Transportation
Friday, February 3, 2012
Friday's Best Quotes: On Komen, Using Taxpayer Funds to Lobby, and the Bay Citizen Merger
Politics / Health & Medicine / Transportation Robert Gammon — Fri, Feb 3, 2012 at 11:29 AM
Best quotes of the day:
1. “We want to apologize for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women’s lives,” tweeted by Susan G. Komen foundation.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Friday Must Read: Sorry Planet, But More Toll Lanes Are Coming and Probably More Suburban Sprawl, Too
Politics / Environment / Transportation Robert Gammon — Fri, Jan 27, 2012 at 8:02 AM
The top five stories of the day:
1. Bay Area transportation officials are continuing their love affair with toll lanes, bringing the controversial lanes to the South Bay on Interstate 880 and 237, the Mercury News reports. Caltrans also hopes that the installation of toll lanes, which allow solo motorists to drive in the carpool lane for a price, will go much more smoothly than it did on I-680 in Fremont and Sunol. Although the jury is still out on whether toll lanes actually relieve traffic congestion, transportation officials plan to eventually extend them into carpool lanes throughout the region. But what the Merc doesn’t report is that toll lanes could inspire even more people to get into their cars and not take mass transit to work, thereby worsening the Bay Area’s greenhouse gas emissions.
2. Bay Area officials also are moving forward with plans to extend BART to Livermore, even though such rail extensions — along with toll lanes — could spur even more suburban sprawl by making it easier for suburban commuters to get to work. The CoCo Times reports that the Alameda County Transportation Commission, which is dominated by elected officials from suburban areas, voted overwhelmingly to include the $400 million BART to Livermore proposal in a sales tax measure that would go before East Bay voters. Commissioner Keith Carson, who represents Oakland and Berkeley, was the lone vote against the plan, saying more money should be spent on urban bus systems.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Thursday Must Read: Oakland Sends Out 2,500 Layoff Notices; Brown Opposes Plan to Extend Redevelopment Until April
Politics / Education / Transportation Robert Gammon — Thu, Jan 19, 2012 at 7:00 AM
Stories you shouldn’t miss:
1. The City of Oakland sent out 2,500 layoff notices yesterday, and raised the total number of potential job losses to four hundred as officials scrambled to deal with the fallout of Governor Jerry Brown and legislature’s decision to kill redevelopment statewide, the Chron reports. City officials decided to issue layoff notices to nearly every worker inside City Hall in order to provide the city council maximum flexibility in deciding how to overhaul Oakland government and deal with the loss of up to $30 million in redevelopment funds each year. The council will make the layoffs decision next week. The only departments exempted from the layoffs are police and fire because their union contracts prohibit more job cuts.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Wednesday Must Read: Court Monitors Slam OPD, Again; Oakland Ramps Up 100-Blocks Crime-Fighting Plan
Politics / Law Enforcement & Crime / Transportation Robert Gammon — Wed, Jan 18, 2012 at 7:00 AM
Stories you shouldn’t miss:
1. In a new report, federal court monitors are strongly criticizing Oakland police again for failing to enact mandated reforms, and say that the department’s response to Occupy Oakland raises “serious concerns” about its ability to “hold true to the best practices in American policing,” the Bay Citizen reports. Court monitors, which include retired law enforcement officials from other cities, have issued a series of highly critical reports on OPD, especially on how it deals with allege police officer misconduct. The newest report also includes evidence that the department has engaged in racial profiling. Judge Thelton Henderson will review the latest report next week at a hearing in which he may place the department under federal receivership.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Wednesday Must Read: Are We Headed for Another Drought?; Romney Edges Santorum in Iowa
Politics / Environment / Transportation Robert Gammon — Wed, Jan 4, 2012 at 6:59 AM
Stories you shouldn’t miss:
1. The Sierra snowpack is almost nonexistent right now, raising concerns that California may be headed for another drought. The Chron reports that the state snowpack is only at 19 percent of normal for this time of year. At Echo Summit, it was just 1 percent of average — the lowest ever measured for this time of year. However, many of the state’s major reservoirs still have plenty of water because of last year’s heavy precipitation. In addition, forecasters noted that January and February are traditionally California’s wettest months.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Tuesday Must Read: Occupy Protesters Shut Down Port of Oakland; Big Majority Supports Brown’s Tax-the-Rich Plan
Politics / Transportation / Occupy Robert Gammon — Tue, Dec 13, 2011 at 6:44 AM
Stories you shouldn’t miss:
1. Thousands of Occupy protesters marched on the Port of Oakland in waves yesterday, closing down the vast majority of operations in both the day and evening shifts, the Chron and Trib report. The successful protests and blockade came despite opposition from most unions, including the longshore workers’ union, and public officials, including Mayor Jean Quan. At a press conference last night, Quan called the port shutdown “economic violence” because it had hurt dock workers and small, independent truckers who can’t afford to lose a day’s wages.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Friday Must Read: Trib Tower Sold, and Will Add 300 Jobs; BART Adopts Strict Cellphone Shutdown Policy
Politics / Business / Transportation Robert Gammon — Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 9:49 AM
Stories you shouldn’t miss:
1. Oakland’s iconic Tribune Tower has been sold to CallSocket, an Oakland call center, which plans to inhabit the downtown building with 300 workers, the Trib reports. City officials and business leaders hope that the sale and new downtown employees will help revitalize the area. The tower had been in receivership before being sold for $8 million. The Tribune newspaper moved out of the tower in 2007.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Monday Must Read: OPD Clears Occupy Oakland Encampments; Probe of UC Davis Pepper Spray Incident Launched
Politics / Transportation / Occupy Robert Gammon — Mon, Nov 21, 2011 at 6:38 AM
Stories you shouldn’t miss:
1. Oakland police cleared a new Occupy Oakland encampment yesterday at Telegraph Avenue and 19th Street, the Trib and Chron report. Protesters established the new tent city on Saturday night in a city-owned vacant lot. There were no arrests or injuries. OPD also cleared the last city encampment at Snow Park early this morning, but many protesters had already left in anticipation of the raid, according to numerous reports on Twitter. In San Francisco, police raided a satellite occupy encampment yesterday but left the main one at Justin Herman Plaza intact.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Wednesday Must Read: Protesters and Police Clash Until 1 a.m.; CoCo Cop Pleads Guilty in Scandal
Politics / Occupy / Law Enforcement & Crime / Transportation Robert Gammon — Wed, Oct 26, 2011 at 10:30 AM
Stories you shouldn’t miss:
1. Oakland police and Occupy Oakland protesters clashed last night until about 1 a.m. today, after cops repeatedly sprayed demonstrators with tear gas last night in order to break up the crowd, the Chron reports.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Thursday Must Read: BART to Kill Cellphones Only in Extraordinary Circumstances; Supreme Court to Take Up Redevelopment Soon
Politics / Law Enforcement & Crime / Transportation Robert Gammon — Thu, Oct 20, 2011 at 10:27 AM
Stories you shouldn’t miss:
1. The BART board of directors plans to vote on a proposal that the agency only kill cellphone service in “extraordinary” circumstances, the CoCo Times reports. Examples include when BART has evidence that cellphones are to be used to detonate explosives or in hostage situations. The new policy, as a result, effectively repudiates BART’s decision to shutdown cell service in August in order to disrupt a protest. That cellphone shutdown prompted even more protests and drew intense criticism. Under the proposed policy, the agency would not kill cellphones in such circumstances.
