North Oakland Now: Thursday, Feb. 19 2009
on February 19, 2009
A state-wide sigh of relief was heard at 7 o’clock this morning because California finally has an emergency budget plan in place. (Now we just wait until the pain of the impending budget cuts meets the burden of tax increases for the real misery to set in). In light of the tragic events surrounding the death of Oscar Grant, two assembly members introduced a bill that would form a civilian oversight group over the BART police, intending to increase their accountability. Some much needed good news in this sea of economic crisis comes in the form of $3 million in federal bank grants to fund more than 300 units of affordable housing in Berkeley and Oakland. In another sad reminder of how the environment is doing, last fall’s king salmon run saw its lowest numbers yet. And have you ever wanted to say: “Senator Joe Simitian: Your cell phone law sucks.”? Why not do it with a $10,000 billboard outside your local Ikea?
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