(08-25) 18:10 PDT OAKLAND -- The latest spate of takeover holdups of Oakland restaurants and other businesses, including a pair of violent robberies over the weekend, is "clearly unacceptable," Mayor Ron Dellums said Monday as he and police pleaded for tips that would lead investigators to those responsible.
Dozen of restaurants throughout the city have been robbed in recent months, but few if any people had been hurt. That changed over the weekend when two employees were pistol-whipped, one at a seafood restaurant on MacArthur Boulevard and the other at a nail salon on Telegraph Avenue.
Authorities arrested and charged two suspected members of the West Oakland Acorn gang in connection with several robberies during an earlier spree in March and April. But investigators have been confounded by the recent holdups and admit they aren't close to solving any of them. They're hoping a $50,000 reward will lead to tips, which so far have been nonexistent.
"The community has to step up," Dellums said at a news conference Monday. "The community needs to be the eyes and ears. The community needs to observe. The community needs to look at suspicious activity. The community needs to write down license plates. They need to be an integral part of this effort. We need them very, very desperately. We cannot do this alone."
Dellums said he wanted to assure citizens that "their safety is paramount, that it's vital. It's important. It's job one. The residents of Oakland deserve better than to be victimized by acts of violence and robbery that tear at the very fabric of our community."
In a civilized society, "people should be able to move throughout the day, going about their lives with a sense of peace and security," Dellums said. "So we cannot and will not allow fear to overtake our community."
The mayor said the Guardian Angels, who have taken up posts in recent weeks in neighborhoods near Lake Merritt, have "acted as an important deterrent to robberies." No additional robberies have taken place in areas where the beret-wearing Angels have started patrols, the mayor said.
But many of the city's neighborhoods that appeared to have been immune have been targeted, including in the Oakland hills, the Rockridge and Dimond districts and in North Oakland.
Deputy Chief Dave Kozicki said police from Oakland and other local and state agencies have been deployed on foot, in vehicles and in undercover capacities to areas where the holdups have occurred. "We're putting cops on the dots," Kozicki said.
Police Chief Wayne Tucker said the number of robberies in Oakland is actually down this year compared with 2007. But the number of takeover robberies has increased.SOURCE:SFGATE.COM
Charles De Lauer, who sold
newspapers, cigars, racing forms and other essentials for 74 years at
his landmark Oakland newsstand, died Thursday, just a month after a
last-minute sale to an employee saved the store from extinction. Mr. De Lauer, who until February worked at De Lauer's Super
Newsstand seven days a week, died of complications of leukemia and
lymphoma at Summit Medical Center in Oakland. He was 91. "He loved that store. It's what kept him going," said his
granddaughter, Sharon De Lauer Treter of San Ramon. "He felt a
responsibility to the city of Oakland to keep it running, to provide
newspapers and magazines that no one else had. He took great pride in
that." Because of poor sales and his declining health, Mr. De Lauer sold
the 101-year-old store in July to his manager, Fasil Lemma, and Lemma's
business partner. The new owners have said they intend to carry on De
Lauer's traditions of offering a wide array of out-of-town newspapers
and obscure specialty magazines and staying open 24 hours. "I will never forget Charlie," said Lemma, who started at De Lauer's
three years ago, after emigrating from Ethiopia. "He was like a father
to me. I learned so much from him and his family. He talked to me about
the business, but also about life." Mr. De Lauer was born and raised in West Oakland, taking over his
family's newsstand when his father died in 1934. Mr. De Lauer sold
newspapers, magazines and sundries from a wagon near downtown,
eventually expanding the business to include about 40 wagons and
newsstands around the Bay Area. The only time he left the business was during World War II, when he served in Europe with an Army artillery unit. In the early 1960s, Mr. De Lauer consolidated the business to its
present location at 13th Street and Broadway, with its illuminated
marquis and postmodern globe logo. Celebrities, tourists seeking their
hometown papers, office workers, professional athletes, night owls and
the homeless could all be found perusing the racks. "He never kicked anyone out for loitering or lingering," Treter
said. "He'd invite you to come in, hang out, read the paper, talk about
sports, stay as long as you wanted as long as you didn't steal
anything."
In homage to African-Americans Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who proudly gestured skyward during the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, leveling the playing field for civil rights. Smith set a world record by winning the 200-meter race and Carlos placed third. When accepting their awards, they wore symbolic clothing and hoisted black-gloved fists during the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” What is less known is that silver medalist Peter Norman, a white Australian, donned a badge on his uniform while on the podium in support of their cause. Caught in a whirlwind of public outrage, Smith and Carlos were immediately banished from the U.S. Olympic team, and even received death threats. In July 2008, John Carlos and Tommie Smith accepted the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage for their deeds at the 1968 Olympics at the 2008 ESPY Awards. Now legendary, this image is a powerful icon of African-American athletes’ struggle for equality.
According to the Oakland Tribune, a lawyer for the remaining residents of the California Hotel is preparing a lawsuit against Oakland, charging that the city sabotaged the low-income housing facility's viability in violation of an agreement with the state of California. Tenants' lawyer John Murcko claims that the city instructed the nonprofit Oakland Community Housing Inc. to stop leasing units once tenants move out, gradually emptying out the building. He adds that city officials told the nonprofit to effectively abandon the property by this summer, despite a legal agreement with the state to keep the housing project functioning until 2020. City officials have previously eyed the building as a possible homeless shelter and social services center. — Chris Thompson
SOURCE: SFGATE.COM (08-04) 19:09 PDT -- If voters approve a November ballot measure banning same-sex marriages in California, thousands of gay and lesbian weddings conducted since the state Supreme Court legalized the unions on May 15 will probably remain valid, Attorney General Jerry Brown said Monday.
The potential effect of Proposition 8 on existing same-sex marriages is already being debated among legal scholars and opposing sides in the Nov. 4 ballot measure campaign. Brown's position is significant because his office will represent the state in lawsuits over Prop. 8's validity and meaning if it passes.
The measure would amend the state Constitution to declare that "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." It would overturn the court's ruling that the previous ban on same-sex marriage - established by statutes rather than a constitutional amendment - discriminated on the basis of sexual orientation and violated the right to marry one's chosen partner.
The measure does not state explicitly that it would nullify same-sex marriages performed before Nov. 4. But in their ballot arguments, supporters of Prop. 8 declare it would invalidate all such marriages "regardless of when or where performed" - an interpretation that would apply to existing as well as future marriages.
Courts that interpret ballot measures sometimes refer to such statements as evidence of what the voters knew and intended.
Brown's office said in a court filing Monday that he believes the ballot measure would not invalidate existing marriages.
"I believe that marriages that have been entered into subsequent to the (May 15) Supreme Court opinion will be recognized by the California Supreme Court," Brown told The Chronicle. Noting that Prop. 8 is silent about retroactivity, he said, "I would think the court, in looking at the underlying equities, would most probably conclude that upholding the marriages performed in that interval (before the election) would be a just result."
Brown's legal filing was among a flurry of competing arguments submitted Monday to a Sacramento County Superior Court judge, who is scheduled to hold a hearing Thursday on challenges to the ballot materials that will be sent to California's 16 million registered voters.
