The idea that 21 Club NYC is closing is like a bad dream for me. The news that the New York Restaurant planned to shut own for good March 9th, 2021 (barring action) hit me via a text message by my good friend Beth Schnitzer just something like 15 minutes ago, or so. Now I … Read more
Brant Bonin Bough On Cleveland Hustles On CNBC ONN – Brant Bonin Bough On Cleveland Hustles On CNBC – vlog by Zennie62 YouTube Brant Bonin Bough Host Of Cleveland Hustles On CNBC Happened to see my friend and digital culture pioneer Brant Bonin Bough on CNBC just now. He teamed with LeBron James and Maverick … Read more
The public relations team representing three young Oakland-grown chefs sent a press release about the trio’s plans for an eatery called Town Revival, in Downtown Oakland’s Tribune Tower. Considering the number of restaurants that closed because of shelter-in-place policies to cope with The Pandemic, it seems completely wild that someone’s announcing opening a restaurant, right? … Read more
Dear Oaklander, Given the record-breaking surge of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, Alameda County has joined other Bay Area health departments and the City of Berkeley in implementing the State’s Regional Stay Home Order in an effort to prevent our health care systems from being overburdened and to reduce lost of life. In Alameda County, the … Read more
Oakland — On Monday, December 7, 2020 the Oakland Finance Committee heard the FY 2019-20 Q4 & FY 2020-21 Q1 R&E Report. According to the Report from the Interim Director of Finance, dated November 30, 2020, “FY 20-21 year end expenditures are projected to exceed the budget for a total of $62.29 million deficit, which … Read more
Danger Zone Weizenbock Release- What is a Weizenbock? From YouTube Channel: December 3, 2020 at 05:53PM ONN – Oakland United Beerworks Danger Zone Weizenbock Released Today – What’s A Weizenbock? Oakland United Beerworks writes: Excited for the release of our Danger Zone Weizenbock release on Friday, 12/4, but want to learn more about this … Read more
Dear Oakland Community, Today I am writing to let you know that we have finalized our COVID-19 Health and Safety Reopening Plan and Program (Reopening Plan) for reopening our schools to in-person learning and instruction. The plan includes the components required by the Alameda County Office of Education (ACOE) regarding reopening for in-person instruction and … Read more
President-Elect Joe Biden issued this statement to the press, a message that says economic help in on the way, and that’s for every city from Oakland, California to Atlanta, Georgia, and Honolulu, Hawaii, and Juno Alaska. Here are the words of President-Elect Joe Biden, today, as sent to Zennie62Media. Good afternoon. I hope everyone had … Read more
The Alameda County Health Care Services Agency issued a press release on the State of California “limited Stay at Home Order” last week. Here’s the full press release as sent to Zennie62Media: The State of California announced a limited Stay at Home Order generally requiring that non-essential work, movement, and gatherings stop between 10 p.m. … Read more
Oakland Community Cabins // Project Spotlight From YouTube Channel: November 20, 2020 at 04:21PM ONN – With six tiny villages throughout the City of Oakland, this is the behind-the-scenes discussion of how a community is coming together to end homelessness with transitional rapid shelter. Starring: -Talia Rubin, LCSW // City of Oakland (Government Lead) -Joe DeVries // City of Oakland (Government Lead) -Jim … Read more
oakland protest 2020 part11 From YouTube Channel: November 22, 2020 at 03:31AM ONN – Oakland Protest To Stop Bombing Kids In Tigray Focus Of YouTube Video According to VOANews, this is what caused the Oakland City Hall-based protest: Witnesses in Ethiopia report that the country’s air force bombed the capital of the northern Tigray region … Read more
Oakland chef Tanya Hollands TV show will make debut on Oprah network From YouTube Channel: November 12, 2020 at 08:48PM ONN – Tanya Holland Oakland Chef TV Show Makes Debut on Oprah Network This Week This YouTube video was uploaded by a small YouTube channel with just 40 subscribers. For some reason, Tanya’s face was … Read more
New Route From YouTube Channel: November 17, 2020 at 12:30AM ONN – Exploring a new neighborhood. Longboarding around Berkeley and Oakland. Note from Zennie62Media and Oakland News Now: this video-blog post demonstrates the full and live operation of the latest updated version of an experimental Zennie62Media , Inc. mobile media video-blogging system network that was … Read more
Wow. I am getting calls and texts from friends all over about the one race that America sees as the key to either Democratic Control (in proper noun version) of Congress, or Republican Control of same: Senator Kelly Loeffler versus Reverend Rafael Warnock in the Senate Runoff Election. All of them ask for my view, … Read more
Oakland – Rebecca Kaplan has retained her At-Large seat on the Oakland City Council. With unofficial results showing her with a lead, her opponent called her this morning to concede the race congratulating her on her new term on the Council. Also congratulating Kaplan on her victory was Councilmember Nikki Bas who said, “Congratulations to … Read more
Now that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are President-Elect and Vice President-Elect, we can focus on programs to get America’s economy back on its feet. The Payroll Protection Program was a good start, and while it helped, it missed the mark in many ways. What is missing are economic development programs specific to The Pandemic. … Read more
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris – Biden / Harris – Win!! I spent Wednesday morning, November 4th, at the ampitheater in the plaza in front of Oakland’s City Hall, masked and distanced but heartened by the crowd who sang and prayed together for a Just America and demanded that we count every vote! We ate … Read more
Now That Carroll Fife Is Oakland Councilmember Will She Stop 90-Car Protests To Phil Tagami’s House? From YouTube Channel: November 6, 2020 at 03:35PM ONN – Now That Carroll Fife Is Oakland Councilmember Will She Stop 90-Car Protests To Phil Tagami’s House? The backstory is best explained in this excerpt from my previous blog post … Read more
Oakland-based Congresswoman Barbara Lee is to politics around here (California’s 13th Congressional District) like Stonehenge is to civilization: a monument. She will be celebrated forever as the only U.S. Congressperson to vote against The Iraq War , having done so on September 18, 2001, and after the horrific events of September 9, 2001 – what … Read more
Community Bank of the Bay Earns $1.24 Million in Third Quarter 2020; Deposits Increase 32% and Loans increase 21% Year-Over-Year; Lower Loan Loss Provision Quarter-Over-Quarter As a note, Oakland’s Community Bank of The Bay was started in 1996 by The City of Oakland and with the intention of being the first, true, city-owned bank. A … Read more
OUSD Reports Polling Locations Open at Ten District-Run Schools and One Charter School in OUSD on Halloween, and Will Open Daily Through November 3; Voters Can Drop off Their Ballots at the Locations When Open Voters Can Drop off Their Ballots at the Locations When Open Oakland, CA – There are now just three days … Read more
Oakland Hills Residents Help Neighbors Escape From Fire Caused By Overloaded Generator
From YouTube Channel: October 27, 2020 at 08:20PM
ONN – An overloaded generator being used to supply power during a PG&E power shutoff sparked a two-alarm fire in the Oakland Hills Tuesday morning, burning two homes and vegetation in an area that was incinerated in the deadly 1991 firestorm. Andria Borba reports residents helped their neighbors escape the flames. (10/27/20)
Note from Zennie62Media and Oakland News Now: this video-blog post demonstrates the full and live operation of the latest updated version of an experimental Zennie62Media , Inc. mobile media video-blogging system network that was launched June 2018. This is a major part of Zennie62Media , Inc.’s new and innovative approach to the production of news media. What we call “The Third Wave of Media”. The uploaded video is from a YouTube channel. When the video is “liked” by Zennie62 YouTube, then it is automatically uploaded to and formatted automatically at the Oakland News Now site and Zennie62-created and owned social media pages. The overall objective here, on top of our is smartphone-enabled, real-time, on the scene reporting of news, interviews, observations, and happenings anywhere in the World and within seconds and not hours – is the use of the existing YouTube social graph on any subject in the World. Now, news is reported with a smartphone and also by promoting current content on YouTube: no heavy and expensive cameras or even a laptop are necessary, or having a camera crew to shoot what is already on YouTube. The secondary objective is faster, and very inexpensive media content news production and distribution. We have found there is a disconnect between post length and time to product and revenue generated. With this, the problem is far less, though by no means solved. Zennie62Media is constantly working to improve the system network coding and seeks interested content and media technology partners.
Ben Bartlett and the Berkeley City Council Introduces Legislation on Group Violence Intervention (GVI) Program – to address Gun Violence in the Community
Berkeley – Berkeley has been experiencing an alarming rise in shootings throughout the City. This year alone, there have been more than 30 shootings, including one occurring on the night of October 21, 2020 that tragically left a woman gravely injured in a drive-by shooting on Prince Street in South Berkeley.
“The recent heartbreaking gun violence must come to an end, and I am ready to work collaboratively with our community in developing an effective program to achieve that goal,” Mayor Jesse Arreguin said.
Today, Councilmember Bartlett introduced urgent legislation and is calling on the City to establish a Group Violence Intervention Program (GVI), or “Operation Ceasefire,” which will assemble an inter-jurisdictional working group of law enforcement agencies, community members, and support services providers to address the cascading cycles of gun violence.
Co-sponsored by Mayor Arreguin and Councilmember Rashi Kesarwani, the item will be discussed at today’s City Council meeting if approved to be agendized. “By looking at the success of similar programs in other cities and catering it towards the needs of Berkeley, we can develop safe communities together,” Mayor Arreguin said.
