The Inevitable Has Happened: Occupy Foreclosures

Linette Lopez Nov. 1, 2011
http://www.businessinsider.com/occupy-oakland-to-encourage-occupation-of-foreclosed-properties-2011-11

Last night Occupy Oakland's General Assembly did something that is likely to catch on with occupations across the country.

They voted to encourage the occupation of foreclosed properties across their city. After all, the bursting of the property bubble is part of why they're on the streets right now.

There is a movement similar to this under the overall Occupy umbrella, It's called Occupy Vacant Properties, and it has been most visible in San Francisco, where families are even reclaiming their old homes post-foreclosures.

Fire Dog Lake via The Home Defenders League:

My family has been in this neighborhood for 50 years, and since I’ve been evicted, the place has been vacant, like so many homes in the Bayview. Families have been ripped off by banks, scammed by brokers and nothing’s done to them. It’s time for the families and the community to stand up and take back what’s theirs.

Considering all the attention focused on Occupy Oakland right now, it wouldn't be surprising if this caught on like wildfire. Plus, in northern cities during the winter months, this could provide spots to house protesters and maintain the occupations.

And according to Raw Story, there is at least on member of Congress supporting this move. Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) has been calling for families to squat in their foreclosed homes since the beginning of the crisis. While what Occupy Oakland is suggesting isn't exactly the same thing (as the protesters will probably stay in homes they never bought), Kaptur likes the idea all the same.

Football Season Is Over: 2011 Officially Begins

In the final insult to a completely humiliating season for Brett Favre, the Green Bay Packers won Super Bowl XLV, beating the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25. It's their fourth SB title, and it took Packers QB Aaron Rodgers three years to win one, as many as Favre had in his entire career. Rodgers, unlike Favre, also won the game's MVP award, passing for 304 yards and 3 touchdowns. The curse of the Lutefisk continues...

The game was watched by a record 111 million in the US, 4.5 million more than last year's game and 5 million more than the final episode of M*A*S*H. Probably the coolest ad: a young boy dressed like Darth Vader trying to use The Force to open a 2012 Volkswagen Passat.

The NFL changed things around this year, presenting all the season best awards during the week. Here's the winners:

MVP: Tom Brady, New England Patriots
Offensive Player of the Year: Tom Brady, New England Patriots
Defensive Player of the Year: Troy Polamalu, Pittsburgh Steelers
Offensive Rookie of the Year: Sam Bradford, St. Louis Rams
Defensive Rookie of the Year: Ndamukong Suh, Detroit Lions
Coach of the Year: Bill Belichick, New England Patriots
Comeback of the Year: Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles

And finally, the Hall of Fame picks: modern era players Deion Sanders, Marshall Faulk, Richard Dent and Shannon Sharpe, NFL Films founder Ed Sabol and senior picks Chris Hanburger and Les Richter. A good list, though it contains some snubs: Faulk got in over running backs Jerome Bettis and Curtis Martin, wide receivers Chris Carter and Tim Brown were left out, and five time Super Bowl champ Charles Haley failed to make the cut. And then there's Oakland Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler and punter Ray Guy, the two most offensive long-term snubs from Canton...

100 protesters arrested in Oakland

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/06/MNME1G7SPJ.DTL
100 protesters arrested in Oakland
Jaxon Van Derbeken, Matthai Kuruvila, Kevin Fagan, Chronicle Staff Writers
Saturday, November 6, 2010

OAKLAND -- More than 100 protesters angered by the two-year sentence handed down to former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle were arrested Friday night after marching from downtown Oakland into a residential area south of Lake Merritt, where mobs smashed about a dozen car windshields and a police officer's gun was snatched.

The marchers headed out of downtown after a peaceful rally outside City Hall, where as many as 500 people sang songs and heard speeches denouncing the sentence Mehserle received earlier in the day for the fatal shooting of unarmed BART rider Oscar Grant.

About 200 demonstrators surged into the streets as darkness fell, marching southeast to Sixth Avenue in East Oakland, where police corralled the main group.

Several in the crowd said they had been headed to the Fruitvale BART Station, where Mehserle shot Grant early on Jan. 1, 2009. As word of the destination spread, BART officials closed the station, allowing trains to go through but not to stop.

Police penned in the marchers about a mile from the station.

Confrontations

Dozens of other officers stayed downtown to guard against a repeat of the looting that broke out July 8 after Mehserle was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and acquitted of murder.

The marchers had made unimpeded headway toward the Fruitvale Station until they encountered a line of about 100 police officers near Laney College around 6:45 p.m. One protester threw a soda can at the riot-gear-clad police, and within 15 minutes, the crowd had broken through the construction fence at a nearby park and made its way past Lake Merritt.

From there, demonstrators marched along International Boulevard, and then wandered the streets until hundreds of officers trapped them on Sixth Avenue between East 17th and East 18th streets.

