Oakland News: Claremont Middle School Arson; Dominic Newton AKA “The Jacka” Rapper Killed

Claremont Middle School Arson Reported By Oakland Police

This UPDATE from the Oakland Unified School District:

Hello Claremont Community,

This is a message from OUSD Director of Communications Troy Flint calling to inform you about an incident that affected the Claremont campus earlier today.

Just before 2 a.m. this morning there was a fire in the cafeteria and kitchen building at Claremont. Fortunately, prompt response from the Oakland Fire department was able to contain the fire to just that building, and it did not spread to other parts of campus. The damage to that particular building is extensive, however, and the cafeteria and kitchen building will not be usable for quite some time.

It is our hope at this moment that we will have school tomorrow, on Tuesday. However, we cannot make that final assessment until we finish our review of the electrical systems, and also of the other utilities to make sure that we’ll be able to have running water and other working utilities for students if we do have school tomorrow.

We will have a contact later in the day to let you know further what the plan will be for tomorrow and whether school is in session, but please plan to have your child at school and to report to school as a staff member unless you hear otherwise.

Again, we will be contacting you later this afternoon with a definitive judgement on whether school will be open tomorrow.

We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience as you await final word.

This came to my email box this morning:

Community: Suspected Early AM Arson at Claremont Middle School
Dear Nixle User,
On 16 February 2015, at approximately 0144 hours, OPD officers responded to a fire alarm with OFD at 5750 College Ave, Claremont Middle School. Upon arrival they discovered a building engulfed in flames. OFD extinguished the blaze. The building sustained major damage. Based on observations of the scene, OFD had an arson investigator respond. At this time the cause of the fire is unknown.

There were no injuries reported as a result of the fire.

There is no suspect information at this time. An investigation is underway. We have no information regarding classes or campus or school operations at this time.

So, I checked Twitter, and learned the fire started in the school cafeteria and after what appeared to be a break in. There was $1 million in damage done to the school. The fire is now investigated as arson.
The Claremont Middle School website (http://www.claremontms.org/) has no information related to the fire, but there is a pledge drive to have the Golden State Warriors come and give a basketball clinic. I hope the Warriors see this, and help raise money to rebuild the school.

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Another rich investor divests from the plaintiffs suing San Ramon-based Chevron in what is now accepted as a fraudulent lawsuit.  Read more here at Zennie62.com.

Dominic Newton AKA “The Jacka” Rapper Killed In Oakland

I have to say that when a rapper is killed in Oakland, we don’t hear a peep of condolences from our elected officials. Such has been the case in the murder of Dominic Newton, the popular Oakland rapper called “The Jacka” and who’s death sent shockwaves through the Worldwide Hip Hop community. The Jacka was a member of a group called The Mob Figaz, and was known for his collaboration with other rappers C-Bo, Messy Marv, San Quinn and Berner, and others. The Jacka started in the 1990s and grew a following that resulted in performances as far away as Africa.

Here’s a rare, recently posted video of one of The Jacka’s performances, and this at C-4’s birthday party:

Look, I’m no Davey D Cook, the Oakland blogger who’s established a beachhead in covering the doings of local and national Hip Hop artists, but that doesn’t mean I can add my voice to those mourning the tragic death of one of Oakland’s treasures. We, our city, spends precious little time officially celebrating the people who’s music has come to define us: our rappers. If music is the sound of life, and rap is the beat of the city, then Oakland has no shrine for anyone who makes a tune reflecting it, in any way. But this is most notably true for its rappers.

There was no official press conference by any Oakland elected official to morn Dominic Newton’s passing. There should be. If Black Lives Matter, and they / we do, then it’s during times like this that we have to show it, and then make sure this doesn’t happen again.

Oakland Rappers like Dominic Newton should have bodyguards in the form of Oakland police, and in honor of the deep tradition of street-level Oakland music he has continued – or did until Mr. Newton was shot in the head on February 2nd. He was gunned down at 8:45 PM at MacArthur Boulevard by 94th Street in East Oakland and by someone who’s still at large.

Famed local YouTube video-blogger East Oakland 106 posted this video of a make-shift memorial to Mr. Newton:

Supporting Oakland rappers doesn’t mean backing criminal activity, and I asseert that had we, as a city, has a healthy culture of monetary support for such music, there would be far less crime associated with it. Sure, The Jacka had his run-ins with the law, but I’d bet that would have been far less the case if he had a set of investors behind him and a place to create and perform in Oakland. The person who elects to pursue such a life of entertainment is, in effect, starting their own business and brand. Good economic development recognizes that and makes systems to help them; we don’t have that in Oakland.

And it’s not like we don’t have people who can help craft such a strategy: just approach legendary Oakland concert promoter Lionel Bea and Kyle Newport of Bay Area Productions. They can do it. But whatever the end result, Oakland has to take steps. If the same elected officials who have held meetings on closing the racial divide between blacks and police in Oakland are serious when they say Black Lives Matter, this is the time to show it.

Reminder: Super Bowl 50 Business Mixer This Thursday

Ok, the Women and Minority Super Bowl 50 Business Mixer is this Thursday at 1 PM at Scottish Rite Temple at 1547 Lakeside Drive in Oakland. For more info: http://SuperBowlOakland.com

City Of Oakland Website is Up Now, But..

Yesterday I reported the City Of Oakland Website as being down..

