police and dropping charges against people involved in previous protests in Oakland. The protest, sponsored by the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration and Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality by Any Means Necessary, was peaceful

Oaklander and YouTuber rubymsw created this very cool video where people around Lake Merritt were asked to give their own recital of the words that President Obama said when he took the Oath of Office.

I was in the middle of finishing an interview in front of the Capital on the night before the Inauguration, when this man came up and said "Hey. You're Zennie. I read yout blog." It turned out he was from Oaklland, and is active in the North Oakland political scene. That led to this video conversation I recorded with Jeff from Oakland.

According to The Huffington Post, MSNBC's Chris Matthews tried to make "Bloggers" a perjorative on his show when he denounced Bloggers as a source for news. This is what was written: Earlier in the segment Matthews speculated that the 'personal problem' that was given as Kennedy's reason for withdrawing was her marriage to Edwin Schlossberg. But when Benjamin said that the "affair question" was surfacing on blogs, Matthews abruptly cut her off: "Let's stick to journalism. I don't do that here. If it's just blogging let's drop it." Chris does not understand the term "Blogging" or that journalists can blog to, thus my video:

Major Oakland developments default on loans - Inside Bay Area : “OAKLAND — At least three major residential-retail projects deemed to be important catalysts for the downtown's revival have toppled into separate mortgage defaults that together total $140 million. The loan defaults have jolted the financial prospects for the downtown Oakland projects that, combined, would bring nearly 300 residential units to the city's urban center. The projects were all originally devised as for-sale condominium developments. "Clearly Oakland is not immune to the soft economy, the problems with the credit markets and the slow housing sector," said Ken Meyersieck, managing partner with the Oakland office of commercial realty brokerage Colliers International.”

Well, after another big large air traffic event, here I am stuck at another airport wating standby -- the byproduct of last-minute travel. This time Dulles Airport. But I'm not alone as I see the same people from flight to flight, trying to return to the SF Bay Area.

Oakland's California Assemblyperson Sandre Swanson took time to talk with me at BSmith's event on Saturday as part of the Obama Inauguration Celebration. He explained what the then-moment-to-come meant to him.

More at Inside Bay Area : “The Raiders are making another run at Al Saunders. This time, it will be for the offensive coordinator vacancy created by the departure of Greg Knapp to the Seattle Seahawks. Saunders was just fired by the St. Louis Rams as part of the purging of the Rams staff by new coach Steve Spagnulo. He is scheduled to interview with the Raiders as soon as today. "We anticipate giving him an interview within the next day or two," Raiders senior executive John Herrera said Tuesday afternoon. Raiders managing general partner Al Davis interviewed Saunders for the head coaching vacancy before he settled upon Art Shell. Saunders was hired by the Washington Redskins that season. He returned this season to the Rams franchise that he helped reach the Super Bowl in the 2000 season. However, new coach Steve Spagnuolo already is interviewing prospective replacements for Saunders. Saunders is regarded by many as one of the most innovative and gifted offensive coordinators

More at Inside Bay Area : “Oakland — Police are seeking a gunman who wounded a 22-year-old East Oakland man Sunday night during an apparent gang-related confrontation at Frank Ogawa Plaza near City Hall. The man, whose name was not released, was wounded in the abdomen and is expected to recover. The shooting happened about 8:30 p.m. Sunday in the 300 block of Frank Ogawa Plaza. Police said members of a West Oakland gang apparently got into a confrontation with another group that included the 22-year-old man. Fighting broke out, and at least one person believed to be associated with the gang pulled a gun and began shooting. The 22-year-old man told police he was running away and did not realize immediately that he had been shot. Police found him near the intersection of 15th Street and Broadway. Several other people were with him at the scene but refused to talk to officers.”

I literally ran into Joe Scarborough, the host of MSNBC's Morning Joe as I was walking into the lobby of a hotel for the sole purpose of warming up from the cold weather after President Barack Obama's great Inauguration acceptance speech. Joe was good enough to share his view of that speech with me, saying that it was the best one since John F. Kennedy's speech in 1960.

The Daily Cal's Erika Oblea and Keen Batti report on the gathering of students, faculty, and residents in Berkeley and Oakland for the inauguration of President Barack Obama.

I attended this awesome house party thrown by Brad and Leah, two Obama campaign volunteers who live in the Columbia Heights section of Washington DC. There, we talked about the meaning of President-Elect Barack Obama's Inauguration, and well, just had a great time on the eve of the big day!