As they milled about, some smashed windows in about a dozen cars and jumped on top of taxicabs.

The situation turned dangerous when a protester ripped the holster and gun from a police officer's belt, Police Chief Anthony Batts said at a news conference. The protester was swarmed by other officers and arrested.

One police officer was hit by a car - possibly a patrol car - and just past 7 p.m., Batts decided to put an end to the demonstration.

He ordered the march declared an unlawful assembly, based on the incident with the officer's gun, and at 7:40 p.m. police began arresting people. Within an hour, the street was cleared and more than 100 arrested protesters were being herded into police vans.

All the other demonstrators by then had fled through backyards or abandoned the march as it wound toward Sixth Avenue.

'That's justice?'

While the police began the arrests, the anxious and trapped crowd trampled flower beds in the modest residential neighborhood. Some lit a trash can fire.

One man confronted protesters after finding a big dent in his car, saying, "That's justice? It's anger."

One protester yelled back, "I'm marching, man!"

The demonstrations that began early in the afternoon, after Mehserle was sentenced in a Los Angeles courtroom, were supposed to lead to a march to DeFremery Park in West Oakland, Batts said. And that is where police thought the protesters were headed when they began leaving after 6 p.m.

"They went the opposite direction from what we had agreed to," the chief said. "Up until 6 p.m. everything went very well."

Peaceful rallies

Some downtown stores had boarded up their windows and several businesses closed early out of concern over possible unrest, but downtown emerged from the rallies unscathed.

The City Hall rally and another at the corner of 14th and Broadway were peaceful. Rather than the incendiary anger of past demonstrations over the Grant shooting, the rallies mostly had an air of sadness.

Chris Hall, a social worker who lives in Oakland, was one of many urging fellow demonstrators to stay calm.

"We want to make sure we don't take out our frustrations on shop owners," Hall said. "They are Oscar Grant, too."

Outgoing Mayor Ron Dellums struck the same note, as he had before the July vandalism - and it appeared to have been heeded by all but the violent hard core who broke off at nightfall.

Chronicle staff writers Carolyn Jones, Will Kane and Henry K. Lee contributed to this report. E-mail the writers at mkuruvila@sfchronicle.com and kfagan@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page A - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle

Jack Tatum dies; Oakland Raiders 'Assassin' was 61

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/27/AR2010072705956.html

Jack Tatum dies; Oakland Raiders 'Assassin' was 61
Tatum, a defensive back for the Raiders whose bone-jarring tackles earned him the nickname "the Assassin," died July 27, 2010 at a hospital in Oakland, Calif., after a heart attack.
Matt Schudel
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Jack Tatum, 61, a defensive back for the Oakland Raiders whose bone-jarring tackles earned him the nickname "the Assassin," died July 27 at a hospital in Oakland, Calif., after a heart attack.

Mr. Tatum, a free safety whose relatively slight size belied his ferocity on the field, was a three-time All Pro player with the Raiders during his 10-year career. An NFL Films documentary ranked him as the sixth-hardest hitter in pro football history.

His tackle of Minnesota Vikings receiver Sammy White in the 1977 Super Bowl has become famous in video features of football's most devastating tackles. White had just caught a pass in the center of the field when Mr. Tatum ran into him, colliding head-to-head. White's helmet flew off and rolled five yards up the field.

"I play a hard-hitting game," Mr. Tatum said in the NFL Films documentary. "I just like to have the receivers think about me a little bit while they're trying to catch the ball."

Mr. Tatum's most notorious tackle occurred in a preseason game in 1978, when he leveled wide receiver Darryl Stingley of the New England Patriots. Stingley was leaping to catch a pass when Mr. Tatum drilled him, breaking two vertebrae in Stingley's back. Stingley remained paralyzed until his death in 2007.

Mr. Tatum never apologized for his crushing tackle, which was legal under NFL rules, and some football historians think his lack of remorse kept him out of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

"It was one of those things that happens that everyone regrets," Gene Upshaw, a Raiders lineman in that game who became executive director of the NFL Players Association, later said. "I know a lot of people in New England think differently, but Jack had no intention of hurting him. I saw him hit people like that a lot of times. That was the way he played."

Mr. Tatum said he attempted to visit Stingley in the hospital but was rebuffed by Stingley's family.

Within a year, the NFL changed some of its rules regarding pass defense, and many of Mr. Tatum's signature helmet-to-helmet tackles would not be allowed in today's game.

John David Tatum was born Nov. 18, 1948, in Cherryville, N.C., and grew up in Passaic, N.J. Even though he did not play football until his sophomore year of high school, he became an all-state standout and was recruited to Ohio State University as a running back.

The Buckeyes' coach, Woody Hayes, converted the 5-foot-10, 200-pound Mr. Tatum to defensive back, where he became a two-time all-American. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2004.

