Sports: Seven Days, East Bay Express

Wednesday Must Reads: Badly Designed Bolts on Richmond Bridge, Too; Santa Clara to Host Super Bowl

Robert Gammon — Wed, 22 May 2013 07:02:22 -0700

Stories you shouldn’t miss:

1. Caltrans used the same type of badly designed steel rods that have snapped on the new Bay Bridge in its retrofit of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge a decade ago, the Chron$ reports, citing newly released agency documents.…

Tuesday Must Reads: CHP Agrees to Step Up Patrols of Oakland; Quan Pushes to Block Warriors from Moving to SF

Robert Gammon — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 06:56:46 -0700

News stories that East Bay progressives and environmentalists shouldn’t miss:

1. The California Highway Patrol has agreed to increase its presence in Oakland, following the decision by the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office to stop patrolling the city, the Trib and Chron$ report.…

Wednesday Must Read: San Jose Threatens to Sue to Get the A’s; Hundreds of Sea Lion Pups Starve on Central Coast

Robert Gammon — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 10:20:28 -0700

Stories that East Bay progressives and environmentalists shouldn’t miss:

1. San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed is threatening to sue Major League Baseball in an ongoing effort to bring the A’s to his city, telling baseball Commissioner Bud Selig that he wants to personally meet with him so as to avoid “litigation,” the Mercury News reports.…

Friday Must Read: Oakland Councilmembers Brooks and Reid Could Be Censured; A’s Plan to Move to San Jose Hits New Snag

Robert Gammon — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 09:55:32 -0700

Stories you shouldn’t miss:

1. Oakland City Councilmembers Desley Brooks and Larry Reid could be censured by their council colleagues as a result of an independent audit that found that they had broken city laws.…

Monday Must Read: California GOP to Court Latinos; Teen Birth Rate Reaches Historic Low

Robert Gammon — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 09:48:00 -0800

Stories you shouldn’t miss:

1. California Republicans, still staggering from the November election, plan to court Latino candidates and voters in an attempt to regain relevancy in the state.…

Thursday Must Read: Oakland Officials Apologize to A’s Owner; Attorney General Reopens Criminal Probe of State Parks

Robert Gammon — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 09:44:55 -0800

Stories you shouldn’t miss:

1. Oakland city officials have apologized to A’s co-owner Lew Wolff and admitted that they were wrong when they accused him earlier this week of not forwarding a letter to them that requested a lease extension at the Coliseum, the Trib reports.…

Oakland Officials Accuse A’s Owner of Playing Games in the Media

Steven Tavares — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 17:07:19 -0800

Oakland city officials had tough talk for Oakland Athletics co-owner Lew Wolff Monday night, accusing him of manipulating the media and refusing to engage in negotiations with the city concerning a new ballpark for the team. “Lew Wolff won’t talk to us,” said Oakland Assistant City Administrator Fred Blackwell at an event in Oakland for the grassroots group, Save Oakland Sports.…

Thursday Must Read: CHP to Keep Patrolling in Oakland; Anti-Gay Bigotry Erupts in San Francisco

Robert Gammon — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 09:44:26 -0800

Stories you shouldn’t miss:

1. The California Highway Patrol has agreed to patrol Oakland streets for another month as it negotiates with the city for a longer contract, the Chron and Trib report.…

Coliseum Authority Approves $1 Million in Stadium Studies Despite Tenuous Support From Raiders

Steven Tavares — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 16:05:12 -0800

The Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority approved the expenditure of $1 million Friday for a pair of studies for Coliseum City, a plan that would include a new football stadium to potentially house the Oakland Raiders. The authority’s decision came despite signs that the team and the NFL are cool toward the plan.…

Monday Must Read: Homicides Jump in Bay Area; Oakland Hit By Gang Violence

Robert Gammon — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 09:38:26 -0800

Stories you shouldn’t miss:

1. The number of homicides in Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose jumped dramatically in 2012, the Chron reported.…

Bartolo Colón Faces 50 Game Ban for Juicing

Rachel Swan — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 14:37:40 -0700

All right, bad news for baseball: A's pitcher Bartolo Colón tested positive for "performance enhancing" testosterone, just one week after another huge juicing scandal involving SF Giants MVP Melky Cabrera — over the same substance, no less. Both of them now face a 50 game suspension, which means that Colón, who won the prestigious American League Cy Young Award when he played for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, will sit out for the remaining 40 games of the season, plus 10 post-season games, if Oakland makes it to the playoffs.…