It came up later, and someone said it was under construction. Well, how about a press release on the work? The whole deal just plain looked bad for a multi-billion dollar city. We can do better and we have the people to do it, they just didn’t handle this episode well. I thought the site had been attacked, but thankfully, I was wrong.

Oakland Raiders Aren’t Withholding Coliseum JPA Rent: A False Story Borne Of Hubris

There’s a general thought that when a new leader’s about to take the reins of an organization, the current staff leave a big problem for that person to solve. It’s obvious Deena McClain of the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Joint Powers Authority didn’t get that memo.

Last week, a rather stupid report was issued by a local news organization that, at one point, actually was proud to hold the name “Oakland”, but like the Golden State Warriors, have went to weird lengths to all-but-totally disassociate itself from our town. The news was that the Oakland Raiders were “withholding” rent from the JPA, and the sole source of the story was none other than the currrent Interim Executive Director Deena McClain. You would normally say that’s within her right, but the problem is, her replacement, Scott McKibben, had just signed his contract with the Coliseum JPA and is just days away from starting work.

Under normal circumstances McClain should have left whatever behind the scenes and workable issues between the Raiders and the JPA out of the public eye. The Raiders never issued a statement that they intended to withhold rent and the “idea” was borne of a disagreement with respect to how the current lease is worded.

But McClain could not resist making a private behind the scenes non-story into a public story, issuing a statement, and in effect making it look like not even Scott McKibben could solve a problem with the Raiders. But that’s Deena for you. Doing it all her way, and to heck with you, since 1997.

I remember in 1997, when there was a dispute between the Raiders and the JPA on the wording of the master lease agreement. I was then Economic Adviser to Oakland Mayor Elihu Harris, and the Raiders and sports in Oakland was part of my “beat.” And any rate, then-Raiders CEO Amy Trask wrote one of those letters that maybe she should not have penned, but did, and it expressed dismay with some wording in the master lease agreement, and did say that she would push for a new one – a newly worded lease was how I interpreted what she wrote.

Deena McClain, who was then the lawyer for the same JPA, didn’t see it that way, said the Raiders were leaving Oakland (even though they just moved back in town from LA two years before) and got together with then-Oakland City Attorney Jayne Williams to issue a first-strike lawsuit against the Oakland Raiders. Moreover, she and Williams did this while Oakland Mayor Elihu Harris was away in China. They didn’t wait for Elihu to come back – they just did it.

And remember, the Raiders never said they were leaving Oakland.

When Elihu returned from his trip, he called Williams into his office and yelled at her so loud you could hear him through the oak door and down the hall – clearly. And I know because I had my popcorn all ready for the show. I was livid with their actions because Deena and Jayne could have allowed Elihu to at least try and fix the communications problem with the Raiders behind the scenes. But no – that’s not Deena’s style. Hers is an approach I would call ‘cowboy’ and doesn’t seems to adhere to the idea of trying to smooth over a problem before it becomes large. Oh, no. Deena likes to, as we used to say, ‘start stuff” (expeletive deleted here).

When I saw the report, I knew what was up and hit the ceiling. I called or texted everyone I knew who might have some say in the matter and were sure to over-react to the story. In effect, I was trying to put out a fire on my own. Regardless of what anyone thinks about my actions, the bottom line is that from a perspective of experience in dealing with Deena and the JPA and sports in Oakland from a policy and political standpoint, I out-rank all current elected officials save for Councilmember Larry Reid. So that, combined with my position as media entrepreneur in Oakland, gives me a unique standing to be able to call out this problem. The good news is Scott’s about to take helm, Deena will have no choice but to give way to him, the Raiders know this, and the appropriate parties are to be meeting today.

The Oakland Raiders Diverse Coaching Staff

I yelled and kicked and screamed via vlogs and got a lot of Raiders fans mad at me, but for the first time since Jon Gruden brought in Willie Shaw to be his defensive coordinator, the Oakland Raiders have a black DC, and a coaching staff that’s significantly minority.

At first, it looked like the Oakland Raiders bsses were on their way toward making a coaching staff that would be all white: something that makes the NFL look like the 21st Century version of a plantation, with whites managing as coaches and blacks being, well, you know, as players. If Black Lives Matter, then that crap’s got to stop and because there are far too many qualified blacks in the NFL as assistant coaches, or who would make great coaches.

The problem is that, unlike playing football, there’s no real ’40-time’ test to determine how good a coach is; who gets picked is based on opinion, emotion, and whim, and that opens the door to racism. How many times have you seen a coach be hired and then the team GM or owner talks about how this person’s the best pick of the litter – what it should be is just like any other human resource campaign, where you have a set of criteria that’s designed to be color blind and reflects the act of seeking someone who knows state-of-the-art football.

If you think about that, many NFL owners don’t even know what that is, and yet they’re the ones who hire the head coaches, who, in turn, bring in ‘their own guys.’ Get it? So we get weak staff after … Well, you know. It’s an old song I’m tired of, and if you’re at all smart, you should be to.

But now the Oakland Raiders under Jack Del Rio did a pivot and brought in a number of black coaches, but the one at the top is Ken Norton, Jr. The former UCLA and Dallas Cowboys linebacker, has 19 years of experience and was most recently with the Seattle Seahawks. Coach Norton knows how to build a kind of “under 4-3 defense” that allows quick defensive line players to get to the point-of-attack quickly. Ok, I’ll stop the technical football talk and just say I’m happy.

Stay tuned.