Blogs

Friday, Feb. 12 – Oakland to develop Army Base land

Happy Friday, North Oakland! The city of Oakland has signed a development deal for old Army Base land in West Oakland. The development team is being led by Phil Tagami, who led the renovation of the Fox Theater. Specialist Alexis Hutchinson, a 21-year old Army cook and single mom fromOakland, will not be court-martialed for staying home with her child instead of deploying to Afghanistan last fall.  Specialist Hutchinson’s case gained attention when she was arrested for not deploying, after…

Keeping it Wheel is back…

After a brief hiatus… your original Keeping it Wheel blogger is back. And now that the clouds have finally parted and the rain has let up–I’m going to be out and about, riding around and looking for all the interesting North Oakland (and sometimes beyond) bike adventures, culture, people and news. Please send in any scoops, ideas, events or photos. And in the meantime, Keep it Wheel.

Thursday, Feb. 11 – Grant family denounces settlement

Good morning, North Oakland!  Here’s what’s in the news today: Family members of Oscar Grant are denouncing a settlement BART made with the mother of Oscar’s daughter, Tatiana.  Two weeks ago, BART agreed to pay Tatiana $1.5 million to settle the wrongful death lawsuit brought by the girl’s mother.  But other members of Grant’s family say the $50 million lawsuit brought by Grant’s mother and other family members is still pending. An Oakland middle school girl has reported that she…

Wednesday, February 10 – False alarms could cost you

Good Morning, Oakland!  Here’s what we’re reading today. Starting March 1, be prepared to pay up for false alarms at your home or business.  The false alarm ordinance passed last year will go into effect, so expect a “service charge” of $84 or $156 if your alarm system brings out the police without due cause. East Bay Express looks at the efforts to keep the A’s in Oakland–and if new sites at Jack London Square will please team owners and…

Tuesday, Feb. 9 – Free Grand Slams!

Happy Tuesday, North Oakland! Let’s get down to what’s really important–free food.  Denny’s is serving up a free Grand Slam Breakfast today from 6 am-2 pm.  Only hitch is that Denny’s sole Oakland location is out near the airport.  For North Oaklanders, it might be worth the jaunt out to Emeryville.  (To determine if it’s worth it at all, check out SFoodie’s foolproof opportunity cost formula). In more serious news, a San Leandro man was convicted of attempted murder of…

February 8, 2010: Saints win Superbowl

Happy Monday Oakland, Well, the Saints won the Superbowl, but most of the blog chatter seems to be about the commercials. Slate.com dedicated an entire two page post to dissecting the various commercials. Slate also ran an amusing bit on what the Superbowl would be like if directed by certain well-known directors. And this ABC7 story is technically from last Tuesday, but visiting teachers-in-training from South Africa, were in East Oakland last week, where they connected with students at Oakland’s…

February 6, 2010: New twist in Oscar Grant case, Local hero passes away

Good morning Oakland, A fight of sorts broke out this week between John Burris, the lawyer representing Oscar Grant’s family and friends in various civil suits against Johannes Mesherle and BART and KTVU 2, the local TV station that reported a possible change in eye witness testimony on Thursday. (Warning: The links to KTVU start an auto-play, including sound.) The testimony is for the criminal case the city has brought against Mehserle, but may affect BART’s liability in the civil…

February 4, 2010: Stricter gun laws in the works, Bay bridge deck gets additional piece

Hi there Oakland, On Tuesday night the Oakland City Council voted unanimously to approve stricter gun control laws.  This was the first vote in favor of the measure proposed by Larry Reid of East Oakland.  An interview with Reid and the complete story was reported in the New York Time Bay Area Blog by Oakland North’s own Melanie Mason. The first permanent piece of the bridge deck was hoisted into place yesterday, the Trib reports, marking a milestone for the…

February 2, 2010: Groundhog sees shadow, Oakland seniors recruited to top colleges

Good morning Oakland, Don’t let the sunny morning fool you, Phil the Punxsutawney Groundhog has seen his shadow, which predicts six more weeks of winter. In brighter news, four of the Trib’s 2010 “Cream of the Crop” announced over the weekend — high school foot ball players who have been recruited to play for top college programs — come from Oakland and three of them will be wearing Oakland Tech’s own purple and gold on graduation day. The country’s newest…