Specifically, the program will identify young adults (ages 18-30) who are at greatest risk of being involved in gun violence, develop an intervention team to communicate directly and respectfully to at-risk individuals, implement an intervention plan to provide wrap-around and support services, and create a public education campaign to promote these efforts.
In cities throughout the country, GVI has proven to be an effective tool for reducing homicides and strengthening trust between community members and law enforcement. The City has the power to act now to develop its own GVI program to address the tragic rise in shootings and homicides plaguing our city.
In recognition of the interlocking geographic nature of those committing gun crimes as well as their victims, the GVI program will be centered on Berkeley. However, it should also be connected to and work in concert with community workers in neighboring jurisdictions including Oakland, Richmond, Antioch, and San Francisco.
“GVI aligns with our goals of reimagining policing, and is a more robust version of the Specialized Care Unit envisioned in the George Floyd Community Safety Act,” Councilmember Bartlett said. “The program also paves the way for greater regional collaboration, protecting communities from gun violence in Berkeley and across the Bay Area. People have put in years of work developing this model. Let’s raise up the community’s efforts and create lasting peace in the streets. Our children deserve to be safe.”
Oakland – The City of Oakland received $36.9 million in State of California CARES Act funding. Through the Oakland CARES Arts Technical Assistance Fund, $193,000 has been allocated to provide technical assistance to help Oakland-based arts organizations and artists develop a robust online digital presence.
From November 9 to December 10, Youth Speaks, in partnership with YR Media and Zoo Labs, two Oakland artists-centered organizations, will offer 14 free, virtual workshops to train participants on available tools for programming and production; producing content utilizing low-cost tools and technology; the aesthetic associated with virtual presentations; social media and marketing strategies; and strategies on how to monetize one’s presence. For details on the workshop offerings and registration, please visit lifeisliving.org
“The County’s Shelter-in-place Orders to keep Oaklanders safer have prevented many artists, performers and arts organizations from enriching our community through performances and exhibitions,” said… “These workshops will help our cultural practitioners make the leap to online performances to share their artistic expression and generate much needed income.”
“With our desire to navigate and cross several artistic fields (theatre, poetry, production, music, and beyond), we felt it was important to sculpt bold and precise experiments to help our organizations and partners to navigate this moment in time,” said Joan Osato, Producing Director at Youth Speaks. “We’re thrilled to be able to pass on what we’ve learned to our beloved community through this project.”
Youth Speaks & Life Is living Cohort Workshops
Session 1: Monday, November 9, 4-5:30 p.m.
Grounding Rituals – Facilitated by Hodari B. Davis, and Joan Osato (Life is Living Cohort) Coaching Session that aligns and codifies shared understanding, language and connection to mission, strategy and content. Identifying your audiences and engagement strategy.
Session 2: Monday, November 9, 6-7:30 p.m.
Seeds – Transferring skill sets to virtual engagement and production. How to utilize, train up your existing staff and artists for virtual programming; a 101 tutorial on pre-production, production and post-production, as well as how to budget for it. Training on online tools and platforms including pros and cons of each system, costs and skill sets that are transferable to online programming and production.
Session 3: Wednesday, November 11, 4-5:30 p.m.
Zoomlife – 101 Tutorial on everyday use/user friendly platforms. Zoom world practical applications, tricks and tips. Tech Guide in safety, connectivity, equipment. Producing content and media assets utilizing low-cost tools and technology. Britt White, Life is Living’s Production Manager takes you through the backstage into organizing and running your show. Tech guides included.
Session 4: Wednesday, November 11, 6-7:30 p.m.
Advanced Tutorial on everyday use/user friendly platforms. Bringing the aesthetics of your organization, artists and engagement priorities into the design of your program. Defining aesthetics, goals, participants and barriers and how to address them. Setting your stage, capture process in the time of COVID-19. Editing, and Rehearsal and Tech. This training involves aesthetics, and innovative practice in virtual presentations and programming. Includes examples of presentations, process and technology by which they were achieved.
Session 5: Monday, November 16, 4-5:30pm
Open Broadcasting Software (OBS) & Wirecast Introduction and tutorials. In this session we’ll introduce you to advanced programs that help you capture, produce and stream your content for broadcast. Maximiliano Urruzmendi, Life is Living’s Technical Director takes you through the basics of how the programs work. Handouts Included.
Session 6: Monday, November 16, 6-7:30pm
Principles of Streaming, Wirecast, YouTube, Twitch platforms continued. Now that you have the basic outline of how the platforms work and are in communication with each other, it’s time to plot out your workflow and take it into broadcast. Maximiliano takes you through various streaming services and platforms and the pros and cons of each. Handouts included.
Session 7: Wednesday, November 18, 1-3 p.m.
Merchandising, Monetizing and Creating Earned Revenue Streams – Yavette Holts, founder of BAOBOB (Bay Area Organization of Black Owned Business, Life is Living Cohort) – high level overview of ecommerce platforms in order to support business owners and nonprofits who need help optimizing their online store(s) . We’ll take the participants through the platform WooCommerce.
Session 8: Wednesday, November 18, 6-7:30 p.m.
Pivoting your Organization and Practice (now what?) – We’ll facilitate a conversation about strategies and frameworks for a sustainable future for
organizations and artists and guide and support participants in visioning next steps. Breakout Sessions and Consulting on Scenarios will look at Social media and marketing strategies that apply to virtual programming, including Branding, Analytics and their use in fundraising and strategies for monetizing your platforms. Social Media Toolkit included.
YR Media Workshops
Tuesday, December 1 to Thursday, December 3, 6-7:30 p.m.
Social Circles: Building an Audience in Apocalypse (three-part series)
Now that your fans can’t experience you in a live venue, what do you do to retain and build an audience? How can artists create a personal brand? In this three-part conversation, YR Media’s social team and youth social contributors will show you how to start, and then nurture, an authentic social presence, with recommendations of which platform(s) to target depending on your demographic.
Zoo Labs Workshops (Recommended for Artists/Collectives working in music)
Session 1: Tuesday, December 8, 5-7 p.m.
Your Story Brand – Attendees will learn how to digitally tell a story that can sell and market their brand to their customers. Presented by Mashama Thompson of 510 Media.
Session 2: Wednesday, December 9, 5-7 p.m.
The Digital Roll Out Strategy – Attendees will learn how to strategically engage fans and create buzz around music, videos or other online content. Presented by Lance Coleman, Fuze the MC.
Session 3; Thursday, December 10, 5-7 p.m.
How to Get Paid and Follow the Trends – Attendees will learn how to collect money through their digital royalties and understand their data to know what is working in order to make future strategies. Presented by United Masters.
The workshops are for Oakland residents and reservations are required. Participation in the program is on a first come, first served basis.
This is the latest CARES Act-funded program launched by the City of Oakland. Previously, grant programs for small businesses, individual artists and arts nonprofits, home-based businesses, community-serving nonprofits, and low-income renters and homeowners were announced. Additionally, free legal advice webinars and consultations on lease negotiations are being supported by CARES Act funds. Learn more about the City of Oakland’s $36.9 million in CARES Act Funding at: oaklandca.gov/CaresAct
About Youth Speaks
Through the intersection of arts education and youth development practices, civic engagement strategies, and high-quality artistic presentation, Youth Speaks creates safe spaces that challenge young people to find, develop, publicly present, and apply their voices as creators of societal change. They are the producers of Life is Living is an eco-equity, interdisciplinary festival that centers historically underserved neighborhoods and communities with programming in public spaces that have been otherwise neglected. For the last 13 years, the Life is Living Festival has taken place at De Fremery Park in West Oakland
About YR Media
YR Media is a national network of young journalists and artists who collaborate with peers around the country and top media professionals to create content that matters. It is non-profit production company that builds critical skills in journalism, arts and media.
About Zoo Labs
Zoo Labs a not-for-profit accelerator that bridges art, entrepreneurship, and capital to conduct 3 high level workshops for musicians specifically around branding, music production and entrepreneurship.
Post based on press release from The City of Oakland to Zennie62Media.
New Encryption Feature in Technical Preview Offers Increased Privacy and Security for Your Zoom Sessions
San Jose – Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZM) today announced its new end-to-end encryption (E2EE) is now available to users globally, free and paid, for meetings with up to 200 participants. This feature is available immediately as a technical preview, meaning that the company is proactively soliciting feedback from users for the next 30 days. Starting today, E2EE is available on Zoom desktop client version 5.4.0 for Mac and PC, the Zoom Android app, and Zoom Rooms, with the Zoom iOS app pending Apple App Store approval.
Zoom’s E2EE uses the same powerful 256-bit AES-GCM encryption that secures Zoom meetings by default. When users enable E2EE for their meetings, nobody except each participant — not even Zoom’s meeting servers — has access to the encryption keys that are used to encrypt the meeting.
In typical meetings, Zoom’s cloud meeting server generates encryption keys for every meeting and distributes them to meeting participants using Zoom clients as they join. With Zoom’s new E2EE, the meeting’s host generates encryption keys and uses public key cryptography to distribute these keys to the other meeting participants. Zoom’s servers become oblivious relays and never see the encryption keys required to decrypt the meeting contents. Encrypted data relayed through Zoom’s servers is indecipherable by Zoom, since Zoom’s servers do not have the necessary decryption key.
