The BART Board of Directors may approve Thursday a plan to install hundreds of Automated License Plate Readers at the transit authority’s parking lots all over the Bay Area. A staff report released last week says the addition of the… Read More ›
BART
BART Director Blalock will not run for re-election
During his tenure, the Fremont Warm Springs station was built. His departure had been rumored for months
EBC AGENDA | OCT 6-12 | Fox Theater is a white elephant; affordable housing for OAKLAND’s Brooklyn Basin; SAN LEANDRO shoreline update
THE WEEK OCTOBER 6-12 –OAKLAND– City Council committee hearings, Tuesday, Oct. 10, starts at 9:30 a.m. ➤Community & Economic Development Committee, 1:30 p.m. [ENTIRE AGENDA HERE]–FOX THEATER LOANS– Debts from the iconic theater’s $47.5 million renovation a decade ago is… Read More ›
EBC AGENDA | SEPT 1-7 | ALAMEDA to end dispensary moratorium, selects just cause elex date; SAN LEANDRO tenant relocation $$; Piedmont rages
THE WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 1-7As far as the dreaded August council recess period goes this was awful. Nothing much happened because the players in politics took some time to relax. Many went of vacations, near and far. I even saw… Read More ›
BART approves ‘safe transit policy,’ its version of sanctuary for undocumented immigrants
BART Board Director Lateefah Simon first proposed the transit agency become a sanctuary for riders in March. BART BOARD OF DIRECTORSA resolution that falls short of declaring BART a so-called sanctuary for undocumented riders, but is instead labeled a “safety… Read More ›
BART board members propose sanctuary transit agency
BART Board of Directors will discuss the option of becoming a sanctuary transit agency at an upcoming meeting. PHOTO/Wikicommons BART BOARD OF DIRECTORSBART trains already travel through three major Bay Area sanctuary cities–Oakland, San Francisco, and Berkeley. Now, the transit… Read More ›
2016 EAST BAY POLITICAL YEAR-IN-REVIEW, PART 1 – Primary races begin to heat up; Ray McDonald fiasco blows up in Hayward; rents continue to rise
JANUARY>>>During a frigid Alameda City Council meeting that lasted until 4 a.m., struggling renters win an extension for a moratorium on rent increases that will lead the way to an ordinance approved in March. “If the NRA wants guns to… Read More ›
EBCampaign: Swanson commits ‘political catfishing’; Khanna invited Hillary to his wedding; Cook-Kallio gets high on pot $$
12 DAYS UNTIL ELECTION DAY | Sometimes the Internet is not what it seems. For some, the person one perceives on the other end of an online interaction is not who they are in real life. It’s not uncommon for,… Read More ›
Alameda council candidate Lena Tam is endorsed by three dead people
Lena Tam: The Alameda Medium? ALAMEDA CITY COUNCIL |ELECTION 2016 |Alameda City Council hopeful Lena Tam has people dying to support her campaign this fall. Her campaign Web site’s endorsement list includes three people who have passed away in recent… Read More ›
Mary King, first black female Alameda County supervisor; power broker, dies
Mary King looking over a design for the new Bay Bridge span. PHOTO/MTC ALAMEDA COUNTY | OBIT | Trailblazing three-term Alameda County Supervisor Mary King died Sunday following a long illness. She was 69. In 1988, King became the first black… Read More ›
Nancy O’Malley’s crime magnet, AKA Alameda’s In-N-Out Burger, is set to open
Rep. Mike Honda, right, and activist groups are trying to put a scare into Alameda County DA Nancy O’Malley. PHOTO/ALCO DA Office. ALAMEDA COUNTY | During an Alameda Planning Board meeting in July 2013, Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley warned the… Read More ›
A week from Election Day, State Senate race enters East Bay BART stations
Glazer’s campaign provided seven photos, including above, showing BART employees electioneering for Susan Bonilla on BART property. STATE SENATE | DISTRICT 7 | For the Democrats Susan Bonilla and Steve Glazer, the next stop in their hard-fought State Senate special… Read More ›
Assemblymember introduces bill to ban BART strikes
AB 528 is Assemblymember Catharine Baker’sfirst piece of legislation. ASSEMBLY | 16TH DISTRICT | Freshman Assemblymember Catharine Baker’s first bill makes good on a major campaign pledge she offered last year. It may also be a potential boon to one… Read More ›
BART board may pull the plug on vaping at its stations
BART’s Board of Directors may enact an ordinance prohibiting vaping at its stations. BART BOARD OF DIRECTORS | Without a doubt, smoking is banned on BART trains and its station. The use of e-cigarettes may be next. The BART Board… Read More ›
BART Director: ‘Rosa Parks did not shut down an entire transit system for hours’
BART Board Director Rebecca Salztman BART BOARD OF DIRECTORS | When activist protesting on the West Oakland BART station platform chained themselves to a train the day after Thanksgiving, their civil disobedience shut down service from the East Bay to… Read More ›
Desley Brooks’ amazing speech on race in Oakland; need for civil disobedience
Desley Brooks: “Our city has been torn upby angry, young white people, but that’s not the perception that goes out.“ OAKLAND CITY COUNCIL | Councilmember Desley Brooks can sometimes confound even her strongest supporters with a propensity toward inflammatory and… Read More ›
Why Can’t Tim Sbranti Learn the Art of Smeyesing?