As I walked along the Capital Mall the night before The Inauguration of Barack Obama as our 44th President, a young woman came up and asked -- and I kid you not -- "Are you a CNN reporter". I explained that I am an iReporter and we created this video of her message. Pretty funny but she had something to say and I wanted to help her say it.

While In Washington DC for the Inauguration, I was invited to a great premier of a cool new movie called "Gospel Hill". Directed by Giancarlo Esposito, it stars Angela Bassett, Danny Glover, Esposito, and others including South Carolina Charles James essentially playing himself. I talked to them about not just the movie, but the Obama Inauguration and the festivties held to that point in time.

This was an incredible Sunday concert experience as part of Obama Inauguration festivities, even if, like me, you got their around 2 PM and thus were not able to get close to the Lincoln Memorial, let alone past the Old War Memorial. I estimate the crowd at about 2 million. I've not seen a written estimate yet, but if it's in the thousands, it's just plain wrong!

I was walking to the Willard Hotel when I happened on a man who looked just like current President George W Bush. His name is Ed Thebility, and he says he's got a few pounds on President Bush but that he does get the "You look like" comment alot!

I attended the swanky affair at B Smith's Restaurant in Washington's Union Station. Produced by Stelfana Broadhead, the event attracted such illuminaries as Actor Delroy Lindo, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, City Manager Robert Bobb, and B Smith herself, who took time to talk with me about what Obama's Inauguration means to her.

Hey everyone.  I'm in Washington DC at the last minute just to really cover the experience of it all -- no tickets to events, but then I'm press, so I need a credential.  Didn't think I would be here as recently as Wednesday, but things happen fast:   So with that, if I were in Oakland, what would I do?  Wow, a lot.  There are a ton of events today, Sunday, and through Tuesday.  There's the Tuesday evening event called "Barack and Roll" at ZCafe, and produced by the East Bay Young Democrats (here's their Facebook Page  ).  Then there's the giant event at Oracle Arena that Tuesday morning. There's also an event at The Uptown Nightclub, and again on Tuesday night, and here's their Facebook Page  .  At any rate, there's more than I have time to post.  But the Berkeley Daily Planet has a great breakdown of events  , here's a list of some of them: • Sunday, Jan. 18, 4 p.m., Beebe Memorial Cathedral, 3900 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. •

Once I got my bags, got the Super Shuttle, and made to the house that my friend Teka has, I was able to meet our housemates. It turns out they played a big grass roots role in the Obama campaign in rural California. "Take back Red California."

More at Inside Bay Area : “OAKLAND — The Oakland Police Department wants to fire 11 officers at the center of the department's search warrant controversy, pending an administrative hearing, police and city officials confirmed Thursday. The officers were told of the department's plans earlier this week through a letter sent to their homes. The group includes two sergeants but no command staff. Another officer, Karla Rush, was given notice last year that the department wanted to fire her. The department also wants to suspend at least one officer and cleared several others, sources said. In total, 18 officers were under investigation in relation to the search warrant imbroglio. The department wants to fire the officers because of false statements made on sworn affidavits given to judges in hopes of securing search warrants for the homes of mostly suspected small-time drug dealers in East Oakland. Some officers also were given notice because they gave untruthful statements to inter

More at IBA : “New York Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride spent more than four hours at the Raiders' year-round facility in Alameda on Thursday in an attempt to persuade managing general partner Al Davis that he deserves a second shot at an NFL head coaching job. Gilbride arrived from New York in the early afternoon, headed to the team's facility and met with several people in the Raiders front office, as well as Davis. His day concluded in the early evening without any official word on whether he made any headway. For now, Gilbride is competing with Tom Cable and Green Bay Packers assistant head coach/linebackers coach Winston Moss for the job Cable held for the final 12 games last season on an interim basis.” -- Kevin Gilbribe is not the best choice for the job. Mike Shanahan's a better pick, if Mr. Davis would get over his petty issues with him.

More at Oakland Tribune : “The attorney for Johannes Mehserle, the former BART police officer charged with murder stemming from a shooting on New Year's Day, entered a not guilty plea for his client in an Oakland courtroom Thursday. Attorney Christopher Miller entered the plea in front of a packed courtroom with extra security. In a red Santa Rita Jail jumpsuit, Mehserle, who could barely be seen behind a protective clear encasing, waived his right to a quick preliminary hearing. Miller then asked Alameda County Superior Court Judge Robert McGuiness for a bail hearing, which was set for Jan. 26 in Oakland. Mehserle was arrested on a no-bail warrant, and no bail has been set. The full courtroom included Mehserle's friends and family and those of Oscar Grant III, the man Mehserle is accused of killing Jan. 1 on the Fruitvale BART platform. Sheriff's deputies carefully let different groups into the courtroom separately to avoid any problems with heightened tensions.”

