Comment Archives: Stories
Re: “Thursday Must Reads: Quan’s Budget Would Add More Police, Cut City Staff; Liberal Groups Vow to Defund Dems Who Voted Against Background Checks”
The Mayor's entire budget is unsustainable, not just the compensation for police and fire fighters. Her own budget staff did a very competent job of describing the depth of the City's fiscal problems and promised that the forthcoming budget would at least begin to address the massive retirement and infrastructure obligations that have been ignored for over a decade, long before the Great Recession as our Mayor likes to say, could be blamed for our money problems.
The only lesson that the Mayor has learned from the City's fiscal mistakes of the past decade or two is not to manipulate the voters into approving a new parcel tax by threatening to close libraries and parks. That worked once before and then failed. A new scarier threat was needed this time: cut Head Start funding.
Sure like the champion of Oakland's Kid's First mandatory funding measure is really going to punish 3 and 4 year old innocents? Or that we would let that happen?
Like a "modest parcel tax" would make a dent in the structural fiscal imbalance of the City? That's a no never mind to our Mayor who learned her muni budgeting skills as head of the Council's finance committee for ten years. Her budgeting approach is best described as "budgeting by how much money you have in your checkbook."
Re: “What Richmond's Getting Right”
For the Record:
In July 2007 consultants hired by The Mentoring Center (Oakland) made recommendations to the City of Richmond city council regarding strategies most likely to generate successful impacts towards reducing the city's historical epidemic rates of gun violence;
In July 2007 the Richmond City Council chose and ratified their decision to create the Office of Neighborhood Safety, a non law enforcement investment to reducing gun violence; The ONS was "NOT" founded by the RPD, just to be clear
The ONS has 10 "full time" staff (thats all) which includes only 7 "outreach workers" for a city with a 103,000 population; and more than 200 people who might be involved in gun violence at any given time;
According to the city's finance department, the ONS is funded $1.2M from the city's general fund in 2013-14, I have heard the ONS director say that the ONS requires at minimum $3M to adequately functional considering the need and demand for what it does (ONS be proud of what you've helped to accomplish given your task with the crumbs you've been provided);
I am curious (chief magnus) how many murders has your department solved since your arrival on your white horse, I recently read somewhere that it wasnt many. How does this fact impact a sustained reduction and stoppage of gun play - folks dont feel protected and they feel that they can get away with it - because they are...(what most dont understand is that the ONS wouldnt have such a large population demanding its services if RPD closed more firearm cases);
I am one who has grown increasingly fatigued by how law enforcement in general, local politicians and irrelevant clergy and community members suck all of the air of success and credit for reductions in gun play in Richmond, and how they allow the ONS to be maligned and treated as some step child or as inconsequential in the matter (this is unacceptable people);
I am however appreciative of how the ONS without a lot of fanfare works effectively in such inconvenient circumstances, with the most dangerous individuals, in the most dangerous neighborhoods at the most dangerous times in Richmond. ONS staff never toot their own horns, they've never claimed victory (chief magnus). In fact Ive read that they give any credit to the young men that they serve for any successes achieved in reducing gun play;
Finally, everyone in the Rich needs to eventually understand this truth: How Richmond spends its time and money will determine the shape of its chickens coming home to roost. This is the most UNFRIENDLY city in the bay area to its future - our youth. There is no sustaining reductions in gun violence when the current city budget barely provides for it in real opportunities for those involved in gun violence, and where most of its other investments communicate anti-youth development, anti-kids, etc.
You need to get it right about "what Richmond is getting right"
A Concerned Richmond Resident
Re: “The Bacon-Wrapped Economy”
Has the author seen this yet?
http://givingpledge.org/
The young tech folks are just getting started...
Re: “It’s Time to Close the American Indian Public Charter Schools”
As a former student, I hated this school. It was a disgusting place to be. Although i passed with a C is almost all classes, it was the worse experience ever. They waste money on a restroom but can't have a gym or yard for P.E.? We were forced to walk to a park to do P.E. P.E. in AIPCS II's opinion is running all day. No REAL sports. On rainy days, we had to sometimes go in a classroom and do random push-ups or sit ups. If we were lucky we would get to get to go to the 3rd floor to do P.E.
Re: “Singing Mingus”
This is a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon. They serve a pretty good cabernet too. Be there or be square! ( ;
Re: “Dick Holes”
If you don't have the patience or dexterity for a few months of gentle finger stretches with Betamethasone (prescription) ointment then the surgical remedy is NOT circumcision. It is bi-lateral dorsal slit with transverse closure, which amputates no sensual tissue.