Account admins can enable this E2EE feature in their web dashboard at the account, group, and user level. It can also be locked at the account or group level. If enabled, the host can toggle on and off E2EE for any given meeting depending on the level of security and level of functionality they would like. In phase one, meeting participants must join from the Zoom desktop client, mobile app, or Zoom Rooms for E2EE-enabled meetings.
“We’re very proud to bring Zoom’s new end-to-end encryption to Zoom users globally today,” said Zoom CISO Jason Lee. “This has been a highly requested feature from our customers, and we’re excited to make this a reality. Kudos to our encryption team who joined us from Keybase in May and developed this impressive security feature within just six months.”
As a technical preview, Zoom hopes to gather input from customers on their experiences with E2EE. Zoom encourages customers to enable Feedback to Zoom on their account in order to provide feedback. When enabled, customers may submit feedback directly through the Zoom client by navigating to their “Settings” and selecting “Feedback.”
About Zoom Video Communications
Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZM) brings teams together to get more done in a frictionless and secure video environment. Our easy, reliable, and innovative video-first unified communications platform provides video meetings, voice, webinars, and chat across desktops, phones, mobile devices, and conference room systems. Zoom helps enterprises create elevated experiences with leading business app integrations and developer tools to create customized workflows. Founded in 2011, Zoom is headquartered in San Jose, California, with offices around the world. Visit zoom.com and follow @zoom_us.
Post based on press release from Zoom Video Communications to Zennie62Media, Inc.
The Oakland Unified School District sent this press release regarding possible Public Safety Power Shutoff or power shutoffs to Zennie62Media:
Dear Oakland Community,
We have learned that there is expected to be a major weather event in the coming days that will likely prompt PG&E to issue a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) once again. In a worst case scenario, the PSPS would begin on Sunday, 10/25 and last until Wednesday, 10/28 or later. That means some of our schools could be without power for three straight days, and homes in the neighborhoods could be affected, as well. Based on what we know so far, this PSPS could affect at least eleven schools. We will know more about the scheduled impact later in the weekend. The eleven schools are:
◦ Chabot Elementary
◦ Community Day
◦ Grass Valley Elementary
◦ Hillcrest K-8
◦ Joaquin Miller Elementary
◦ Laurel Elementary
◦ Montclair Elementary
◦ Montera Middle School
◦ Redwood Heights Elementary
◦ Skyline High School
◦ Thornhill Elementary
If indeed the power is out and students are unable to attend their classes, they will be asked to do their school work asynchronously, and report in to their teacher the first chance they get, letting them know they were unable to get online. Everyone is asked to charge their computers, WiFi hotspots and cell phones ahead of time, so they can do work during the PSPS. Obviously, if the PSPS lasts three days, that could make charging anything problematic.
Here is some more information from PG&E through the City of Oakland:
● To prevent wildfire and other natural disasters, PG&E has planned a PSPS starting Sunday, October 25, between 4 PM – 8 PM until at least Wednesday, October 28, at 12:00 PM. Around 24,000 Oakland customers could be impacted- a much larger impact in Oakland than the previous outage.
● To determine whether a home or neighborhood will experience an outage, PG&E customers should visit the PSPS page on the PG&E website and type in the address at: https://pgealerts.alerts.pge.com/updates/. This information will likely change as conditions change.
● The Oakland Fire Department is up staffing during this event, with OFD Engine companies conducting roving patrols as is customary during Red Flag Warnings events. OPD will be patrolling impacted neighborhoods. OPS will be stationed at impacted intersections
● PG&E is the sole manager of PSPS planning, contacting Medical Baseline customers, power shut-off, and power restoration.
When we receive additional information, we will pass it along to you as quickly as possible.
The video reported “Today marks 29 years since the deadly Oakland Hills fire. Here’s a look back at KTVU coverage of the 10th anniversary,” but for me, since I was in it, I have something to share, too.
That day of the Oakland Hills Fire was a Sunday morning. I met my friend from Skyline High School days (Class of 1980), Valerie Ostrom, for breakfast at Lynn & Lu’s Escapade Cafe Cafe on Grand Avenue near Elwood. We probably should have went to church, considering what was about to unfold.
We had an outdoor table on a bright, sunny, hot fall morning, and so were direct witness to what was unfolding. A group of people standing in the street, and collectively peering to our left – uphill, on Grand. As I recall, no cars were driving by at that specific time. Because of the way the street curved at that point, we could not see what they were looking at. Once we went out to join them, it became apparent what was happening: a giant-sized smoke plume from the Oakland Hills, and in the general direction of Valerie’s parents home on Proctor Avenue.
So, and because Valerie was concerned about her folk’s dogs (she thought her parents were away from home), we drove up to see about them. As it turned out, it got darker and darker, as we drove, and what started out to be a check-in, turned into an evacuation. I wound up driving Valerie and her parents out of the neighborhood and to another relative’s place – away from their home.
Talk about dark and scary. At one point, I wondered if we would get out of there, because we were also in traffic with others trying to escape. We made it, and thanks to what we then called the police, and now call “first responders”.
That Oakland Hills Fire changed Oakland, dramatically, and forever. It started because someone put out a cigarette in a giant brush and during a heat wave with no cool air to reduce the temperature. It damaged most of the homes in the Upper Broadway Terrace area. But, after some time, the area was rebuilt – but it lacked the woodsy charm of my youth. What it gained was a new set of politically-active Oaklanders, who never had to deal with City Hall, before.
That said, I give credit to The City of Oakland’s satellite permit response effort – something that emerged because so many people received insurance money to rebuild their homes. What came from that marked the area’s appearance today.
Stay tuned.
Note from Zennie62Media and Oakland News Now: this video-blog post demonstrates the full and live operation of the latest updated version of an experimental Zennie62Media , Inc. mobile media video-blogging system network that was launched June 2018. This is a major part of Zennie62Media , Inc.’s new and innovative approach to the production of news media. What we call “The Third Wave of Media”. The uploaded video is from a YouTube channel. When the video is “liked” by Zennie62 YouTube, then it is automatically uploaded to and formatted automatically at the Oakland News Now site and Zennie62-created and owned social media pages. The overall objective here, on top of our is smartphone-enabled, real-time, on the scene reporting of news, interviews, observations, and happenings anywhere in the World and within seconds and not hours – is the use of the existing YouTube social graph on any subject in the World. Now, news is reported with a smartphone and also by promoting current content on YouTube: no heavy and expensive cameras or even a laptop are necessary, or having a camera crew to shoot what is already on YouTube. The secondary objective is faster, and very inexpensive media content news production and distribution. We have found there is a disconnect between post length and time to product and revenue generated. With this, the problem is far less, though by no means solved. Zennie62Media is constantly working to improve the system network coding and seeks interested content and media technology partners.
Oakland – On Tuesday, October 20, 2020, the Oakland City Council unanimously passed its first Encampment Management Policy clarifying how it will ensure health and safety for those living in and around homeless encampments. As Chair of the Council’s Life Enrichment Committee, Councilmember Loren Taylor, guided the 8-month process for developing the policy which included broad engagement of diverse community stakeholders, including housed and unhoused residents, business and nonprofit leaders, public health professionals and city employees who have worked closely with the unhoused community. “I am grateful to the more than 1200 Oakland community members who contributed their ideas and perspectives throughout this process, ensuring that we live up to our values of compassion and equity while ensuring standards of health and safety that protect all Oaklanders,” Councilmember Taylor said.
The goal of the policy, presented by the City’s Homelessness Administrator Daryel Dunston, is to reduce the negative health and safety impacts associated with homeless encampments – for both unhoused and housed residents. Even though an administrative policy has existed since 2017, it was not formally reviewed nor adopted by the Council, leading many housed and unhoused Oakland residents to complain about the lack of transparency, inconsistent application of the policy, and mixed messages coming from different departments of the City.
As acknowledged by the over 150 public speakers during last night’s council meeting, the status quo has not worked, on the contrary it has allowed an increase in public health and safety issues including excessive fire hazards, confirmed cases of infectious diseases, excessive vermin vector hazards, excessive amounts of waste/garbage/debris, and pervasive criminal activities in and around encampments. “Residents of Oakland have been asking us to lead on this seemingly intractable issue and we finally have. I am grateful to all of my Council colleagues for their contributions to this policy and unanimous support to move forward in response to overwhelming community demand for action,” said Taylor.
Key aspects of the new policy include:
1. Identification of high and low sensitivity areas based on the likelihood of health and safety impacts, and it defines how the City will address unsafe conditions or activities while respecting the rights and needs of our unsheltered neighbors
2. Clarification of public health and safety standards that will be upheld for the well-being of encampment residents and their neighbors alike
3. Clarification of how we will work as hard as we can to provide health and hygiene supports, services, outreach and offers of shelter
The Encampment Management Policy was unanimously passed by the Council and the policy will be reviewed in four months.
Councilmember Loren Taylor represents Oakland Council District 6 and serves as the Chair of the Oakland City Council’s Life Enrichment Committee, as well as a Commissioner on the Youth Ventures Joint Powers Authority and the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum Joint Powers Authority, and the Association of Bay Area Governments Executive Committee.
COUNCILMEMBER LOREN TAYLOR PRESENTS COMMUNITY DISCUSSION IN EAST OAKLAND WITH RESIDENTS AND MAYOR SCHAAF REGARDING COVID-19 CRISIS AND OTHER CONCERNS
Oakland Councilmember Loren Taylor District Six
Since the Mayor and Councilmember Loren Taylor are asking you to miss important football programs on a Sunday, make it worth your while and ask them about the many economic development programs available, and ask about what they’re doing to lobby for more financial aide.
