<< Domestic violence can happen to anyone. Billboard offering a reward for information on missing mother, Nina Reiser.
For the third year, my office joined together with police, district attorneys, and non-profits combating domestic violence and the sexual exploitation in Oakland to assess our efforts to fight these problems and critical needs. To summarize the reports, we found: 1) Dramatic increase in the number of domestic violence cases reported. We believe it reflects both better training of Oakland Police on these issues and increased support of the victims, as well as the general increase in crime across the nation. 2) Teen prostitution continues to be a problem and disturbingly the victims are increasingly younger, 12 to 15 years old. 3) Important new services such as the One Stop Family Justice Center and counseling services for sexually exploited minors start this year but more resources are needed.

KTOP (Cable 10) will replay the forum, packed with information and featuring moving testimony by some our our teen activists, on these dates:

• Sunday, November 5, 10:30 am
• Monday, November 6, 3:30 pm
• Wednesday, November 8, 4 pm
• Saturday, November 11, 12:30 pm

 

• If you or someone you know needs help. The Alameda County Family Justice Center's Alameda County Family Justice Center is the place to start for help.

• Alameda County Overnight Emergency Response Team, 510.757.5123 provides emergency assistance to women and children in immediate danger, M-F 5 pm to 9 am, 24 hours weekends and holidays.

•A Safe Place Alternative (SPA) Needs Furniture and Office Equipment SPA will be a drop in site for sexually exploited minors providing services and counseling; it will also provides a central location where professionals and community members can access information and resources for Sexually Exploited Minors. I and Council Member Pat Kernighan have pledged a grant of $10,000 to furnish SPA but computers, printers, and other equipment are still needed. If you can help out, please contact Nola Brantley
 

The National Domestic Violence Hotline 1-800-799-SAFE (7233)...

Celebrating Dia de los Muertos in the Fruitvale is like visiting Mexico.

• Dia de Los Muertos Fruitvale Festival, Sunday, November 5th, on International Boulevard between Fruitvale Avenue and 41st Avenue and in the Fruitvale Village Plaza near the BART station. Oakland hosts the largest celebration in the Bay Area, with more than 100,000 people are expected, 150 vendor exhibitors, and expanded arts and crafts displays with over 40 altars ranging from local merchants to non-profit organizations and public agencies. Food vendors will line the streets offering up their goods and services. Five entertainment stages with live music and dancing feature a diverse musical lineup, ranging from world-class artists to local youth performers and various types of music including Salsa, Merengue, Afro-Cuban music, Banda, Cumbia, and Norteño music.Traditional dance will include Aztec Dancers as well as Ballet Folklórico and others. The Unity Council is looking for volunteers to help in their crafts and other booths, if you can spare a few hours they will train and feed you. Contact lrojas@unitycouncil.org

• This year's Oakland Museum exhibit celebrating the colorful Latino/Chicano tradition of honoring the dead, Laughing Bones/Weeping Hearts: Dias de los Muertos 2006 is on view through Sunday, December 3. It features 9 artists and an amazing Muertorider Auto.

Day of the Dead Schedules....

• We want to thank Public Works for replacing the stolen Dimond District trash cans! The stainless steel cans with recycling compartments are part of a state grant program funded from recycled beverage containers. As we reported, the thief was arrested. We are working with the police to decide which of the many tips we received are eligible for the $2000 award and hope to make an announcement soon.

• Farmer Joes Featured in November's Oakland Magazine: Shopping in Oakland is looking up as Council Member Kernighan and Trader Joe's announced that it will open in the closed Albertson's site on Lake Shore early next year. Dimond-Laurel loyalists want to make sure that store is not confused for our own Farmer Joes markets with their large organic vegetable selections and locally made artisan foods. Enjoy the article featuring Joe and Diana Tam in this month's issue of Oakland.

Read Oakland Magazine's Article on Farmer Joes....

• Police Department Open House, Wednesday, December 13, 6-8 pm, at the Eastmont Police Station 2651 73rd Avenue, 777-8500. This is an opportunity for those who have been involved in neighborhood alert groups and crime prevention councils to meet the command staff in their area, problem solving and crime reduction team officers.

• ATM Safety: Robberies near ATM's are common. We have worked with merchants and banks to improve security cameras, lighting, and to limit late night hours. Here are some commonsense tips:
 

• Choose a well lighted, visible ATM, in a busy area during the day.
• Be aware of surroundings, look around for suspicious persons or circumstances. Don't use the machine if you are not comfortable.
• Have your ATM card in hand when you approach, avoid carrying purses or wearing expensive jewelry or anything that makes you a target.
• Do not count or visually display any money
• Avoid using an ATM at night, many supermarkets will allow you to take cash out on your ATM. If you must, take someone with you and park in a well lighted area as close as possible.

 

• More Safety Tips-- Be Aware! Now that it's getting dark earlier and we are heading into the holiday season, keep in mind that the best way to prevent vandalism and theft is to be observant of your surroundings at all times. Lt. James Meeks sent out these tips:

• Call the non emergency number 777-3333 if you see someone suspicious; stay on the line until you speak with a dispatcher. Give your best description of the person, and a license plate number if a vehicle is involved.
• Don't make your home or vehicle a target. Don't leave the garage door opener in the car after you park your vehicle.
• Invest in a good alarm with a monitoring system.
• Don't open your doors to anyone you don't know or who is trying to sell you something.
• Never tell someone on the phone that you are home alone, always say you will talk with your family, first.
• If you are having work done on your home, make sure they are licensed and bonded.