With the Raiders, Mr. Tatum joined a talented secondary that included Willie Brown and George Atkinson. Known mostly for his fearsome tackles, Mr. Tatum was hardly a one-dimensional player. He intercepted 37 passes during his NFL career, including six in 1976, when the Raiders had a regular-season record of 13-1. They capped their year by defeating Minnesota, 32-14, in Super Bowl XI.

In a 1972 playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Mr. Tatum had a role in the "Immaculate Reception" play that has become one of the most famous moments in NFL history. With 22 seconds left in the game, and the Raiders leading 7-6, Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw threw a fourth-down pass to running back John "Frenchy" Fuqua. Mr. Tatum crashed into Fuqua at the moment the pass arrived, sending the ball hurtling through the air.

Steelers running back Franco Harris grabbed the deflected pass just before it touched the ground and rambled into the end zone to complete a 60-yard touchdown play and give the Steelers the win.

In retirement, Mr. Tatum invested in real estate and restaurants and wrote three autobiographies, each with the word "assassin" in the title. He suffered from diabetes and, several years ago, had a leg amputated.

Survivors include his wife, Denise; and three children.

Oakland pot-growing plan worries small bud tenders

Jul 18, 2010
LISA LEFF

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - After weathering the fear of federal prosecution and competition from drug cartels, California's medical marijuana growers see a new threat to their tenuous existence: the "Wal-Marting" of weed.

The Oakland City Council on Tuesday will look at licensing four production plants where pot would be grown, packaged and processed into items ranging from baked goods to body oil. Winning applicants would have to pay $211,000 in annual permit fees, carry $2 million worth of liability insurance and be prepared to devote up to 8 percent of gross sales to taxes.

The move, and fledgling efforts in other California cities to sanction cannabis cultivation for the first time, has some marijuana advocates worried that regulations intended to bring order to the outlaw industry and new revenues to cash-strapped local governments could drive small "mom and pop" growers out of business. They complain that industrial-scale gardens would harm the environment, reduce quality and leave consumers with fewer strains from which to choose.

"Nobody wants to see the McDonald's-ization of cannabis," Dan Scully, one of the 400 "patient-growers" who supply Oakland's largest retail medical marijuana dispensary, Harborside Health Center, grumbled after a City Council committee gave the blueprint preliminary approval last week. "I would compare it to how a small business feels about shutting down its business and going to work at Wal-Mart. Who would be attracted to that?"

The proposal's supporters, including entrepreneurs more disposed to neckties than tie-dye, counter that unregulated growers working in covert warehouses or houses are tax scofflaws more likely to wreak environmental havoc, be motivated purely by profit and produce inferior products.

"The large-scale grow facilities that are being proposed with this ordinance will create hundreds of jobs for the city," said Ryan Indigo Warman, who teaches pot-growing techniques at iGrow, a hydroponics store whose owners plan to apply for one of the four permits. "The ordinance is good for Oakland, and anyone who says otherwise is only protecting their own interests."

Council members Rebecca Kaplan and Larry Reid, who introduced the plan, have pitched it largely as a public safety measure.

The Oakland fire department blames a dramatic rise in the number of electrical fires between 2006 and 2009 in part to marijuana being grown indoors with improperly wired fans and lights. The police department says eight robberies, seven burglaries and two murders have been linked to marijuana grows in the last two years.

Reid and Kaplan also are open about their desire to have the city, which last week laid off 80 police officers to save money, cash in on the medical marijuana industry it has allowed to thrive.

Oakland's four retail marijuana stores did $28 million in business last year, and if sales remain constant, the city would get $1.5 million this year from a dispensary business tax that voters adopted last summer. A similar tax on wholesale pot sales from the permitted grow sites to the dispensaries would bring in more than twice that amount, the city administrator's office has estimated.

"Allowing medical cannabis and medical cannabis products to be produced in a responsible, aboveboard and legitimate way will be a benefit to the patients, to the workers and to the people of Oakland," Kaplan said.

Adding to the anxiety of growers - and the impetus Oakland officials have to get the grow tax in place - is a November state ballot measure to legalize marijuana possession for adult recreational use and authorize local governments to license and tax non-medical pot sales.

If it passes, Proposition 19 is expected to feed the state's hearty appetite for marijuana. Backers of creating the four big indoor gardens say the plan is not dependent on legalization, but would benefit from it.

"The reality is, this is an issue that is going to grow. I would like it to grow here. I would like it to be Oakland business and not the tobacco industry," Councilwoman Jean Quan said.

Regulating the supply side of the business would represent another turning point in California's complicated, 14-year-old relationship with medical marijuana. Although Maine, New Mexico and Rhode Island license nonprofit groups to produce and distribute cannabis, California's law is silent on cultivation other than for individual use.

Even as hundreds of storefront pot dispensaries, marijuana delivery services and THC-laced food products have flourished, the question of where they get their stashes remains murky: Inquiring is considered as impolite as asking someone's income or age.