Here’s the press release that was sent:
Who:
City of Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, Councilmember Loren Taylor, District 6, and the Black Cultural Zone
What:
Oakland Councilmember Loren Taylor will host Mayor Libby Schaaf in a socially distanced community circle conversation with East Oakland residents at the new Akoma Outdoor Market located in Oakland’s Liberation Park (6955 Foothill Blvd). The discussion will be guided by the priorities of attendees, and is expected to cover topics ranging from (a) addressing the disparate impacts of COVID-19, (b) tackling illegal dumping and neighborhood blight, (c) solving the city’s homelessness crisis, and (d) increasing economic opportunities for East Oakland residents. Media are invited to experience the Akoma Market and observe the community circle.
The Akoma Outdoor Market – This new weekly market launched at the beginning of September to fill a major gap in access to healthy foods, local business opportunities, and positive COVID-19 compliant community gathering during the COVID-19 shelter in place. The market is operated by the Black Cultural Zone, with support from the City of Oakland and Councilmember Taylor. At this formerly vacant lot, the overgrown weeds and litter have been replaced by a array of booths featuring Black businesses and community resources ranging from fresh produce from local farmers to health and beauty products, to freshly prepared foods such as cakes, teas, cajun food, and empanadas.
In addition city and nonprofit resources are featured and distributed for free including children’s arts kits and books, housing security and eviction protection resources, information to help community members beautify our neighborhoods, and vouchers for low-income residents to purchase produce from vendors at the market.
To ensure COVID compliance and to minimize the risk of spreading the virus, all residents are temperature checked prior to entering the market and they must wear masks. Also, there is a handwashing station at every booth.
Where:
6955 Foothill Blvd (73rd and Foothill Blvd) Oakland, CA 94605
Oakland District Two Councilmember Nikki Bas’ Digitized Newsletter
Last week, I was so moved to see #MomsHouse on Magnolia Street finally become community-owned as permanently affordable, transitional housing for unsheltered mothers.
Congratulations to Dominique Walker, Tolani King, Misty Cross, Sameerah Karim and Carroll Fife for leading this movement to end corporate speculation and house more Oaklanders. I am proud to have stood with them over the last year to call attention to making housing a human right, together with Council President Rebecca Kaplan, Councilmember Dan Kalb and Assemblymember Rob Bonta.
Moms 4 Housing
Sustainable, Healthy Use of Lake Merritt – Lake Merritt Vending Pilot Program Update
Coming out of the second weekend of our Lake Merritt Vending Pilot Program, we were excited to be joined by Parks and Recreation Advisory Commissioner Dwayne Aikens, Cultural Affairs Commissioner Kev Choice, the Oakland Black Vendors Association and neighbors to:
• Promote health and safety during COVID-19,
• Support struggling small businesses and entrepreneurs in this difficult time, and
• Ensure sustainable, equitable and inclusive long-term use of the Lake.
This pilot program for merchandise vendors will take place through November 22nd on El Embarcadero and along Lakeshore to Beacon from 10am to 6pm on Saturdays and Sundays.
This weekend, Community Ready Corps (CRC) will be joining the pilot to promote public health during COVID. Volunteers will distribute COVID kits that have face masks, hand sanitizer and gloves to help promote compliance with the County Health Order.
My team is grateful for the collaboration of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission (PRAC), the Oakland Black Vendors Association, James “Old School” Copes, city departments, and the community to ensure access, safety and equity at the Lake for everyone in our city.
This is what an Oakland for all of us means to me — working with a coalition of diverse stakeholders to ensure the Lake, as our city’s pride, is an enjoyable public space that each of us can use.
Moms 4 Housing
TUESDAY 10/20: Oakland City Council Meeting Preview Homeless Encampment Management Policy and Community Safety
Tuesday, October 20th’s 1:30pm City Council meeting will include the following important agenda items:
Item 6: COVID-19 Emergency Response And The Creation Of Clean Air Buildings For Use Of The Community During The COVID-19 Shelter In Place Emergency.
Thanks to our awesome District 2 constituent and outgoing Cleveland Heights Neighborhood Council Co-Chair Rachel Broadwin for introducing us to Dr. Rupa Basu, Section Chief for the Air and Climate Epidemiology Section of the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment at CalEPA. At our September Council meeting, I expressed concern that our air quality and temperature triggers were too high to fully protect the health and safety of our most vulnerable residents. At my urging, our Fire Department staff met with Dr. Basu to discuss recommendations for activating extreme weather Emergency Respite Centers (ERC) in Oakland. As an outcome of the conversation and further discussions with internal stakeholders and community feedback, the activation triggers for the City of Oakland have been lowered to an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 200 – Very Unhealthy (versus what was previously 250) and temperatures forecasted to reach/exceed 95 degrees for 2 consecutive days or 100 degrees in one day. We are grateful for Dr. Basu and Rachel’s important expertise as we navigate these challenging times!
Item 7: Gun Violence Top Law Enforcement Priority resolution from President Kaplan to prioritize the decrease in illegal guns and gun violence by increasing gun tracing, improving response time to shooting notifications, and prioritizing response to gun crime.
Item 8: Homeless Encampment Management resolution, which proposes to designate priority areas for encampment management and outlines actions including the criteria for assessing what locations will be prioritized for enforcement or other homelessness interventions from the city.
Item 14: Adopt either the resolution proposed by the Oakland Police Commission or Oakland Police Department banning the carotid restraint and all forms of asphyxia.
Item 16: I’m co-sponsoring with President Kaplan, a resolution Terminating the Oakland Police Department’s Participation In The Joint Terror Task Force to ensure compliance with our local and state laws and focus on threats based on evidence, not bias or racial profiling.
See details to join the meeting and provide public comment. You can also share e-comments here.
TUESDAY 10/27: Community & Economic Development Meeting – Impact Fees, Economic Recovery Recommendations
On Tuesday October 27th at 1:30pm, the Community and Economic Development Committee will discuss two important items:
Item 2: Informational report on Impact Fees for Affordable Housing, Jobs/Housing, and Transportation and Capital Improvements, and
Item 3: Informational report on the Economic Recovery Council’s Draft Recommendations.
Oakland Workers, Know Your Rights! COVID-19 Emergency Paid Sick Leave
Oakland Workers Rights
Thank you to East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy (EBASE) for creating Know Your Rights materials on the emergency protections for Oakland workers passed by Council earlier this summer, which I was proud to co-sponsor.
The City’s Emergency Paid Sick Leave policy requires certain employers to provide leave to workers who test positive for COVID-19, present symptoms, are caring for family members who were exposed or present symptoms, or are at high risk from an infection. Check out and share the flyers in English and Spanish so that Oakland workers are aware of their rights!
City of Oakland; District 2 News and Resources
County Reopening Updates, Small Biz Legal Support, Grants for Home-Based Business
New County Health Orders Allow Additional Business Operations: Effective October 9, Alameda County now allows: hotels & lodging for tourism with their fitness centers and indoor pools restricted; museums, zoos & aquariums indoors at < 25% capacity; personal care services indoors with modification (services requiring removal of face covering still prohibited); gyms and fitness centers indoors at < 10% capacity with restrictions on aerobic exercise and classes. While the update allows partial reopening of libraries, Oakland Public LIbrary will remain closed for indoor services until plans are in place for safely reopening the buildings.
Beginning Friday, October 16, Alameda County will permit additional outdoor activities, including playgrounds, that follow the State’s guidance. Additionally, Alameda County is preparing to update the local Health Officer Orders to permit additional activities during the week of October 26. These activities will include: indoor dining up to 25% capacity or less than 100 people, whichever is less; indoor worship services up to 25% capacity or less than 100 people, whichever is less; indoor theaters up to 25% capacity or less than 100 people, whichever is less; expansion of indoor retail and malls at up to 50% of capacity and permitting limited food courts.
County Guidance on Safe Halloween Practices: Bay Area health officials recently released guidance on how to celebrate Halloween and Dia de los Muertos safely. Gatherings, celebrations, events or parties with non-household members are not permitted unless conducted in compliance with local and state health orders. Please avoid participating in traditional trick-or-treating where treats are handed to children who go door to door and do not have trunk-or-treat where treats are handed from car trunks lined up in large parking lots.
Many traditional Halloween celebrations, such as parties and door-to-door trick-or-treating, pose a high risk of spreading COVID-19 and are strongly discouraged by CDPH
Not only do traditional celebrations pose a spread risk, they would also result in great difficulty in conducting appropriate contact tracing
Local Health Departments may have additional, more stringent restrictions
CDPH recommends that families begin planning for safer alternatives.
Legal Help for Oakland Small Businesses with Lease Negotiations: Oakland has allocated $150,000 of California CARES funding to the nonprofit Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the SF Bay Area to provide legal advice and assistance on lease negotiations to small businesses that have suffered revenue losses due to COVID-19. Business owners can access these free, multilingual legal services here, such as commercial leasing webinars through mid-December, 1:1 one-hour consultations and longer-term assistance which may include lease negotiation, pre-litigation and settlement negotiations or representation in a court proceeding.