 

• In 1990 before Oakland began curbside recycling, our city recycled about 11% of our waste.
• Ten years later we met the state goal of recycling 50% of our waste by 2000.
• In 2004 we reached 55% and adopted the county goal of recycling 75% of our waste by 2010.
• Last year we began to recycle food and green waste, when the 2006 data is in we will be near 60%.
• Last year we joined a growing coalition of cities who have adopted the UN Environmental Accords, ignored by the federal government. This year the Council also adopted the goal of reaching zero waste by 2020.

 

• This week I sponsored a resolution proclaiming Wednesday, November 15 America Recycles Day in Oakland. While Oakland and the Bay Area are at the forefront of this movement nationally, we are not yet fully using the recycling infrastructure literally at our disposal. The average American recycles 30% and throws away over 1,130 pounds of waste per year. For every person in the US, about 1,060 pounds of CO2 equivalent comes from the garbage we throw out every year. Each person who increases our recycling by 5%, will remove 53 pounds of CO2 equivalent from the atmosphere.

• The City of Oakland and Museum of Children's Art (MOCHA) Sponsor a Reuse Artwork Contest for Oakland school students. MOCHA will host a workshop for children on how to make art from reusable materials on Saturday, November 4 at their locale at 435 Water Street from 4 to 7 pm.

• Do the Holidays Eco-Style! Oakland Recycles and Waste Management of Alameda County suggest the following ideas for a planet-friendly holiday season:

• Use cards, invitations and products made with recycled paper
• Avoid over packaging--choose sleek, efficiently designed containers
• Reuse your Shop Oakland Bag
• Borrow, share or rent seating and serving pieces; Cloth napkins and real china are classy as well as "non-trashy"
• Combine trips and start early, make a list to save time, fuel and reduce air pollution
• Be Eco-creative: Comic paper and stenciled craft paper make great ornaments and gift wrapping. Pine cones and branches that have fallen after storms make great holiday arrangements
• Use an artificial tree, or if you must use a cut live tree, avoid "snow" flocking, and take advantage of free curbside Holiday Tree-cycling pickup during the first two weeks of the New Year.

 

For more information on where to recycle items...

Part of getting to "zero waste" is preventing wasteful products from reaching us "upstream." Banning polystyrene, commonly known by Dow chemical's Styrofoam name, will reduce landfill by 15-25% in volume.

• Oakland Green Food Ware Fair, Thursday, November 16, 3-5 pm, at the Asian Cultural Center, 388 9th Street. In preparation for the ban of styrofoam/polystyrene take out food ware on January 1, 2007, we are sponsoring a fair to explain the new ordinance to restaurants, food vendors, and retailers. Distributors of compostable and biodegradable products will display their products. City staff will explain how restaurants and other commercial ventures can reduce their garbage bills by recycling food waste.

• Did you take advantage of your Bulky Pick-Up This Year? Call Waste Management of Alameda County (WMAC) at 613-8710 to schedule your pickup appointment before the end of the year. For more information.
 

To learn more about Oakland's Recycling Program and Zero Waste efforts.....

• Daffodil Planting Starts: This Saturday 9am-Noon, several neighborhood groups will begin their daffodil bulb planting: Glenview Neighborhood Association meets at Ultimate Grounds Coffee Shop to plant bulbs in the Park Blvd median. The Redwood Heights Neighborhood Association's Landscape Committee meets at the corner of 39th Avenue and Aliso Avenue to plant at Redwood Heights School. <

• Allendale Gateway Garden, 38th & Suter, 11am-4pm, this Saturday November 4th. Allendale NCPC will work on this garden. Bring gloves and tools.

• Pot Pourri Sale Ends Sunday, 5 pm: 4100 Redwood Rd at Lincoln Square, 531-1503. Andy and Julia Diez feature beautiful handmade crafts from American artists. Their annual 30% Off Pre-Christmas Sale is a local tradition and the source of a great deal of our holiday gifts.

• Oakland-San Leandro Job Fair, Wednesday, November 8th, 11:30am - 4:30pm at East Side Club of the Oakland / Alameda County McAfee Coliseum. Bring resumes and be prepared for interviews. Over 70 Bay Area employers will be recruiting and ready to hire for positions at all levels. For more information visit www.OaklandWIB org or contact City of Oakland Workforce Development at 238-3636.

• Emerging Latino Filmmakers Panel & Latino International Film Festival Wednesday, November 8, Grand Lake Theater. Two panels with local Latino emerging filmmakers are featured. Screening starts at 5 pm. Shorts panel, 6:10 - 6:40 pm; Documentary Panel 7:30-8 pm. Films include: Ritual, Carlos Iseal Gutierrez; Manifesting our Destiny, Claudia Gomez-Arteaga; Layers: The Art of Javier, Francisco Loza; My Golden Cage, Cristy Paez; Radio Grito, Michael Seely; Two Birds, Juan Jose Rivera; Del Cielo, Juile Rubio; Epifania, Gabriel Restrep; Larrylandia, Karim Scarlata; Soledad is Gone Forever, Mabel Valdiviezo.

•A Great Good Place for Books and the Montclarion welcome Kelly Kerney, author of Born Again, on Thursday, November 7 at 7 pm.
• Veteran's Day at GGP. A Great Good Place for Books at 6120 La Salle Avenue in Montclair welcomes Doug Zachary and his fellow writers from their new anthology, Veterans of War, Reflecting on War and Peace, on Sunday, November 12 at 7 pm.

• Become a Master Composter through a free certificated course. Participants receive training in the art and science of basic and worm composting, soil health, and Bay Friendly gardening techniques and use this knowledge to train others through a community outreach project. Participants receive a compost bin, composting and gardening books, including the East Bay Municipal Utility District's "Plants and Landscapes for Summer Climates of the SF Bay Region." Teachers who complete the program are eligible for a $200 stipend to use towards school gardens and/or classroom compost activities. Complete an application by January 12, 2007. Classes will meet Tuesday nights early February to mid-May, with 2 Saturday field trips.