In the aftermath of the late-night arrest of BART Officer Johannes Mehserle, a planned Oakland City Hall-based protest went ahead as scheduled Sunday but with a less-angry energy than existed last week, when over 100 people were arrested and many downtown Oakland buildings were damaged in a night of rampaging protests against both Officer Mehserle's actions and the overall response of BART and elected officials. In today's event, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums took the microphone and really talked to the crowd about how their voice led to change.  Then I talked with Mayor Dellums about his call for change and if that would lead to reforms within the Oakland Police Department. Here's the video:

The once popular news site "The Grand Lake Guardian" is in a coma and according to my source, it's not coming out of it anytime, soon.   "He's gone on to other things" my source said, "He's not done anything in a while." That's for sure.  The topmost post is dated "2008-02-13" which was last year before Valentine's Day.  It's too bad for the area around Lake Merritt, which came to adopt the site in a way, if only because Jim Ratiff, the founder, had collected a group of some of Oakland's most involved Lake citizens. But as happens with blogs from time to time, the people lose interest.  A blog must be updated each day just to keep fresh.  And that's the problem.   Jim's site was more of a website than a blog, which causes more work just to update.  I can see why he may have tired of the whole effort: he used the wrong kind of platform. If you're going to do this you have to make it easy on yoursel

Where was Oscar Grant's Due Process? , originally uploaded by Focal Intent . This photo asked the question, Where was Oscar Grant's due process, well, Tom Orloff the District Attorney of Alameda County seems to have avenged Grant's death with the arrest of Officer Johannes Mehserle.

Oakland Hills fire from 80/Powell, October 1991 , originally uploaded by marymactavish . I remember where I was when this happened: I was having coffee with Val Ostrom, my Skyline Classmate, at Lynn and Lou's Cafe on Grand when we looked up and saw smoke. I ended up helping her parents move out of their home on Proctor.

Police Violence in Oakland , originally uploaded by Brooke Anderson . I just saw this in the process of blogging. Here's what the poster wrote: Two young folks being arrested a block from my house for doing nothing other than not moving as fast as police wanted them to. Protests shook Oakland several days after a BART cop executed a young African American man as he was pinned face-first on the floor, and last night more police violence ensued. What do you think about this? I think it's an example of what's wrong with our law enforcement system -- police are at war more than enforcing the law.

In a shocking turn of events, it was reported by KTVU that BART Officer Johannes Mehserle, who was the central focus as the cop who shot 22-year-old Oscar Grant in the back on New Year's Day morning, was arrested in Nevada.   This is a dramatically fast development, since it was reported that Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff wasn't expect to take action until this Friday at the earliest and BART spokesperson Linton Johnson asked for everyone to let the process move forward.   Here's my video report with more below: Whatever the case, the incident has attracted every law enforcement official from California Attorney General Jerry Brown, to the Department of Justice on Monday.   My bet is the investigative report BART Chief Gary Gee turned in to Orloff had something to do with this lightening fast action.  But also Officer Mehserle himself essentially wrote this ending when he refused to give a statement, "taking the fifth" regarding why he s

On Monday, Oakland Developer and friend Phil Tagami, who you can find out more about with a click here or to the right where his photo is, was on KQED's Forum on Monday.  It was an outstanding peformance, although Phil can be a bit combative at times, but that's Phil. What's most important is he was able to talk about how Oakland can achieve a possible future as a great city, and how people can and should get involved in the process.  You can hear the show below:

Report on Oakland seeks accountability, cuts : “Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums laid out a 60-day plan today for restructuring city government with an emphasis on greater accountability, cost cutting and greater civic engagement. Dellums released a report by Public Financial Management Group, a Philadelphia firm owned by former Oakland City Manager Robert Bobb, which Dellums described as a "call to action" for his vision for making Oakland a model city - a place with a robust economy, safe streets and healthy residents who are engaged in their community.” -- I've only skimmed over the report thus far, but you can take a look at it right now. Just download it here: Oakland Consultant's Report