$2-4K Grants for Home-Based Businesses: Income from a home-based business is often a big source of household income for our city’s entrepreneurs. The Oakland CARES Act Home-Based Business Grant program will distribute $500,000 to home-based, for-profit businesses. Apply here by 11:59pm on Monday, November 2 in 4 languages. Priority will be given to businesses representing a broad geographic diversity in Oakland, especially those located in low-income areas or otherwise historically vulnerable communities; those who have received $4,000 or less in funding from the Paycheck Protection Program; and those with annual gross business revenue under $150,000.
Several Grants Extended:
The Oakland CARES Act Small Business Grant Program will accept applications until 5 p.m. on Friday, October 23. This program will provide $10,000 grants to qualifying Oakland small businesses that have been negatively impacted by COVID-19 and have gross revenues under $2 million. Online applications and eligibility requirements in four languages are available at: mainstreetlaunch.org/oakland-cares-act-grant/
The application deadline for the Oakland CARES Nonprofit Grant Fund has been extended to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, October 28. This program will award grants of up to $25,000 to qualifying community-serving nonprofits with annual budgets of less than $1 million that address the impact of COVID-19 and the needs of low-income residents and businesses in the following areas: Health & Human Services; Economic & Workforce Development; Legal Support; Food Security; Homeless and Renter Support Services; and Education. Online applications and eligibility requirements are available at: communityvisionca.org/oaklandcares/
The application deadline for the Oakland CARES Fund for Artists and Arts Nonprofits impacted by COVID-19 has been extended to 1pm Friday, October 23. The program will distribute awards of up to $20,000 to arts nonprofits with annual budgets of less than $2.5M, while supporting individual artists with grants of up to $3,000 each. Learn more here.
Oakland Parks & Recreation Foundation’s 1st Citywide Parks Workshop: Whether you’re an experienced community leader or a new volunteer, join this free workshop taking place on Saturday, November 14, from 9:00am to 1:00pm to collaborate and learn about strategies and tools to improve Oakland parks. Learn more and register here.
East Bay Community Energy’s Resilient Home Program: Oakland has partnered with nonprofit public electricity provider East Bay Community Energy to launch a solar + battery backup program for homeowners. EBCE has partnered with Sunrun to provide no-cost / obligation-free consultations and will provide a proposal for your consideration. If you decide to move forward, there is a $1,250 incentive to homeowners that enroll their battery in the program and share power with EBCE during peak times when there isn’t a power outage. Since launch in August, nearly 700 homeowners countywide have registered for consultations. Sign up for your consultation and learn more at upcoming webinars.
Voting Reminders
Vote Early!
Given the pandemic and the threats to our democracy, please vote early. All registered voters will be sent an absentee ballot automatically to limit COVID exposure. You must register to vote to receive an absentee ballot!
You can vote in person or drop off your ballot at the Alameda County Registrar of Voters: 1225 Fallon Street, Room G1, Oakland, or put it into one of the official, free 24-hour drop boxes anytime by November 3rd 8pm. If you use a USPS mailbox, postage is free, and it’s critical to vote early!
You can also sign up to track your ballot.
October 19th is the last day for regular online voter registration.
October 20th – November 3rd, you can do same day voter registration.
On November 3rd, you can vote in person or drop your ballot off at your polling place by 8pm.
With many measures on the ballot, my go-to guides are Oakland Rising’s Voter Guide and the CA AAPI Voting Guide in seven AAPI languages.
With Oakland Love,
Nikki Fortunato Bas
Councilmember, City of Oakland, District 2
Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Barbara Lee of California delivered the Weekly Democratic Address. In this week’s address, the Congresswoman discussed the disturbing disparate impact of the COVID-19 health and economic crisis on communities of color and House Democrats’ demand for COVID relief that crushes the virus and helps working families. Video and audio of the Weekly Democratic Address can be downloaded here.
Below is a full transcript of the address:
“Hello, I’m Congresswoman Barbara Lee. I’m privileged to represent California’s thirteenth Congressional District, which includes Oakland and the East Bay area.
“I serve on the Appropriations Committee in the House of Representatives, Co-Chair of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee and I serve as the Chair of the Majority Leader’s Task Force on Poverty and Opportunity.
“Today, I’d like to talk to you about what House Democrats are fighting for in order to crush the COVID pandemic and provide Americans with much needed economic help.
“Over 215,000 people have lost their lives to this pandemic, and unemployment rates are reaching record highs.
“This pandemic isn’t impacting everyone equally. If you are poor, Black, Latinx, Asian American, Pacific Islander or Indigenous, you know you’re at much greater risk – both from the virus and from the disparate economic impact. Indeed, while the stock market continues to deliver value for wealthy Americans, many working families are struggling.
“A recent study shows eight million more Americans – many of them Black and brown – have been forced into poverty since May, which can be directly linked to Republican inaction. And contrary to the talking points from across the aisle, the majority of working-age adults on SNAP have employment. This pandemic has made an even bigger impact on America’s working poor.
“American families are in desperate need of leadership. The Trump Administration has utterly failed in its response to this crisis. The President and Mitch McConnell have stalled negotiations, played politics with people’s lives and refused to compromise.
“House Democrats have risen to the occasion and passed two pieces of legislation to achieve two goals: save lives and assist working people and their families, especially for our most vulnerable communities.
“This pandemic has had a terrible impact on communities of color. Black people are dying at two and half times the rate of white people in the United States. Indigenous and Latinx people are both 50 percent more likely to die from COVID than white Americans. Mortality rates within the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities are also so high. Between January and July, the AAPI death rate rose 35 percent, compared to an increase of 9 percent for white Americans.
“Alongside Members of the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, our Native American Democratic Members, and my House Democratic Colleagues, I have worked diligently to ensure that this does not go overlooked.
“We are fighting to ensure the COVID-19 testing and tracing efforts, which were included in the Heroes Act, are made specifically available for medically underserved communities and communities of color. It’s crucial that these communities receive support from organizations and non-profits that have experience and relationships with the people living in the communities they serve – people that live in their neighborhood and speak their language.
“But we know that this is an economic crisis just as much as a public health crisis. Families need direct payments, Unemployment Insurance, small business loans and much more to weather this catastrophe. As more time passes, the relief millions and millions of Americans have relied on to keep them afloat has dried up, and the White House and Senate Republicans have looked the other way.
“One way to reduce poverty is to expand the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit, which provides critical support for working families. However, Republicans and the Trump Administration would rather continue providing tax benefits for some of the wealthiest in America than give relief to those most in need.
“The latest White House coronavirus relief proposal takes one step forward but two steps back – it is not only insufficient; in many cases it would make matters worse.
“We urge Republicans to get serious about the health and economic crisis devastating millions, and join us to save lives, livelihoods and the life of our American Democracy.
“Thank you for listening, and please continue letting your representatives know how you feel. We are in this together.”
Post based on press release from The Congresswoman to Zennie62Media.
House Party 4 Mobility, East Oakland Mobility Action Plan
From YouTube Channel: September 14, 2020 at 05:28PM
ONN – EOC takes great pride in providing culturally relevant and safe community engagement about East Oakland’s most pressing topics such as incoming development. The House Party 4 Mobility was a focus group to discuss the how they navigate the streets of East Oakland and how Black culture intersects with transportation. Furthermore, the goal of the event is to hear from unusual suspects of traditional community meetings. Several of the participants had never been to transportation related community meeting, and probably never would have in its traditional sense.
Through the community engagement process of the East Oakland Mobility Action Plan we will continue to meet residents where they are at to engage them about important topics that will impact East Oakland neighborhoods.
Note from Zennie62Media and Oakland News Now: this video-blog post demonstrates the full and live operation of the latest updated version of an experimental Zennie62Media , Inc. mobile media video-blogging system network that was launched June 2018. This is a major part of Zennie62Media , Inc.’s new and innovative approach to the production of news media. What we call “The Third Wave of Media”. The uploaded video is from a YouTube channel. When the video is “liked” by Zennie62 YouTube, then it is automatically uploaded to and formatted automatically at the Oakland News Now site and Zennie62-created and owned social media pages. The overall objective here, on top of our is smartphone-enabled, real-time, on the scene reporting of news, interviews, observations, and happenings anywhere in the World and within seconds and not hours – is the use of the existing YouTube social graph on any subject in the World. Now, news is reported with a smartphone and also by promoting current content on YouTube: no heavy and expensive cameras or even a laptop are necessary, or having a camera crew to shoot what is already on YouTube. The secondary objective is faster, and very inexpensive media content news production and distribution. We have found there is a disconnect between post length and time to product and revenue generated. With this, the problem is far less, though by no means solved. Zennie62Media is constantly working to improve the system network coding and seeks interested content and media technology partners.
Note from Zennie62Media and Oakland News Now: this video-blog post demonstrates the full and live operation of the latest updated version of an experimental Zennie62Media , Inc. mobile media video-blogging system network that was launched June 2018. This is a major part of Zennie62Media , Inc.’s new and innovative approach to the production of news media. What we call “The Third Wave of Media”. The uploaded video is from a YouTube channel. When the video is “liked” by Zennie62 YouTube, then it is automatically uploaded to and formatted automatically at the Oakland News Now site and Zennie62-created and owned social media pages. The overall objective here, on top of our is smartphone-enabled, real-time, on the scene reporting of news, interviews, observations, and happenings anywhere in the World and within seconds and not hours – is the use of the existing YouTube social graph on any subject in the World. Now, news is reported with a smartphone and also by promoting current content on YouTube: no heavy and expensive cameras or even a laptop are necessary, or having a camera crew to shoot what is already on YouTube. The secondary objective is faster, and very inexpensive media content news production and distribution. We have found there is a disconnect between post length and time to product and revenue generated. With this, the problem is far less, though by no means solved. Zennie62Media is constantly working to improve the system network coding and seeks interested content and media technology partners.