Re: “Homesteading on the Cheap”
Ollas are another great way to use water efficiently.
http://www.globalbuckets.org/p/olla-irriga… tells you how to build your own and make other irrigation items.
or you can buy them here : http://urbanhomesteadsupply.com/garden-ani…
Re: “Wallpaper Signs to Epic Records”
You have to check out his new video for “Good 4 it” check it: http://smarturl.it/Good4ItVideo
Re: “A Little Dab Could Doom Ya”
Yeah butane hash is definitely sketchy to make and should not be done without extreme caution. There are a few decent videos on you tube. H20 bubble bags do work well (as was mentioned above). With the water bags you risk making a mess vs. blowing up your house:) Also you are using 100% unmodified ingredients which is always a positive. If we used logic we would allow people/or business to get licensed in order to make the hashish using the more dangerous methods.
For more on CA MMJ operations and laws visit us at http://www.californiadispensaryinfo.com/
Re: “State Regulators Say Ex-Oakland Mayoral Candidate Marcie Hodge Broke Election Laws”
This report sounds personal once again. You are obsessed with this woman and her story. I don’t even think the media is chasing Sarah Palin stories like this. Okay, investigated, fined…fine paid….what next? Should we put her in the middle of town square (Eastmont Mall) with a scarlet letter. Please “journalist” get over it! Surely you can find something more poignant to report on than a woman who you feel stole 3% of the vote 3 years ago in the Oakland mayoral election. Great work Sherlock. Your keen detective skills, judicial diligence, and thorough reporting skills have……………well………..done what exactly? Moving on to real news….
Re: “Monday Must Reads: Lawmakers Seek to Reform Payday Lending; Yosemite Valley May Get Major Facelift”
Banning companies from offering loans is a bad move as far the free market in trade is concerned, limiting the amount they can charge and the add on costs that bump the 'loan' through the percentage ceiling is a better option however it is a sad state of affairs when loan sharks get legal or they become a part of the structure of daylight robbery that any government seems hog tied in preventing.perhaps there is a way of using the defunct banks that we all have a stake in to better use. http://speedyloansearch.com/payday-loans/
Re: “California Crude”
This review is ridiculous, you're thoughts are so misplaced. This is a beautifully crafted film with phenomenal performances and i would say that is simply my opinion but according to the likes and dislikes on these comments, I think its safe to say you're in the minority. Oh, and Magnolia was genius.
Re: “A Little Dab Could Doom Ya”
In our state a lab is permitted and regulated. You can see clearly that labs are important and extracting and isolating chemicals for proper dosage are simply the best way to treat a patient for a specific illness. If you need a hydrocarbon or any non polar solvent to extract out the oils and most if not all that can be used are flammable I would suspect that the terms chemical or flammable would not be proper in legal definitions. Fragrances, flavorings, essential oils, biofuel medicine homeopathic or allopathic are all extracted using various flammable solvents chemicals. Solvent meaning a liquid that can dissolve another liquid or solid.
It is very obvious that a permit that is regulated should be in force, not more laws that prohibit a solvent or chemical that would obviously be ignored or would push the manufacturing into a different maybe more dangerous, more toxic or less controllable direction. A state needs to step up to the plate and satisfy demand where it exist when the lives and health of people are at stake. Butane, propane, hexane etc has been used for decades to produce everything you use daily just about. It is not about the solvent. It is about those easy to access large quantities of disposable butane canisters and open to atmosphere extraction processes called tubes that are used when "blasting"
High Pressure CO2 and Tamisium Extractors are closed systems and are the only alternative. CO2 does not eliminate the need for flammable solvents. On the contrary it would be combined with propane, hexane or butane to increase its efficiency of extracting out the oils. So you just cant get away from flammable when dealing with lab processes. It is about the process and equipment when searching for a safer solution
Should consumers be forced to acquire medicine from another city or state or should a simple process for safe regulations be created and put into effect that would allow more jobs to be created, more fees and taxes to be paid to a starving state.
The bottom line is that it will not go away and will cost more to stop it than to make it safe and useful.
Re: “Local Licks”
I like the material La Fin Absolute Du Monde produce.
Re: “East Bay 4/20 Events Guide: Grass, Brass, and Fantastic Specials”
It's Snoop Lion now. Come on people keep up.
