North Oakland Now: Friday, February 20

Good morning, North Oakland!  So, as you’ve likely heard, California finally has a budget.  The Chron has a nice breakdown of the political winners and losers of the whole ordeal, as well as a handy Q & A about what those tax increases will really mean.  We also have a pair of foreclosure-related stories in both the Chronicle and the Tribune — the  Chronicle takes a look at how foreclosures have led to falling prices and a jump in home sales in January, while the Tribune reports that Obama’s new foreclosure plan may provide little relief to the Bay Area (yikes).  (For Oakland North’s recent look at the real estate crisis, be sure to check out our new piece on home auctions).  Other happenings around Oakland today: PG&E says that over 1,000 Oakand customers are without power, with no estimates as to when it will be restored, and BART police are investigating two homicides that occured at the Fruitvale and Daly City stations last night.

And some sad news from the Oakland Tribune: long-time reporter, columnist and beer blogger William Brand died today from injuries suffered when he was struck by a Muni train on Feb. 8.  He was 70 years old.