Oakland News: A letter was passed to me moments ago that outlines the interest of the African American Sports & Entertainment Group in purchasing the Oakland Coliseum site for $92 million. The group consists of Ray Bobbitt, who spearheaded the African American Oakland NFL Expansion effort, which is part of this group’s focus, famed sports agent Bill Duffy, who was also part of the Ronnie Lott Group development team that tried to retain the Raiders in Oakland but lost them to Las Vegas, Oakland developer Alan Dones, former Oakland City Manager and one of my mentors Robert Bobb, and Chicago’s Loop Capital, where a family friend of mine, Darrell Williams, is good friends with former President Barack Obama, and is in the photo below with Loop Capital’s Chief Executive Officer Jim Reynolds.
I also know through a source that Oakland District Seven Councilmember Larry Reid has talked with Ray Bobbitt about this proposal as recently as last Friday. Here’s the letter, below, after the photo.
President Barack Obama and Darrell Williams (right) Of Loop Capital
AFRICAN AMERICAN SPORTS &
ENTERTAINMENT GROUP
ECONOMIC EQUITY THROUGH SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT DEVELOPMENT
1423 Broadway #183, Oakland, CA 94612
October 6, 2020
The Honorable Mayor Libby Schaaf
& Members of the Oakland City Council
City of Oakland, California
One Frank H. Ogawa Plaza
Oakland, CA 94612
Dear Mayor Schaaf and esteemed Oakland City Council Members,
The African American Sports & Entertainment Group (“AASEG”) has been working over the last several months to lay the groundwork for bringing a National Football League (“NFL”) franchise back to Oakland. One of the critical factors in our ability to attract a new NFL franchise is a viable home field location for the team. As well, we recognize the interests of city leadership in the holistic redevelopment of the Coliseum area consistent with the vision articulated by the 2015 Coliseum Area Specific Plan. We also recognize the City of Oakland’s interest in maintaining a home for its Major League Baseball (“MLB”) franchise, the Oakland Athletics. We believe that all these objectives can be achieved and to these ends, we have assembled a Master Development Team well-capable of marshalling the resources and expertise necessary to transform our mutual interests into reality. Our team, described as the “AASEG Team”, is pleased to submit this non-binding, indication of Interest, proposal to purchase the City of Oakland’s interest in the Coliseum property for a total of Ninety Two Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($92,500,000), payable per the schedule provided in Exhibit A.
The AASEG Team
In addition to the enormous community support for our mutual vision, AASEG has assembled a Master Development Team fully capable of executing the development of the Coliseum property (the “Project”).
Bill Duffy With Yao Ming
▪ BDA Sports Management – Led by respected sports agent Bill Duffy, BDA is one of the world’s top ranked sports agencies focused, specifically on basketball. Bill has agreed to apply his extensive network and decades of experience toward execution of the Project, including assembling some of the leading names in sports and entertainment in support and endorsement of the Project. Bill was one of the architects of the Ronnie Lott/Fortress Capital plan that offered a viable option to build a stadium on the Coliseum site.
▪ Strategic Urban Development Alliance – One of Oakland’s largest African American real estate development firms, SUDA has executed millions of dollars’ worth of projects in the Bay Area. SUDA Chief Executive Officer, Alan Dones, has led development projects both in the United States and Africa. He will provide development consulting to the Project.
▪ The Robert Bobb Group, LLC – With specialty capabilities in economic development, urban planning and community and neighborhood engagement, RBG is an African American owned national consulting firm to both public and private sector clients. Chief Executive Officer Robert Bobb will provide consulting services to the Project.
▪ Loop Capital – The largest African American owned, full services investment banking brokerage, financial advisory and investment management organization, Loop Capital boasts a 23-year history of developing financial solutions for America’s largest public sector institutions and private sector firms. In addition to its global capital markets, Loop Capital is an experienced advisor on Public-Private-Partnership and infrastructure transactions. As well, Loop Capital is part of a team developing a 100+ acre parcel owned by the City of Chicago and the Metropolitan Pier Authority. Finally, Loop Capital’s Chief Executive Officer Jim Reynolds is a partner in JLC Infrastructure, a private asset manager with over $800 million under management targeting investments in various publicly owned assets. Loop Capital is the capital partner for the Project.
Stakeholder Interests
The AASEG Team is well aware of the aspirations of the citizens of Oakland and other stakeholders with respect to the Project and is prepared to engage the City as a partner in the execution of a mutually-agreed upon vision embodied in a Community Benefits Agreement that includes:
• Local hiring with priority on racial equity
• The engagement and inclusion of local and small business contractors
and businesses
• Environmentally friendly landscaping and sustainable, energy efficient
design
• Anti-displacement assistance and housing preservation policies for
residents in the development area
• The inclusion of affordable housing
• Project Labor agreements and labor peace
• Local employment and job access provisions, workforce training,
retention of existing workers, and apprenticeship policies
• Living wages, benefits, and stable employment opportunities
• Environmental mitigation measures
• Open space elements
• Sustainable and healthy development
• Transportation infrastructure and transportation demand management
programs, including transit affordability and accessibility
• Potential impact fee’s (housing, transportation, capital improvements)
• Other community benefits as needed and feasible, to be negotiated
Finally, we are keenly aware of the interests of the Oakland Athletics organization in a second option for a baseball stadium should current objectives not come to fruition. The AASEG team is prepared to maintain development space in the Project toward those ends and looks forward to engaging the A’s to fully understand and address their interests.
The AASEG Team is excited to work with the City of Oakland to develop a definitive agreement for the purchase and Master Developer control of the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum complex and is prepared to engage staff and leadership to craft an agreement that reflects the provisions in this indication of Interest. We are eager to begin due diligence activities and formal discussions upon the City of Oakland’s acceptance of this non-binding offer. We believe that this historic undertaking will be a perfect example of the African American community being supported by the larger community in achieving economic equality. We are extremely grateful to be in a position to provide jobs and housing for the citizens of Oakland, and to continue to provide world-class sports and entertainment facilities for the entire East Bay region.
As America wrestles with social change, social justice, and economic justice, Oakland can lead the way in demonstrating what real impact is. As proud Oaklanders, it is a part of our DNA. It is simply who we are, and what we do best. We look forward to helping lead that change in the City of Oakland.
Sincerely,
Ray Bobbitt
African American Sports and Entertainment Group
cc: The Honorable Rebecca Kaplan, Council President
The Honorable Councilmember Dan Kalb, District 1
The Honorable Councilmember Nikki Fortunato Bas, District 2
The Honorable Councilmember Lynette Gibson McElhaney, District 3
The Honorable Councilmember Sheng Thao, District 4
The Honorable Councilmember Noel Gallo, District 5
The Honorable Councilmember Loren Taylor, District 6
The Honorable Councilmember Larry Reid, District 7
City Administrator Ed Reiskin
AASEG, LLC
BDA Sports
7
The Robert Bobb Group
SUDA, LLC
Loop Capital
Exhibit A
AASEG Team
Oakland Coliseum Property Purchase Proposal
Schedule of Proposed Payments
Schedule of Proposed Payments:
At closing: $10,000,000
At the end of year one: $10,000,000
Year 2: $12,500,000
Year 3: $15,000,000
Year 4: $17,500,000
Year 5: $15,000,000
Year 6: $12,500,000
Again, with respect to the NFL, the same lawsuit that Ray Bobbitt invested $40,000 to start and against the former Oakland Raiders now Las Vegas Raiders and the NFL is not only still active, but restarts October 8th. For the group to have a snow-ball’s chance in hell with the NFL, that lawsuit would have to be dropped.
That said, if the group can gain some kind of joint control with the Oakland A’s, then the prospect of the NFL returning to Oakland becomes that much more realistic. Why? Because they will have control of land to build a new stadium for an NFL expansion team, or an existing organization.
Stay tuned for updates. Here is the letter on file:
Since taking over for the three-times-elected Oakland City Attorney John Russo, Barbara Parker has consistently worked to protect tenants in Oakland at a time when the City’s very cultural fabric has been damaged by gentrification. One search for “Barbara Parker” and “tenants” in my email feed revealed 50 results. Time after time, news releases of actions taken to avenge tenants who’s rights were violated by landlords. This is not intended to be a tenant vs landlord post, but the fact is some of the homeless Oaklanders on the streets are there because of actions by property owners who did not give them a break, or actively worked to remove them illegally. It’s time to re-elect Oakland City Attorney Barbara Parker.
Here’s an example of what I mean:
City Attorney Wins Court Orders to Stop Owners and Operators of Oakside Independent Living from Illegally Evicting Tenants, and to Appoint a Receiver to Protect Resident Safety.
In August, I filed an emergency tenant protection lawsuit and request for a restraining order against the owners and operators of an Independent Living Facility (ILF), Oakside Independent Living, for exploiting and threatening their elderly and disabled tenants during the COVID-19 pandemic. ILFs are virtually unregulated lodging for adults who need help with daily responsibilities like meal preparation and housekeeping. This month, the Alameda County Superior Court granted our motion for emergency relief, ensuring that Oakside’s owners and operators can no longer illegally evict or otherwise harm their tenants. In addition, the Court granted our request to appoint a receiver, an extraordinary remedy to ensure the property is managed in a fashion that protects its residents.