Re: “'Pot Farm' on Facebook May Be Grossing an Estimated $150K/Month”
they have made it impossible to play the game and finish the timed quests without paying smh
Re: “'Pot Farm' on Facebook May Be Grossing an Estimated $150K/Month”
shame they dont sort out complaints but they are quick enough to take your cash
Re: “Bin Laden's Abbottabad Compound Had A Pot Patch”
cannabis, the universally loved medicine
Re: “Why the Oak-to-Ninth Housing Project Is Coming at Just the Right Time”
Jonathan,
Of course there was a need for housing in 2006, but before the crash there were far more opportunities for better housing projects in Oakland than Oak to Ninth. At the time, banks were much, much more likely to fund new housing. That's part of the reason why Oak to Ninth wasn't such a great deal back then. After all, why build 3,100 homes in a less-than-ideal place when there's property in downtown or Uptown that would work far better?
But after the crash, the funding for new housing dried up. And it remains dry. That's why Mike Ghielmetti turned to China -- it's one of the few places in the world in which large companies are financing major construction projects. But, according to him and Quan, the Chinese investors are most interested in so-called shovel-ready projects -- ones that have already received approval from local governments. As such, it's unlikely that Chinese investors would be willing to commit to funding housing projects in downtown or uptown that have not gone through the approval process yet. But Oak to Ninth is different -- it has gotten all those approvals, plus it a survived CEQA lawsuit.
As such, it's really one of the few hopes Oakland has right now for new housing -- at a time when the housing shortage is even worse than it was seven years ago.
Re: “Why the Oak-to-Ninth Housing Project Is Coming at Just the Right Time”
Bob, my respected friend, you just negated the whole premise of your article, “How an Environmental Law Is Harming the Environment” in the March 13th issue. (And see my comments.) You summed it up at the end with: “Our primary environmental law should protect the environment against the greatest threat it faces — climate change — and not make it harder to implement solutions that help fight that threat.”
So it would seem to follow that any project that increases carbon emissions should be opposed.
Unlike Parker Place in Berkeley, the Oak to Ninth project will not help Oakland to “meet its climate-change goals, because it will provide much-needed urban housing near jobs and mass transit, thereby helping lessen the need for suburban sprawl and greenhouse-gas-belching commutes.” It will acerbate it!
Oak to Ninth isn’t infill development. It isn’t transit-oriented development. It is a massive 3100-unit development on an isolated site with poor accessibility adjacent to a major pollution-spieling freeway and active rail lines.
It has the worst attribute of suburban life—auto dependence. The nearest transit, Amtrak, is almost a mile away, and the Lake Merritt BART station, more than a mile, and reached across railway tracks with 75 daily trains, not a safe route for either pedestrians or bicyclists.
To help picture 3100 units consider this project in San Francisco—One Rincon Hill next to the Bay Bridge. The first of two towers has been completed; its 60 stories have 376 condos. So 3100 units would be equivalent to EIGHT such towers? Does that not seem ludicrous even as the market improves?
The so-called Community Benefits of housing for low-income families and seniors were not to come out of the developer’s pocket, but the community’s, that is, from redevelopment funds. But they went poof! Without those funds, low-income families and seniors will not have to live next to a very noisy, polluting freeway and purchase clunkers for transportation.
The Air District recommends that homes not be sited within 500 feet of a high traffic freeway. Most of the residences are less than 500 feet from I-880 and the most vulnerable population, low-income families and seniors, would have been closest to it.
CEQA lawsuits cannot, in themselves, stop a bad project. The EIR’s purpose is to layout the environmental impacts of a project so that an informed decision can be made. The Oak to Ninth EIR disclosed the horrendous traffic congestion the project would bring to the already congested two-lane access road. The cold starts and start & stop traffic would greatly worsen carbon emissions.
But the EIR for the Oak to Ninth project was completed before Jerry Brown took up the issue of greenhouse gases and required EIRs to quantify them. It would have certainly stated that the project would significantly contribute to climate change. But, even then, the city could approve the project, citing overriding considerations like, say, jobs? Possibly the same consideration will be used to push the Keystone XL pipeline—jobs!
Michael Ghielmetti, President, of Signature Properties, once admitted to me that it would be smarter to build high-density housing downtown. And yet, he has downsized one of his fully entitled projects downtown from 351 to 105 units, Parcel B of the Broadway-West Grand site. The completed housing at Broadway & Grand is being pitched as: “There is so much happening in Uptown, and Broadway Grand is at the center of it all.”
If we are serious about climate change, the high-density housing planned for Oak to Ninth belongs downtown. But, it would not be harmful if a few hundred units were built at Oak to Ninth as long as residents all drive hybrid or electric cars and have good health insurance plans.