Smeyesing–smiling with your eyes–is something Tim Sbranti can’t seem to do during this campaign. ASSEMBLY | 16TH DISTRICT | If you place 16th Assembly District candidate Tim Sbranti in the mayor’s seat during Dublin City Council meetings you will see… Read More ›
Alameda County Dems Endorse Tam Over Incumbent BART Director Raburn
Lena Tam ALAMEDA COUNTY | DEMOCRATS | BART Board of Director Robert Raburn often eschews driving automobiles for public transportation and his bicycle. But, when it comes to endorsing his re-election to the board following the divisive BART strike of… Read More ›
Primary Questions: AD-16 Preview
Clockwise from the left: Steve Glazer, Tim Sbranti, Catharine Baker and Newell Arnerich. THE CANDIDATES Before Steve Glazer was the “Ban BART Strikes” guy, he was the mayor of Orinda and Gov. Jerry Brown’s best bud. Now, Glazer is attempting… Read More ›
Moderate Democrats Vying for the 16th Assembly District Find Much in Common
ELECTION 2014 | ASSEMBLY | 16TH DISTRICT |It wasn’t too long ago that Contra Costa County’s wealthy 16th Assembly District was a pinkish shade of red. Termed out Assemblymember Joan Buchanan is credited for turning the Lamorinda district blue, but… Read More ›
Legislators On BART Strike: ‘The Time Is Now To Start The Healing’
LEGISLATURE//BART STRIKE | Citing progress between strike BART unions and management, in addition to the weekend’s tragic death of two BART employees, the entire East Bay legislative caucus is calling for an agreement tonight that would end the latest four-day labor… Read More ›
State To Audit BART’s Finances; May Take Seven Months To Complete
ASSEMBLY 20 | Hayward Assemblymember Bill Quirk is a man of science, a discipline predicated upon precise information. On Wednesday, a state audit of BART’s finances requested by Quirk will hopefully get the numbers straight. The Joint Legislative Audit Committee… Read More ›
East Bay Assembly Trio Criticize BART For Faulty Wage Numbers
ASSEMBLY//BART STRIKE | East Bay Assemblymembers Rob Bonta, Nancy Skinner and Bill Quirk were critical of BART management for misstating the true average wages of train operators and station agents. During testimony Wednesday before the Board of Inquiry ordered by… Read More ›
Joel Young And Never Having To Say You’re Sorry
SUNDAY COLUMN | Let me start by saying, I know more about AC Transit Board Director Joel Young than care to know. From covering his campaign last year for the State Assembly to his latest transgressions leading to his censure… Read More ›
The Patch Mowed Over
SUNDAY COLUMN | Once upon a time a major media corporation believed hyperlocal was the key to journalism’s revival. AOL and then the Huffington Post put this belief in Patch. The idea was good, except Patch wasn’t hyperlocal, it was… Read More ›
Corporate Media’s Plot To Demonize Striking BART Workers
The ABC owned and operated KGO-TV opened its 11 p.m. newscast last Sunday with anchor Dan Ashley oohing and ahhing and gesticulating over how horrendous Monday morning’s commute might be following the breakdown of negotiations between BART and its workers. Turn the… Read More ›
Don’t Blame Striking Workers, Blame MTC
SUNDAY COLUMN | How about blaming the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) on Monday morning when your car is sitting in traffic, instead of workers? Oh, you don’t know what or who MTC is? That’s exactly how they like it. Starting on… Read More ›
Forthcoming Oscar Grant Film Is Going To Make Local Authorities Uncomfortable
OAKLAND//OSCAR GRANT | First-time Bay Area filmmaker Ryan Coogler is sure going to make locals who ridiculed the slain Oscar Grant for supposedly being a thug who somehow got what he deserved feel quite uncomfortable over the next year. Fruitvale Station,… Read More ›
NOTES: Rookies Mendall, Jones Seem Like Rising Stars In Hayward
HAYWARD CITY COUNCIL//NOTES | The key to a Hayward renaissance has always focused on curing its struggling school district, but its future also lies in rehabilitating the areas around the South Hayward BART station. It is not only an unsafe… Read More ›
2012 Year In Lists: East Bay’s Top 5 Up-And-Coming Politicians
1. Ro Khanna – To focus of Khanna initial fundraising splash of over $1.2 million in just a month does a disservice to potentially a once-in-a-generation political mind in the East Bay. The former Obama commerce department official has the… Read More ›