In the past, Oakside Independent Living has subjected the elderly and disabled tenants to unsafe and unhealthy conditions at the facility, including severe infestations of bed bugs, cockroaches, and rats. The owner and operators also rented out $900-a-month converted storage spaces too small to stand up straight in as “units,” as if they are fit for human habitation. If tenants complain of poor treatment or conditions, some have been threatened with transfer to Christopher’s Care Home, another ILF managed by one of the defendants. And this summer, tenants have been evicted in violation of the local moratorium. One tenant illegally evicted from his unit described his time at Oakside Independent Living as “the worst experience of my entire life.” We are grateful the Court has taken these issues seriously and acted to protect Oakside’s tenants.
This case was filed by the Neighborhood Law Corps and Community Lawyering and Civil Rights Unit as part of my Housing Justice Initiative. Read more here.
And another one:
City Attorney Secures Court Order Prohibiting Retaliation in Emergency Tenant Protection Suit During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Oakland, CA – On Friday, July 10, an Alameda County judge issued a court order under the Tenant Protection Ordinance and the Tom Bane Civil Rights Act enjoining defendants Afamefuna and Anwulika Odiwe from retaliating against their former tenants. The court found that the City was likely to prevail on its Tenant Protection Ordinance and Tom Bane Civil Rights Act claims that the defendants, who are investors with a history of flipping houses for profit, engaged in an unlawful self-help eviction during the COVID-19 pandemic in violation of state and local laws. Among other things, under the guise of a fraudulent City notice, the landlords removed all of their tenants’ belongings from their home and changed the locks.
Defendant Anwulika Odiwe threatened to proceed with unpermitted construction work in response to the tenants asserting their rights, declaring that if tenants wanted to live “with no windows and no doors and no toilets … that’s on them.” After the City filed a lawsuit against the Odiwes, the moving company, and the master tenant, the City sought an injunction preventing the defendants from engaging in further harassment of the tenants. Defendants Pete’s Moving Company, LLC, and Rigomero Manzanarez, the master tenant, agreed to stipulate to such an injunction. Because the Odiwe defendants did not stipulate to the injunction, the City sought a court order against them. “Tenant harassment is on the rise as some landlords turn to unlawful actions to drive tenants out while the courts are closed to evictions,” City Attorney Barbara J. Parker stated. “There is no place in Oakland for these illegal and harmful self-help measures. We stand with tenants to prevent such appalling misconduct and secure their basic right to safely shelter in place during this pandemic.”
In late April, a counterfeit City of Oakland “red-tag” notice was posted on the front door of the property, telling the tenants that the house was unsafe for occupancy and that they needed to leave within ten days. The City never authorized a red-tag for the property. Yet in May, movers entered the property and removed the tenants’ belongings, including their beds, furniture, and clothing, without notice or the tenants’ permission—and despite their protests.
For over a week, the tenants remained without their possessions, forced to sleep on the floor and without locks on their doors. Defendants only returned the tenants’ beds, clothing, and other personal items after the City issued a demand letter and filed this case. The City’s lawsuit also seeks civil penalties, punitive damages, and fees, to be determined by the court.
This case was filed by the Neighborhood Law Corps and Community Lawyering and Civil Rights Unit as part of City Attorney Parker’s Housing Justice Initiative. The City Attorney launched the Housing Justice Initiative to significantly expand her office’s work protecting vulnerable tenants in Oakland’s diverse neighborhoods and holding abusive landlords accountable.
I think you get the idea. Re-elect Oakland City Attorney Barbara Parker. ‘
Also, given that Zennie62Media has not yet interviewed either Barbara Parker or her challenger Eli Ferran, this should not be interpreted as a stoppage of video interviews. The interviews are done so you can gain some feel for what each person is like and decide for yourself.
Sustainable, Healthy Use of Lake Merritt: Pilot Program Beginning this Weekend
The issues at Oakland’s Lake Merritt are complex, with groups having different needs and perspectives, all of which are important and that we are working to honor — families and elders facing challenging issues living at the Lake, entrepreneurs / vendors of color seeking economic stability during uncertain times, park users, and wildlife conservationists. In a recent update, I shared the Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission / PRAC’s recommendations for sustainable use of Lake Merritt, which sought to balance the two perspectives below:
What is going on around the Lake is not sustainable and must change ASAP.
People need healthy outdoor places to gather and engage in commercial activity, especially during these unprecedented times.
On September 16th, PRAC voted to recommend a pilot program to deter illegal parking and vending; promote compliance with park rules and County rules during COVID; and address challenges such as late night noise.
The City, in coordination with the Oakland Black Vendor Association, is developing this pilot for merchandise vendors to take place along El Embarcadero and in the Lakeview Library parking lot on weekends beginning this Saturday, October 3rd, 10am – 6pm. Note: If air quality reaches the 150+ Unhealthy level, the program will be postponed until next weekend.
The City of Oakland is working to resolve concerns related to late night noise, large gatherings prohibited under COVID, etc. in coordination with the launch of the pilot. Our goal is to reset the tone at the Lake and address the core issues that we’ve heard from neighbors, while also maintaining an inclusive, equitable and safe public space during COVID and beyond.
Oakland Police Department will work with our municipal code officers this weekend to warn vendors of increased enforcement action as the pilot begins, and my office will continue to engage and encourage vendors to participate in this new pilot.
We welcome your feedback. We are grateful to the Oakland City Administrator’s Office, City Departments, James “Old School” Copes, Oakland Black Vendors Association, and PRAC Commissioners for helping make this pilot happen quickly and supporting multiple, complex interests.
In addition, the Downtown Streets Team, has relaunched its Oakland Team to support unhoused individuals providing them with work beautifying Lake Merritt, including litter pick up around the Lake. In return for their volunteer services, Team Members receive a basic-needs stipend, case management, employment services, and a support network. Team Members are giving back to Oakland while working to overcome barriers to housing and employment. You may see the team beautifying the lake as they relaunch their program this month.
Note: post based on newsletter dated October 3rd, 2020.
The Oakland City Auditor just sent a blazing press release. Here’s what she and her office wrote about the Oakland Fire Department:
Oakland – Today, Oakland City Auditor, Courtney Ruby, released a performance audit of the Fire Prevention Bureau (Bureau), a division of the Oakland Fire Department (OFD). This report examines whether the Bureau implemented the 2017 recommendations from the Mayor’s Task Force established after the tragic Ghost Ship Fire in 2016 and whether the Bureau has established adequate controls to ensure all state mandated inspections are completed and fire safety laws are adequately enforced.
The mission of Oakland’s Fire Prevention Bureau is to reduce the risk of fire throughout the City. The Bureau conducts fire safety inspections of the City’s buildings, structures, and vacant lots and performs “state-mandated inspections,” which include buildings used for public assemblies, educational purposes, institutional facilities, multi-family residential dwellings, and high-rise structures. The Bureau also oversees the City’s commercial inspection program of smaller apartment buildings and retail businesses, inspects cannabis operations, and reviews building and tenant improvement plans to ensure new construction includes all required fire safety components. Furthermore, they are responsible for fire safety in the high danger zone of the Oakland hills.
The audit found that more than three years after the City launched a major reform effort to improve fire and life safety throughout the City of Oakland, the City has made only limited progress in fully implementing the reforms set forth by the Mayor’s Task Force. The Fire Department implemented processes to identify and address high risk properties and improve communication between the Bureau and the engine companies to report potentially unsafe properties for further investigation.
The Fire Department, however, has yet to fully implement critical organizational improvements such as filling staff vacancies, creating permanent supervisor positions, implementing more robust quality control processes, establishing performance measures for inspectors, and developing operating procedures for inspections.
The audit found the Bureau inspected only 26 percent of all state-mandated facilities between September 2018 and September 2019, even though the Bureau’s staffing for fire inspectors has increased significantly. Furthermore, the audit revealed the Bureau had not inspected 51 percent of the state-mandated facilities in the last three years we reviewed. The audit also noted the Bureau lacks sufficient staffing to inspect the growing number of cannabis operations in the City. The nature of cannabis operations poses significant fire risks to the operators, neighboring properties, firefighters, and the community.
Additionally, the Bureau’s enforcement efforts are often ineffective. The Bureau’s practice has been to try and coax property owners to correct fire safety violations by re-inspecting properties. Between September 2018 and September 2019, the Bureau conducted over 800 re-inspections of state-mandated properties to ensure property owners corrected various fire safety violations. Although 236 properties implemented the appropriate corrective action, inspectors re-inspected these properties up to seven times to obtain corrective action. On the other hand, the Bureau was unable to obtain corrective action on another 493 properties, even though inspectors re-inspected these properties up to seven times.
The audit also found the Oakland Unified School District has not been responsive in correcting fire safety violations such as missing fire extinguishers and non-functioning fire alarm systems. Also, the Bureau has not operationalized its appeal process to provide property owners an opportunity to dispute the Bureau’s findings of violations in the City’s wildlife interface areas. Not operationalizing the appeals process delayed the assessment of approximately $300,000 in inspection fees in 2018 and 2019 has yet to be assessed as a result.
