SF News Antioch Mayor Says Police Got Drone Footage of This Weekend’s Sideshows, Vows Arrests and Impoundings A rash of East Bay sideshows this weekend involved one in Oakland with a hit-and-run, but the mayor of Antioch claims he sicced drones on one of the sideshows, and he’ll bring the daredevil drivers to justice.
Bay Area Sports Oakland Offers the A’s Five-Year Lease Extension for $97 Million to Keep Playing In Usually Empty Coliseum The Oakland A’s need a ballpark for the next three years while their proposed Las Vegas stadium is getting built, but the City of Oakland hopes to charge them nearly $100 million if they want to play those three years at the Oakland Coliseum.
SF News Newsom Announces He’s Putting 480 More Street Cameras Up In Oakland to Go After Suspected Criminals A new batch of 480 car-surveilling security cameras are going up on the streets and highways of Oakland, in Gavin Newsom’s latest effort to crack down on Oakland crime.
SF News Oakland Cigarette Shop Busted for Selling Marijuana, and Maybe a Little Meth A raid on a cigarette shop in Oakland’s Seminary neighborhood turned up pounds of marijuana, cases of illegal menthols, two loaded guns, and what police call “suspected crystal methamphetamine.”
Arts & Entertainment Oakland’s First Fridays Announces Its Return From Hiatus Next Weekend For First Friday April The popular outdoor nighttime street fair Oakland First Fridays has been on hiatus since January, but recently announced they’re bringing the event back for the First Friday of April, next Friday, April 5.
Arts & Entertainment People Are Putting ‘Free Blockbuster’ Kiosks Around the Bay Area, and Really the Whole Country Retro movie lovers are creating their own DIY “Free Blockbuster” kiosks so people can borrow or leave DVD and VHS movies for free, and a smattering of these lending libraries are popping up around the Bay Area.
SF Politics Silicon Valley Lawyer (and Sergey Brin's Ex) Nicole Shanahan Named as RFK Jr.'s Running Mate The spoiler third-party presidential campaign of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. now has a running mate from the Bay Area: Silicon Valley lawyer and previous Democratic donor Nicole Shanahan.
SF News Alleged Lululemon Thieves In Napa Chased By CHP Plane to Oakland, Where They Crashed Their Car A car crash on Oakland's Lakeshore Avenue Monday afternoon was apparently connected to a retail theft at a Lululemon store in Napa and a law enforcement chase across four counties.
SF News Elderly Woman Attacked and Beaten at Oakland Laundromat, Suspects Let Go and Only Charged With Misdemeanor Despite there being video footage of an obvious assault with several punches landed on an 65-year-old, 88-pound woman at a laundromat near Lake Merritt, only one of the two suspects was cited for a misdemeanor, and police released them.
SF News Oakland Finally Names a Police Chief: Former Lubbock, Texas Police Chief Floyd Mitchell The year-plus search for a new Oakland Police Chief has finally concluded, as Mayor Sheng Thao has named Floyd Mitchell as the new chief, who’d previously held that role in Lubbock and Temple, Texas.
SF News Oakland Man Sentenced to 18 Months For Helping Launder Drug Money, Wire It to Mexico and Honduras An Oakland man who owns a money-wiring service has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison in a plea deal, after pleading guilty to money-laundering charges.
SF News Oakland Police Warn of Rise In Smash-and-Grabs of Occupied Vehicles The Oakland Police Department says that it's deploying more officers in response to the uptick in crime, but department-wide response times still lag.
SF Restaurants, Food & Drink Multiple Oakland Taco Bell Restaurant Shut Down Their Indoor Dining Rooms, Probably Due to Crime Four Oakland Taco Bell restaurants appear to have gone drive-thru only, though some only in the evening, in the latest hit to Oakland’s fast-food landscape.
SF News Oakland Police Chief Candidates Appear Virtually at Public Forum The four candidates for the next chief of police in Oakland that were put forward this week by the city's police commission addressed the public and introduced themselves at a candidate forum Thursday night.
SF News Fourth Suspect Charged With Murder in Fatal Shooting of OPD Officer in December Dispensary Burglary While three suspects had been charged with murder in the December 29 shooting and killing of Oakland police officer Tuan Le, a fourth figured he could just plead guilty to robbing the cannabis shop and have that be that. But now that suspect is facing murder charges too.
SF News Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao Thumbs Nose at Police Commission, Says She Will Not Attend Forum With Candidates The wheels turn and the drama persists in Oakland over the ongoing effort to install a new police chief, and it's coming down to a battle of wills between the police commission and the mayor.
SF Restaurants, Food & Drink Oakland Dive Bar Ruby Room Set To Reopen Under New Ownership Friday Night The red-hued Lake Merritt-area Oakland bar Ruby Room closed New Year's Eve, but has reopened in sputters since, and reopens permanently on Friday night under a new local ownership team.
SF News Oakland Police Commission Still Playing Politics, Unveils Latest Slate of Four Candidates for Chief The Oakland Police Commission has taken over two months to present Mayor Sheng Thao with a new slate of candidates for the chief-of-police role after she rejected the last one and — guess what! — one of the latest candidates was one of the rejects from the earlier slate.
SF News Oakland Taco Truck La Parilla Loca Robbed at Gunpoint A well-established taco stand called La Parilla Loca does business six days a week in the East Oakland area, and was the latest food establishment to suffer an armed robbery this week.
SF News Supporters of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao Push Back on Recall Campaigners, Comparing Them to 'Right-Wingers' Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao held a press conference Wednesday to announce a state grant supporting a street-ambassador program, but protesters were on hand calling for Thao's recall, and the event turned into a shouting match.
SF News Well-Known Oakland Auto Repair Shop Owner Shot and Killed in His Own Store A 68-year-old Oakland auto repair shop owner, who once worked alongside Cesar Chavez in the United Farm Workers movement, was on the verge of retirement. But he was shot and killed in his shop, ending that dream.
Bay Area Sports The Newly Formed Oakland Ballers Will Renovate and Play Ball at West Oakland’s Raimondi Field Oakland is getting a new minor league baseball team called the Oakland Ballers (or “The B’s”). They just announced they’ll be playing at Raimondi Field in West Oakland, and spiffing the place up with a $1.6 million renovation.
SF News Owner of East Bay Popeyes Who Allegedly Hired a 13-Year-Old Fined For Child Labor Violations and Wage Theft The owners of a Popeyes franchisee, which ran three fast food restaurants in Oakland, Tracy, and Newark, had to pay $212K after a federal investigation revealed numerous labor law offences.
SF News Another Bay Area Carjacking Involves Child Left In Backseat; Child Found Safe, Suspects Arrested Via 'Find My Phone' Just last month we had an incident in San Francisco in which a car was stolen with a child still in the backseat, and now we have another in Oakland, which happened on Tuesday.
SF News Federal Judge Has Had It With Oakland Taking So Long to Find New Police Chief The U.S. District Court judge in charge of the Oakland Police Department's federal oversight says he’s “concerned” that the city hasn’t had a police chief for a full year now. Well, how do you think 450,000 Oakland residents feel, pal?