Industry insiders usually say they rely on a variety of sources, including farmers who grow outdoors in the far northern end of the state, contractors who run sophisticated indoor operations, and customers who grow their own and sell the surplus.

Officials in Berkeley and Long Beach also are moving take the mystery out of medical marijuana production.

The Berkeley City Council last week approved a measure for the November ballot that would authorize the city to license and tax six pot cultivation sites. Companies running the facilities must agree to give away some pot to low-income users, employ organic gardening methods to the extent possible and offset in some way the large amount of electricity needed to grow weed.

Long Beach officials want to reduce the amount of medical marijuana being sold in the city that isn't grown there.

The city is in the process of trying to whittle its more than 90 dispensaries down to no more than 35 marijuana collectives through a lottery. License winners will be required to grow either at their retail sites or elsewhere in Long Beach and to open their books to prove they aren't growing more than enough to supply their members, said Lori Ann Farrell, Long Beach's director of financial management.

Raiders release former No. 1 overall pick Russell

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iteaH69T3fLd_gxdaJIrReWpB2PgD9FHMFN80

Raiders release former No. 1 overall pick Russell
By JOSH DUBOW
5-6-10

ALAMEDA, Calif. — Three years, more than $39 million and only seven wins as the starting quarterback for the Oakland Raiders. The verdict is in on JaMarcus Russell's career in Oakland and he just might be the NFL's biggest draft bust. The Raiders released Russell on Thursday, just three years after making him the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft.

The decision came less than two weeks after Oakland acquired Jason Campbell from Washington to take over at quarterback. It signifies that owner Al Davis finally lost patience with the immensely talented but unproductive player he drafted in 2007 against the wishes of former coach Lane Kiffin.

"We wish him well," senior executive John Herrera told The Associated Press.

Russell will now be considered one of the biggest busts in NFL draft history, joining the likes of Ryan Leaf, Ki-Jana Carter, Akili Smith, Tony Mandarich, Charles Rogers, Heath Shuler and Blair Thomas on that list.

Russell showed up at last week's minicamp, saying he would keep coming to work until told otherwise. He looked decent in the first of five practices last weekend, but got less work as the weekend went on, and the decision to cut ties finally was made.

The Raiders paid Russell about $36.4 million through last season. They still owe him $3 million more, putting the final tally on his earnings at about $39.4 million. But the team saved $6.45 million by not having him on the roster in 2010.

Since the start of the common draft in 1967, only one other No. 1 pick was released this quickly in his NFL career. Indianapolis cut 1992 top pick Steve Emtman after three seasons, but that was more because of injuries than production.

Emtman played three more seasons for Miami and Washington. It remains to be seen whether any team will give the 24-year-old Russell another shot.

Davis believed Russell could turn the fortunes of his struggling franchise when he drafted him. He stood by him during his struggles, revealing when he fired Kiffin in 2008 that the coach did not want him.

"He is a great player. Get over it and coach this team on the field," Davis read from a letter he sent Kiffin before the firing. "That is what you were hired to do. We can win with this team."

But the Raiders were unable to win with Russell at the helm and Davis allowed coach Tom Cable, Kiffin's successor, to bench Russell midway through last season. The move was popular in the locker room and gave the team a spark on the field as Bruce Gradkowski led comeback wins over Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.

Davis was not satisfied with Gradkowski as his standard bearer and the Raiders were linked to possible offseason deals for Donovan McNabb and Ben Roethlisberger. While the Raiders downplayed how serious those talks ever got, they did make the move for another quarterback when they acquired Campbell from Washington for a 2012 fourth-round draft pick.

The team showed confidence in Campbell by extending his contract through 2011, giving him a $4.5 million deal for that season on top of the $3.14 million he is owed this season.

Russell won only seven of his 25 starts as the Raiders extended an NFL-worst streak to seven straight seasons with at least 11 losses. He completed just 52.1 percent of his passes in his career with 18 touchdowns, 23 interceptions, 15 lost fumbles and a passer rating of 65.2.

That means Russell has been paid more than $5 million per win, more than $2 million per touchdown pass and more than $100,000 per completion.

While Russell's numbers are superior to Leaf's, he was paid considerably more money to do it and was picked first overall instead of second. Leaf's rookie contract guaranteed him only $11.25 million.

Russell's tenure in Oakland got off to a rough start and never got much better. He held out his first season, not signing a contract until after the first game of the regular season. That made his rookie season almost a complete loss, as he started only one game.

He showed some signs of progress in his second season, especially in winning the final two games against Houston and Tampa Bay. But the problems of work ethic and his weight never disappeared and his third season was an utter disaster.

He was fined for being overweight when he showed up at training camp. He then put together one of the worst seasons in recent memory for an NFL quarterback. He completed 48.8 percent of his passes, with three touchdowns, 11 interceptions and a 50.0 passer rating that was the lowest since Leaf, Bobby Hoying and Craig Whelihan all finished below 50 in 1998.