In response to the audit results, Auditor Ruby noted, “Two of the deadliest fires in US history have been in Oakland: The 1991 Oakland Hills Fire and the 2016 Ghost Ship Fire. Collectively these fires killed 61 of our residents. Completing this audit has been of the utmost importance to me to ensure the City is doing all it can to protect our residents—unfortunately, the audit found OFD has been slow to learn from the past and critical work remains to be done—a sense of urgency and accountability must be ignited in OFD—there is no excuse for the lack of progress.”
During this time, the Bureau’s personnel have been stretched thin from meeting its annual state- mandated inspections by other work, such as inspections required by the City’s building boom, addressing safety issues at the many homeless encampments throughout the City, and the hiring and training of new inspection staff. Additionally, the Bureau’s practice to repeatedly re-inspect properties to bring them into compliance has also diverted significant time away from conducting mandated inspections.
While the lack of progress can be partly attributed to high turnover in the Fire Department’s leadership (since 2017, the City has had three Fire Chiefs and three Fire Marshals), Auditor Ruby, stated, “In 2013, I released an audit reviewing the Department’s vegetation management inspection practices and some of these very same problems were identified, such as the need for consistent training, stronger supervision, quality control measures and clear policies and procedures to ensure the accuracy and completeness of inspections. Almost 10 years later, the current audit shows these same issues persist with building inspections.”
On a positive note, the Department has agreed to implement 29 of the 30 recommendations in the audit report. Moreover, the Department and the Bureau have begun employing a more strategic focus on implementing management and accountability systems called for by the Mayor’s Task Force and the Bureau is in the process of converting to a more advanced database, which will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Bureau’s inspection efforts.
On Tuesday, OUSD Unveils New High School Building at Madison Park Academy, School in East Oakland Neighborhood with Troubled Past
Oakland – East Oakland’s Sobrante Park neighborhood, a shining new feature will have a huge impact on the lives of countless young people. The Madison Park Academy (MPA) campus has a new building for its high school students. The building has 14 classrooms, two labs, six offices and other staff space.
Ten years ago, the idea of a new school building here may have seemed next to impossible. MPA is located in an area that, historically, many people avoided. “It used to be one of the largest dope traps in Oakland, because there’s one way in and one way out. So, they could protect their turf,” said OUSD Board of Education Director, James Harris in 2019. “As kids, we went to school on MacArthur, they’d say man, don’t go anywhere near Sobrante Park because it was so dangerous that you didn’t know what could happen. A lot of kids would come in and get robbed.”
A quick look at a classroom inside the new high school building at Madison Park Academy.
But now, the area has gone through a renaissance, and the resurgence of the school has been a major catalyst for change. None of it would have happened, were it not for the dedication of MPA’s Executive Principal, Lucinda Taylor, who pushed this project for more than eight years, and ensured her students had a say in the finished product. “We’ve talked to students, they’ve had a real say in how the garden areas are going to be constructed. They’ve seen the design, they’ve been instrumental in choosing textures and tiles in classrooms. It’s just been a community project,” she said last year.
The new high school building at Madison Park Academy.
“This means a lot for our engineering program,” said engineering teacher, Tawana Guillaume last year about her students who do robotics projects. “We need a lot of space, we have a lot of equipment, we’re kind of crammed in our classroom in our portable. So, the opportunity for our students to really spread out to work on large-scale projects, to have this space to be creative, it will be amazing.”
Beyond the new high school building, the project includes a renovated main parking lot, and a renovated kitchen, along with a new remote snack bar. It balances a welcoming atmosphere and accessibility with security and safety with its appropriate use of lighting, ADA-compliant walkways and spaces, and network of ornamental gates. It’s designed to provide a healthy, clean and durable environment that promotes effective teaching and learning. The building systems are designed to provide exceptional indoor air quality with a high degree of user control through the use of high-efficiency filtration. As noted above, it also includes an area set aside as a school garden for students to develop and maintain.
The new high school building at Madison Park Academy.
The $36 million project was funded through Measure B, Measure J and Fund 25. “We thank the voters of Oakland for seeing our students’ needs and supporting them with this beautiful new building,” said Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell in 2019. “We know that Madison Park is already producing many business and community leaders of tomorrow. Very soon, the people of Oakland will see their investment in these students paying remarkable dividends.”
Although some staff has already been on-site, the new building will welcome all staff and students once the community has been allowed to move beyond the restrictions in place because of the COVID pandemic.
Media is welcome at this event. Adherence to social distancing and mask-wearing guidelines is mandatory.
WHAT: Madison Park Academy New High School Building Ribbon-Cutting & News Conference
WHEN: Noon, Tuesday, September 29
WHERE: Madison Park Academy, 400 Capistrano Drive
About the Oakland Unified School District
In California’s most diverse city, Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) is dedicated to creating a learning environment where “Every Student Thrives!” More than half of our students speak a non-English language at home. And each of our 81 schools is staffed with talented individuals uniting around a common set of values: Students First, Equity, Excellence, Integrity, Cultural Responsiveness and Joy. We are committed to preparing all students for college, career and community success.
To learn more about OUSD’s Full Service Community District focused on academic achievement while serving the whole child in safe schools, please visit OUSD.org and follow us @OUSDnews.
This post based on a press release from OUSD to Zennie62Media, Inc.
Oakland – The annual celebration for excellence in television entertainment, the 72nd Emmy Awards show on ABC on Sunday night, September 20, was a huge night for Oakland Unified School District, and people with roots here. The District can add three Emmys to the collection of awards amassed throughout the years by alumni, staff, former students, and other connected artists.
First off, Zendaya, who is from Oakland and whose mother taught at Fruitvale Elementary, won for Lead Actress in a Drama for her work in HBO’s Euphoria. Another winner was 2004 McClymonds High School graduate, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, who took the Emmy for Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for his work in Watchmen on HBO. And lastly, current students from across the District can celebrate the win by We Are The Dream: The Kids of the Oakland MLK Oratorical Fest, an HBO documentary, which took home the Emmy for Outstanding Children’s Program.
Emmy Awards 2020
Zendaya’s mother, Claire Stoermer, taught at Fruitvale for 20 years, and Zendaya used to visit the school and even helped tutor the students. In more recent years, she has visited Fruitvale and other schools to support today’s students. In winning the Emmy for Lead Actress in a Drama, she beat out industry heavyweights including Jennifer Aniston, Sandra Oh, and Laura Linney. She also became the youngest woman to win the category at just 24 years old. Her acceptance speech brought tears to the eyes of many who watched it.
Zendaya
Supporting Actor winner, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, grew up in West Oakland, and attended school in Emeryville before going to McClymonds for his high school career. For years, he has remained close with McClymonds social worker, Relonda McGhee. “Yahya was destined for greatness, so it is awesome that he has won his first Emmy Award,” she said. “Yahya surprised me with a visit at school in February, 2018. As I do all Mack Family when they come see me, I had him speak to my class. He did so and sponsored a young lady for her Prom. He asked who had the highest GPA and the lowest. This student was bold enough to admit her grades had dropped, and he promised to pay for her Prom if she worked hard to bring her grades back up. She did and he sent me the money for her. That’s just him. I couldn’t be more excited that Yahya is now receiving this recognition. He’s a great actor, and an even better person.”
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II
Lastly, the win by the documentary, We Are The Dream: The Kids of the Oakland MLK Oratorical Fest, is a win for all Oakland students who have and will take part in the District’s annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Oratorical Fest. And in particular, it’s a win for Executive Producer, Mahershala Ali, who was born in Oakland, and for Skyline High School Drama Teacher, Awele Makeba (right), the producer of the Oratorical Fest. “HBO’s documentary was a precious gift to OUSD, the City of Oakland, and especially our children and families,” she said. “It’s definitely a community affair. The Emmy elevates the documentary to a whole other level, not only lifting up our talented youth, amplifying their potent voices nationally, but centering 4-11 year olds, predominantly children of color, in a proud legacy of being on the right side of racial and social justice, honoring the life and dream of Reverend, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.”
Skyline High School Drama Teacher, Awele Makeba
You can learn more about the documentary and watch it for free here:
“Nothing about these Emmy wins comes as a surprise to me,” said Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell. “I have helped judge the MLK Oratorical Fest, and see regularly how amazing the students are, and how remarkable the event is for them. The documentary did a beautiful job of sharing all that goes into the speeches, and what taking part means for our young people. As for Zendaya and Yahya, knowing their roots are here in Oakland, I have followed their careers, and see, like everyone else, their extraordinary talents. Their Emmy wins just confirm what we already knew. I want to personally congratulate Zendaya, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Mahershala Ali, Ms. Awele at Skyline, and all the students, staff and families who make the MLK Oratorical Fest the amazing event that it is. All of you do a wonderful job of showing the heart and brilliance of Oakland.”
About the Oakland Unified School District
In California’s most diverse city, Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) is dedicated to creating a learning environment where “Every Student Thrives!” More than half of our students speak a non-English language at home. And each of our 81 schools is staffed with talented individuals uniting around a common set of values: Students First, Equity, Excellence, Integrity, Cultural Responsiveness and Joy. We are committed to preparing all students for college, career and community success.
To learn more about OUSD’s Full Service Community District focused on academic achievement while serving the whole child in safe schools, please visit OUSD.org and follow us @OUSDnews.
This post based on a press release from OUSD to Zennie62Media.