The Warriors Aren’t Gone Yet

Robert Gammon — Tue, 29 May 2012 13:55:29 -0700

The very public announcement last week by the owners of the Golden State Warriors that they plan to move the team to a new arena in San Francisco represented a significant blow for Oakland’s plans to build Coliseum City in East Oakland. Without the Warriors, the proposed sports, entertainment, retail, and housing complex will lack a major tenant that would bring 20,000 fans to the area at least forty times a year.…

Warriors Move Inevitable, but Jean Quan Soldiers on with the Coliseum City Project

Rachel Swan — Thu, 24 May 2012 11:27:00 -0700

News of the Golden State Warriors' planned defection to a swanky $500 mil, privately-funded arena in San Francisco caused mass hysteria earlier this week, with Oakland bloggers protesting that there was no real financial impetus for the move — given the oft-quoted statistic that the Warrior actually boast the 10th highest attendance in the NBA.

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Warriors Announce Plan to Move to San Francisco

Kathleen Richards — Tue, 22 May 2012 10:29:58 -0700

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.)…

A’s Planned Move to San Jose Looks Dead

Robert Gammon — Thu, 17 May 2012 11:43:05 -0700

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.…

Tony Hawk Foundation Awards $5,000 Grant to Bordertown Skatepark

Cassie McFadden — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:44:39 -0700

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.…

State Redevelopment Letter Makes No Mention of Oakland’s Kaiser Center or Coliseum City

Robert Gammon — Tue, 15 May 2012 09:49:49 -0700

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.…

Lew Wolff and John Fisher Should Sell the A’s

Robert Gammon — Tue, 08 May 2012 09:08:00 -0700

The years-long attempt by Oakland A’s owners Lew Wolff and John Fisher to move the team to San Jose appears to be fizzling out. All the rumors that the move was to be brought up at Major League Baseball owners’ meetings in the past few months have proven untrue.…

The Next Phase in Marshawn Lynch's Career: Cowboy Movie

Rachel Swan — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 16:46:48 -0700

True freshman at Cal with 8 rushing touchdowns. Twelfth overall pick for the 2007 NFL draft.…

Coliseum City: Oakland’s Only Shot at Keeping the A's

Robert Gammon — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 10:35:00 -0800

The Oakland City Council made the right call this week to move forward with the Coliseum City project, a proposed privately financed development that could provide new homes for the A’s, the Raiders, and the Warriors amid a large retail, housing, and entertainment district. Although it appears to be a long shot as to whether Coliseum City will ever get built, the project may represent the only hope Oakland has at keeping its sports teams.…

Former Cal Quarterback Joe Ayoob Sets New Guinness Record for Paper Airplane Flight

Rachel Swan — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 14:34:14 -0800

Here's some good news for the Bears: Former quarterback Joe Ayoob, who grew up in San Rafael and played for City College of San Francisco before transferring to Cal in 2005, just set a new Guinness Record for the world's longest paper airplane flight — a whopping 226 feet, 10 inches. The plane, designed by John Collins, was made of "100gsm, A4 paper and a very small piece of sticky tape," The Telegraph reports.…

A's Get Manny Ramirez in Crafty Minor League Deal

Rachel Swan — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 18:25:15 -0800

Lest you have any doubts about Billy Beane's ability to wheel and deal, he just acquired disgraced all-star Manny Ramirez on-the cheap — meaning at a $500 K price tag, the Associated Press reports. Granted, that comes with the stipulation that Manny complete an unpaid 50 game suspension as punishment for juicing (specifically, the fertility drug hCG), and then earn placement on the major league roster.…

East Oakland Boxing Association Might Have to Shut Its Doors

Rachel Swan — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:47:00 -0800

Just months after local hero Andre Ward took the Super Six Middleweight Title, a venerable boxing center in his home town might have to shutter. For 25 years, the East Oakland Boxing Association has provided free after-school programs for kids, teaching everything from nutrition to academics to sparring.…

Hard Times for Cal Football Recruitment

Rachel Swan — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:54:00 -0800

Looks like a rough road lies ahead for the Bears, with word of an incomplete roster for fall, despite high optimism just a few weeks ago. As the letters of intent come in, it appears that UC Berkeley is losing all its best prospects to schools like University of Washington, whose recruiters just filched two top-rated players — safety Shaq Thompson and wideout Jordan Payton, the Mercury News reports.…

Quotes of the Day: On Occupy, Oakland Police, and the A’s

Robert Gammon — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:29:37 -0800

The best quotes of the day:

1. "The city has to stand up with us now and say, 'Stop,' " said Mayor Jean Quan, referring to Occupy Oakland protests.…