Pot legalization gains momentum in California

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h6W7KC63V4xxIsSnUT7zLcWc6upwD9B6FADG3

Pot legalization gains momentum in California
By MARCUS WOHLSEN (AP)
10-7-9

SAN FRANCISCO — Marijuana advocates are gathering signatures to get at least three pot-legalization measures on the ballot in 2010 in California, setting up what could be a groundbreaking clash with the federal government over U.S. drug policy.

At least one poll shows voters would support lifting the pot prohibition, which would make the state of 40 million the first in the nation to legalize marijuana.

Such action would also send the state into a headlong conflict with the U.S. government while raising questions about how federal law enforcement could enforce its drug laws in the face of a massive government-sanctioned pot industry.

The state already has a thriving marijuana trade, thanks to a first-of-its-kind 1996 ballot measure that allowed people to smoke pot for medical purposes. But full legalization could turn medical marijuana dispensaries into all-purpose pot stores, and the open sale of joints could become commonplace on mom-and-pop liquor store counters in liberal locales like Oakland and Santa Cruz.

Under federal law, marijuana is illegal, period. After overseeing a series of raids that destroyed more than 300,000 marijuana plants in California's Sierra Nevada foothills this summer, federal drug czar Gil Kerlikowske proclaimed, "Legalization is not in the president's vocabulary, and it's not in mine."

The U.S. Supreme Court also has ruled that federal law enforcement agents have the right to crack down even on marijuana users and distributors who are in compliance with California's medical marijuana law.

But some legal scholars and policy analysts say the government will not be able to require California to help in enforcing the federal marijuana ban if the state legalizes the drug.

Without assistance from the state's legions of narcotics officers, they say, federal agents could do little to curb marijuana in California.

"Even though that federal ban is still in place and the federal government can enforce it, it doesn't mean the states have to follow suit," said Robert Mikos, a Vanderbilt University law professor who recently published a paper about the issue.

Nothing can stop federal anti-drug agents from making marijuana arrests, even if Californians legalize pot, he said. However, the U.S. government cannot pass a law requiring local and state police, sheriff's departments or state narcotics enforcers to help.

That is significant, because nearly all arrests for marijuana crimes are made at the state level. Of more than 847,000 marijuana-related arrests in 2008, for example, just over 6,300 suspects were booked by federal law enforcement, or fewer than 1 percent.

State marijuana bans have allowed the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to focus on big cases, said Rosalie Pacula, director of drug policy research at the Rand Corp.

"It's only something the feds are going to be concerned about if you're growing tons of pot," Pacula said. For anything less, she said, "they don't have the resources to waste on it."

In a typical recent prosecution, 29-year-old Luke Scarmazzo was sentenced to nearly 22 years and co-defendant Ricardo Ruiz Montes to 20 years in federal prison for drug trafficking through a medical marijuana dispensary in Modesto.

At his bond hearing, prosecutors showed a rap video in which Scarmazzo boasts about his successful marijuana business, taunts federal authorities and carries cardboard boxes filled with cash. The DEA said the pair made more than $4.5 million in marijuana sales in less than two years.

The DEA would not speculate on the effects of any decision by California to legalize pot. "Marijuana is illegal under federal law and DEA will continue to attack large-scale drug trafficking organizations at every level," spokeswoman Dawn Dearden said.

The most conservative of the three ballot measures would only legalize possession of up to one ounce of pot for personal use by adults 21 and older — an amount that already under state law can only result at most in a $100 fine.

The proposal would also allow anyone to grow a plot of marijuana up to 5 feet-by-5 feet on their private property. The size, Pacula said, seems specifically designed to keep the total number of plants grown below 100, the threshold for DEA attention.

The greatest potential for conflict with the U.S. government would likely come from the provision that would give local governments the power to decide city-by-city whether to allow pot sales.

Hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries across the state already operate openly with only modest federal interference. If recreational marijuana became legal, these businesses could operate without requiring their customers to qualify as patients.

Any business that grew bigger than the already typical storefront shops, however, would probably be too tempting a target for federal prosecution, experts said.

Even if Washington could no longer count on California to keep pot off its own streets, Congress or the Obama administration could try to coerce cooperation by withholding federal funds.

But with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's announcement earlier this year that the Justice Department would defer to state laws on marijuana, the federal response to possible legalization remains unclear.

Doug Richardson, a spokesman for the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy, said the office is in the process of re-evaluating its policies on marijuana and other drugs.

Richardson said the office under Obama was pursuing a "more comprehensive" approach than the previous administration, with emphasis on prevention and treatment as well as law enforcement.

"We're trying to base stuff on the facts, the evidence and the science," he said, "not some particular prejudice somebody brings to the table."

