Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Warriors Announce Plan to Move to San Francisco
Sports Kathleen Richards — Tue, May 22, 2012 at 10:29 AM
At a press conference this morning, The Golden State Warriors and San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee announced plans to move the team back to San Francisco after a four-decade-plus absence (they played there from 1962 to 1971). (Watch the livestream of the conference here.) According to the Chron, the Warriors will move into a $500 million, privately-financed, 17,000- to 19,000-seat arena built on Piers 30-32 near the foot of the Bay Bridge. The pier is owned by the Port of San Francisco, and under the deal, the port would give the Warriors a long-term lease in exchange for the team building the arena and fixing the now-crumbling pier.
Warriors owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber have been working to return the team to SF since buying it for $450 million in 2010. The move won't happen until 2017 at the earliest, when it can get out of its lease at the Oracle Arena, reports the AP. When completed, the arena will also host conventions and concerts, and include 100,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Send Us Stories About Your Pet for Our Pet Issue
Kathleen Richards — Mon, May 21, 2012 at 12:26 PM
Do you have a pet? Do you have a funny/sad/poignant/heroic story about said pet? Of course you do! And we want to hear all about it.
Send your story (no more than 500 words) and optional photo, along with your name and city of residence, to Editor [at] EastBayExpress [dot] com, or Ellen Cushing, East Bay Express, 620 3rd St., Oakland, CA 94607.
We may publish your story in our Pets issue, coming out June 6. Stories must be received by May 31.
Express Takes Home Eight Bay Area Journalism Awards
Mon, May 21, 2012 at 11:07 AM
The Express won eight nine* awards, three of which were first place, in the San Francisco Peninsula Press Club’s Greater Bay Area Journalism Awards, the winners of which were announced at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Foster City on Saturday, May 19.
Friday, May 18, 2012
Jerry Brown’s Optimism Has Been Costly
Politics / Business Robert Gammon — Fri, May 18, 2012 at 1:32 PM
Jerry Brown’s recent acknowledgement that his administration had seriously underestimated California’s budget woes was predictable. The nonpartisan Legislative Analysts’ Office had been challenging Brown’s numbers for months, contending that the governor was far too optimistic when he predicted in January that the California economy would rebound strongly and that tax revenues would be pouring into state coffers this year. Brown insisted that his projections were right, but they weren’t. He admitted as much on May 14 when he revealed that the state’s budget deficit was much worse than his office had estimated — $16 billion, not $9 billion — because of stagnating tax revenues. Consequently, Brown and the legislature are now facing much deeper cuts to essential state services than expected.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
A’s Planned Move to San Jose Looks Dead
Business / Sports Robert Gammon — Thu, May 17, 2012 at 11:43 AM
The proposal by Oakland A’s owners Lew Wolff and John Fisher to move the team to San Jose looks like it’s officially dead. Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig said there was no timetable for when the league would even consider the A’s proposal. He also said that the A’s are nowhere close to reaching a required deal with the San Francisco Giants to move to the South Bay. The Giants, which own the territorial rights to the South Bay, have blocked the A’s efforts to move to San Jose.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Oh, Snap: IsAnyoneUp Founder Hunter Moore Being Investigated by the FBI
Law Enforcement & Crime Rachel Swan — Wed, May 16, 2012 at 4:30 PM
Ouch. So you may remember Hunter Moore, 25 year-old "life ruiner," peddler of humiliation, and founder of the "revenge porn" site IsAnyoneUp.com, from profiles in just about every news outlet around the country — including this one. And now he's in trouble, for real. Roughly a month after taking down his controversial site, Moore is being investigated by the FBI. According to reporter Camille Dodero of the Village Voice, Moore may have colluded with a hacker, known as Gary Jones, who broke into victims' Inboxes, stole nudes from their attachments, and submitted them to IsAnyoneUp. If the accusation turns out to be true, then the defense he's been using — that weird loophole called the Communications Decency Act — might be annulled.
Tony Hawk Foundation Awards $5,000 Grant to Bordertown Skatepark
Sports Cassie Harwood — Wed, May 16, 2012 at 2:44 PM
When Caltrans tore down the Bordertown skate park late last November, it looked as though the long-fought battle to save the illegally built park had finally come to an end. But it turns out Caltrans’ demolition of the popular West Oakland skate spot hasn’t completely crushed the spirits of its supporters. Since the dust settled, a number of Bordertown loyalists have been working to drum up funding and support to erect a new, legitimate skate park from the former’s ashes.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
State Redevelopment Letter Makes No Mention of Oakland’s Kaiser Center or Coliseum City
Media / Politics / Sports Robert Gammon — Tue, May 15, 2012 at 9:49 AM
Oakland’s receipt of a warning letter from state Controller John Chiang on the use of redevelopment funds last year has been making headlines over the past week. Chronicle columnists Matier and Ross have repeatedly made a big deal out of the letter, contending that Chiang is demanding that Oakland pay the state more than $30 million for redevelopment expenditures involving the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center and the proposed Coliseum City project. However, the letter from Chiang, obtained by the Express, makes no mention of either the Kaiser or Coliseum City, nor does it demand that Oakland pay the state any money. Instead, Chiang’s missive is merely a form letter that he sent to cities and counties throughout California. In fact, the letter is not even specifically addressed to Oakland.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Undeterred by Raid, Occupy the Farm Plans to Reconvene Tomorrow
Occupy Rachel Swan — Mon, May 14, 2012 at 10:32 AM
A missive sent this morning amid the raid at Albany's Occupy the Farm protest said the group would reconvene tomorrow afternoon to plan its next step. But the future is a little hazy for this rogue group of well-intentioned agriculturalists, who spent roughly three weeks tilling two acres of arable land on a parcel owned by UC Berkeley's College of Natural Resources, and commandeering additional space for its makeshift encampment. The protesters argued that the 10 acres at Gill Tract, which contain Class 1 soil, evidently the best kind for growing edible crops. It's currently being allocated for agricultural experiments, many of which involve corn.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Quan Recall Backers Should Pull the Plug on Last Petition Drive
Politics / People Robert Gammon — Thu, May 10, 2012 at 11:46 AM
Now that two of the three efforts to recall Oakland Mayor Jean Quan have failed, backers of the remaining one should abandon their foundering campaign as well. The recall campaigns have been a distraction, and have caused unnecessary divisiveness in the city. And they’ve been costly, especially for the supporters of the remaining campaign. According to the most recent campaign finance reports, the Committee to Recall Mayor Quan Now — has racked up $26,166 in debts, and has virtually no money to hire paid signature gatherers. In fact, the group has only raised about $17,000, far short of the money it needs.
