OaklandNews - Oakland news from blogs, newspapers and other media

Oakland and Berkeley, two cities that rub shoulders and comprise the metropolitan core of the East Bay, are at opposite sides of the political spectrum when it comes to local government. If there is one thing that it does show, it's the difference between a...

If former Oakland City Manager Robert Bobb decides to enter the 2010 Oakland mayor's race, it may be just about the best news Oakland residents could receive. It's not because Bobb would - or could - defeat former state Sen. Don Perata, who announced his...

Not long ago, I wrote about the travails of Oakland resident Rob "Chi" Kong, a budding businessman who tried to open a downtown bicycle repair shop until a mountain of bureaucracy landed on his head. That bureaucracy was none other than Oakland's arcane...

Oakland city workers may have been on furlough part of this week, but the budget deficit has been working overtime. In order to help narrow a budget gap that climbed to $80 million, city officials have proposed increases in sales tax, parking fees and a hotel...

The cost of keeping a police officer up and running on the streets of Oakland is about $250,000 a year. The cost of employing four armed guards to provide security in commercial districts in East Oakland is about $180,000 a year. You do the math. The Oakland...

The cost of keeping a police officer up and running on the streets of Oakland is about $250,000 a year. The cost of employing four armed guards to provide security in commercial districts in East Oakland is about $180,000 a year. You do the math. The Oakland...

The shooting deaths of four Oakland police officers have touched Oakland and the entire nation, and have also exposed the growing disconnect Mayor Ron Dellums has with the city he is supposed to lead. Friday's public memorial service at Oracle Arena for...

It is literally a crying shame that it has cost the lives of four Oakland police officers to bring national focus to the stunning crime problem facing this city, but rest assured, everyone is watching now. The huge public funeral today at Oracle Arena, which...

It is literally a crying shame that it has cost the lives of four Oakland police officers to bring national focus to the stunning crime problem facing this city, but rest assured, everyone is watching now. The huge public funeral today at Oracle Arena, which...

It is literally a crying shame that it has cost the lives of four Oakland police officers to bring national focus to the stunning crime problem facing this city, but rest assured, everyone is watching now. The huge public funeral today at Oracle Arena, which...

If history repeats itself, the fatal shootings of four Oakland police officers on Saturday afternoon will become the next benchmark in the national debate on a federal law to ban assault weapons. If there is a grain of hope to be gathered from a loss so...

The deaths of four Oakland police officers gunned down in the line of duty Saturday afternoon are undisputable, immutable, irrevocable proof of the chaotic level of predatory violence on the streets of this city. Even as crime dipped in the first three months...

As a lifelong Cleveland Browns football fan, I've been through this before. It's tough to hear a beloved sports franchise tell fans that the 41-year love affair is over and they are leaving for greener pastures, but that's exactly what the Oakland Athletics...

The sun seems to be shining a bit brighter than usual on Oakland's often-violent streets. Major crimes - particularly killings - have subsided so far this year just as more officers and new outreach workers have been deployed in the city at the urging of...

The sun seems to be shining a bit brighter than usual on Oakland's often-violent streets. Major crimes - particularly killings - have subsided so far this year just as more officers and new outreach workers have been deployed in the city at the urging of...

The Oakland City Council's plan to increase the city's hotel tax rate by 3 percent and use the proceeds to help pay for key entertainment venues and promote business travel represents a break from recent tradition. The proposal is good news for Oakland...

The Oakland City Council's plan to increase the city's hotel tax rate by 3 percent and use the proceeds to help pay for key entertainment venues and promote business travel represents a break from recent tradition. The proposal is good news for Oakland...

Because she believed so few of her administrative counterparts would listen, Oakland City Auditor Courtney Ruby appealed directly to residents in her continued attempts to investigate nepotism, cronyism and patronage in city government. In an e-mail sent to...

The Oakland City Council adopted a sweeping new anti-nepotism ordinance at the end of the year, but the process of gathering information from as many as 800 supervisors in the city has been met with resistance. The problem is that while the measure was...