Oakland voters approve a tax on medical marijuana

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-pot-tax22-2009jul22,0,7339976.story

Oakland voters approve a tax on medical marijuana
Shops selling pot in the cash-strapped city will pay $18 on each $1,000 in sales. The city administrator estimates that it could raise $300,000 in annual revenue.
By Julie Strack
July 22, 2009

Reporting from San Francisco -- Oakland voters resoundingly approved a tax increase on medical marijuana Tuesday evening, the first such tax of its kind in the nation.

The measure will levy an $18 tax for every $1,000 in gross marijuana sales. Firms in the city now pay a $1.20 business tax on each $1,000 in sales. Other cities may soon follow suit. Voters approved the measure by a margin of 80%, according to preliminary results released by the Alameda County Registrar of Voters.

Oakland City Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan, who co-sponsored the measure, said it could generate $1 million in annual revenue.

The city administrator places the estimate at about $300,000.

The Los Angeles City Council proposed a medical marijuana tax July 15, and Kaplan said Berkeley and San Francisco may consider similar legislation.

"Oakland will show that this can work if it's done right," said Keith Stephenson, executive director of the Purple Heart Patient Center.

"There will be some cash-strapped areas that will use this to balance their budgets."

The legislation was backed by Oakland's four medical marijuana dispensaries. There was no organized opposition.

The city's four dispensaries reported revenue of $19.7 million in the last fiscal year. Kaplan said budget gaps and a pledge by the Obama administration to stop prosecution of dispensaries that adhere to state laws have spurred officials to consider marijuana as a revenue source. The legislation was one of four mail-in ballot measures passed to help close the city's $83-million shortfall.

"It was the perfect moment," Kaplan said. "We had a horrible budget crisis in the city, and we were looking for revenue. . . . But it would hardly make sense for us to tax a business that might be shut down by the federal government."

Legislation is also being considered on a statewide level. Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) introduced a bill earlier this year to legalize and tax marijuana.

julie.strack@latimes.com

Henderson and Rice together forever

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/wires/07/23/2010.ap.bbo.hall.of.fame.adv25.1338/

Thursday July 23, 2009
Henderson and Rice together forever

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. (AP) - Rickey Henderson knew what was expected every time he batted. So, too, did Jim Rice.

"Some way, I was going to scratch to get on base to steal that base,'' Henderson said. "I steal that base, my day was good. My pride and joy was coming across the plate.''

Said Rice: "Believe me, I wasn't paid to walk. I was paid to try to do some damage.''

Each player - Henderson, the quintessential leadoff man with an infectious smile, and Rice, the consummate power hitter with an icy glare - inflicted more than his share of damage on opponents, and they will be duly recognized for their considerable career accomplishments Sunday when they are inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The pair will be the first inductees to primarily play left field since Boston's Carl Yastrzemski went into the Hall in 1989.

Former Yankees and Indians second baseman Joe Gordon, elected posthumously by the Veterans Committee, also will be inducted, while former Yankees star and longtime broadcaster Tony Kubek and writer Nick Peters will be honored as winners of the Frick and Spink awards, respectively.

"As a kid, you grow up playing the game, and you never really know what you can achieve,'' Henderson said.

A member of nine teams during his 25-year career, the fun-loving Henderson achieved more than most. He holds the all-time records for stolen bases in a season (130) and career (1,406), for runs scored (2,295) and for leading off a game with a home run (81).

"Competing against myself - I think that's what made me the player that I became,'' Henderson said. "I had a lot of desire to be a winner and play the game to the fullest.''

Born in Chicago on Christmas Day 1958, Henderson moved with his family to California when he was 7 and became a three-sport star at Oakland Technical High School. Football was his forte and he received numerous scholarship offers to play college ball, turning them down for a shot at baseball.

Henderson was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the fourth round in 1976. After excelling in the minors for three seasons (at Modesto, in 1977, he led the California League with a then-record 95 steals and became just the fourth professional player to steal seven bases in one game), Henderson made his major league debut with Oakland in late June 1979. He still led the club that season with 33 steals.

When Oakland owner Charlie Finley hired Billy Martin as manager in 1980, Henderson had the perfect partner in crime. "Billyball'' - the aggressive attack Martin relished - helped catapult Henderson to stardom.

The speedy Henderson set the American League season steals record with 100 in only his second year, joining Maury Wills and Lou Brock as the only major league players of the modern era to steal 100 or more bases a season.

"I went out there and put it together, but it wasn't just me,'' said Henderson, who eclipsed the AL record of 96 set by Ty Cobb in 1915. "Billy helped teach me how to win. He had a strategy and we worked together and achieved that. There was no doubt I was gone when you told me to go.''

Henderson quickly evolved into perhaps the most dangerous player in baseball, seemingly always able to make something from nothing. After leading the AL in hits during the strike-shortened 1981 season, the "Man of Steal'' used his trademark headfirst slides to break Brock's single-season steals record with 130 in 1982.

After the 1984 season, Henderson was traded to the New York Yankees and soon was reunited with Martin after Yogi Berra was fired as manager.

Henderson hit 24 homers and batted .314 with a league-leading 80 stolen bases in 1985, and his 146 runs scored were the most since Ted Williams had 150 in 1949.

The 5-foot-10, 195-pound Henderson gained at the plate by shrinking into a tight crouch, dramatically cutting his strike zone and confounding pitchers like no other player.

"Rickey just made it impossible not to be distracted by him,'' said Tony La Russa, who managed Henderson at Oakland and dreaded managing against him.

Just the 44th player elected to the Hall in his first year of eligibility, Henderson retired with 2,190 career walks (128 more than Babe Ruth), and although Barry Bonds has since eclipsed that total, Henderson still holds the record for most unintentional walks with 2,129. What is most amazing is that 796 of those free passes - or 37 percent - came while leading off an inning, something every opposing pitcher and catcher desperately wanted to avoid.

"I had a strategy of my strike zone and how can I beat a pitcher, and I think I was more patient,'' said Henderson, who broke Cobb's record of 2,246 career runs and Zack Wheat's record of 2,328 career games in left field. "I loved battling against a pitcher.''

The flamboyant Henderson, who during his career frequently referred to himself in the third person and often was accused of showboating on the field with his trash talk and snatch catch - he said it was simply "Rickey being Rickey'' - also liked being paid well for his services. That led him to develop another of his fortes - leading off games with a home run.

"I'm killing myself. I was stealing all the bases, and when you had to go to arbitration they said, 'You know, only the big boys make the money,''' Henderson said. "So I got to try and figure out how to hit a home run, too.''

He learned. In 1990, Henderson matched his career high with 28 homers. He also stole 65 bases and led the majors with a .439 on-base percentage, winning AL MVP honors.

Hitting homers was second nature to Rice, who played his entire career for the Boston Red Sox. Playing at a time when offensive numbers paled in comparison to the past two decades, the so-called steroid era, Rice batted .298 with 382 home runs and 1,451 RBIs from 1974-89. He was voted to eight All-Star teams and finished in the top five in AL MVP voting six times, winning the award in 1978 when he batted .315 with 213 hits, 46 home runs, 139 RBIs and a .600 slugging percentage.

The numbers get even more impressive.

Rice drove in 100 or more runs eight times, batted over .300 seven times, and topped 200 hits four times. And he's the only player in major league history with at least 35 homers and 200 hits in three consecutive seasons (1977-79).

That it took until his final year of eligibility probably rankled every time a new class was announced. If there ever was any bitterness, though, it has long since vanished.

"You let bygones be bygones,'' the 56-year-old Rice said. "Yeah, I wish I could have gone in on the first ballot or the second, not the last. But I'm in and some guys are still out. You cherish what you have. You cherish that you're in an elite category of guys that played the game one way - hard.

"There are a lot of guys that I started with my first year in rookie ball - about 60 guys - and only one made it to the big leagues.''

Henderson says he has one regret - that he didn't retire sooner.

"You got to wait five years to go into the Hall of Fame,'' he said. "If I would have thought about it, and just went on and got them five years up early, then I'd been a little younger. Then I could have came back after I went into the Hall of Fame, but I waited too long.''

John Madden retires from broadcasting

http://www.mercurynews.com/raidersheadlines/ci_12156141

John Madden retires from broadcasting
By Lisa Fernandez
Mercury News
04/16/2009

John Madden, an NFL Hall of Fame coach and one of the most popular broadcasters of the sport, has retired from television broadcasting.

In a statement posted on the nbcsports,msnbc.com Web Site, Madden said: "It's time. I'm 73 years old. My 50th wedding anniversary is this fall. I have two great sons and their families and my five grandchildren are at an age now when they know when I'm home and, more importantly, when I'm not..."

Madden, a former coach of the Oakland Raiders, lives in the East Bay.

In his regular daily 8:15 a.m. interview with KCBS radio — which he left up in the air whether he would continue — Madden said that this was a "big day. A big day.''

"I decided to retire,'' Madden said on the air. "I can't even say it. It's tough. Not because I'm not sure it's the right time. But I'm going to miss everything about it because I loved it so much.'' He has been working for the past three seasons on NBC's Sunday night NFL game. His last telecast was the Super Bowl between Arizona and Pittsburgh.

Madden, who, in his typical self-deprecating style referred to himself a young "doofus'' from Daly City, said when he reached the age of 70, he knew he'd have to hang up his hat at some point. He said he's been thinking about retiring for the last three years, but wasn't ready to stop broadcasting NFL football games until just recently. He said each time he's thought about retiring, he'd spend two months mulling it over.

"I vacillated,'' Madden said. "Finally, I was up against it. Two months was running out. The NFL schedule was coming out. This is what I'm going to do.''

In his emotion-laden remarks, Madden noted that the upcoming football season will be the first he won't participate in since his freshman year in high school.

Since he retired from coaching in 1979, Madden has worked as an analyst for all four broadcast networks. His "Madden NFL Football" is the top-selling sports video game of all time.

Madden is reluctant to fly and traveled to games in a specially equipped bus. He told KCBS listeners that he wouldn't stop traveling, "doing things'' and checking out odd restaurants, like "Chewy's,'' as he's known for telling tales about life in general, in addition to talking sports.

Madden mentioned his family as a big reason for stepping down.

His 50th wedding anniversary is coming up in December — prime football season when he'd typically be on the road. And his grandchildren —his oldest, Sam is 8 — are now old enough to know "when I'm not around,'' Madden said.

"You add up everything and it's the right time,'' he said. "There is nothing wrong with me. Nothing. But at some point, you know you've got to do this. The thing that makes it so hard is that I enjoyed it so damn much. That's why it took me so long.''

Rice joins Henderson as baseball Hall of Famers

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/hallfame/2009-01-12-henderson-rice-elected_N.htm

Rice joins Henderson as newest baseball Hall of Famers
By Mel Antonen, USA TODAY

Rickey Henderson, baseball's all-time steals leader, was elected in overwhelming fashion to baseball's Hall of Fame on his first year of eligibility, while Boston Red Sox slugger Jim Rice also earned election to Cooperstown in his last year on the ballot.

In balloting released Monday by the Baseball Writers' Association of America, Henderson was named on 511 ballots (94.8%), a sweeping endorsement of the player considered by many to be the finest leadoff hitter of all time.

Rice's ticket to Cooperstown was stamped in a far more tenuous fashion.

Having failed election on 14 previous appearances on the ballot, Rice was named on 412 ballots, the 76.4% barely edging him over the 75% required for induction.

Henderson, who turned 50 on Christmas Day, is the all-time king of stolen bases with 1,406 and considered one of the most dangerous leadoff batters of all-time.

"When Rickey Henderson got on base, he could change the course of the game like no other player," Tony La Russa, Henderson's former manager with the Oakland Athletics, said last spring.

The induction ceremony is July 26 in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Henderson played for the Athletics from 1979-84, then rejoined them in 1989 in a trade with the New York Yankees. He batted leadoff on their 1989 World Series champion team and a year later won the AL MVP as the A's won a third consecutive pennant.

Henderson, who led the league in runs scored five times and steals a dozen times, was a 10-time All-Star. In addition to his steals, he holds the career record for runs (2,295) and his 2,190 walks ranks second. Henderson had 3,055 career hits.

He played for nine teams and hit .284 with 33 steals in 60 postseason games. His trademark postseason series was the 1989 American League Championship Series, when he batted .400 with a .609 on-base percentage, going 8-for-8 in steals when the Athletics beat the Toronto Blue Jays.

Rice, who missed enshrinement by 16 votes last year with 72.2%, averaged .298 with 382 home runs and 1,451 RBI during his 16-year career, all with the Boston Red Sox.

Andre Dawson (361 votes, 67%) and Bert Blyleven (338 votes, 62.7%) were the only other players listed on more than half of the ballots. Mark McGwire received 118 votes and 21.9%, down from 23.6% last year and 23.5% in his first year of eligibility.

Tommy John, who won 288 games in 26 seasons, received 31.6% of the votes in his final year on the ballot.

Davis wants to win … just not on the field

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ms-thegameface091908

Davis wants to win … just not on the field
By Michael Silver, Yahoo! Sports
September 19, 2008

The three-word mantra is as ironic as it is iconic, a simple mission statement in which the connotation is now opposite its literal meaning.

Just win, baby.

Yeah, right.

As Al Davis prepares to fire another coach – today, at halftime of the Oakland Raiders' game Sunday against the Bills, or whenever his lawyers tell him he's suitably positioned to try to withhold the money he contractually owes – the loyal denizens of Raider Nation are being asked to believe, as always, that this is about an owner's obsession with victory.

It is, kind of, only the winning that Davis wants so desperately has nothing to do with what happens on the football field. He wants to beat Lane Kiffin, the young man he unearthed 20 months ago as some sort of boy-wonder-savior, in a game of wills. He wants to beat down all his enemies: The city of Oakland, the county of Alameda, the NFL establishment that conspires against him, the officials, the media and the employees who dare do anything but kiss his aging butt.

He wants to win a never-ending game of Feel My Power; in this case, even if he has to sacrifice an entire football season to do it.

We know this because Davis, 79, has a different way of doing business than everyone in professional sports. That used to be a good thing, at least in terms of the bottom line, as Davis' teams had consistent success for nearly four decades. But since Oakland got plastered in Super Bowl XXXVII by the Buccaneers and Jon Gruden, another coach with whom he couldn't coexist, the Raiders have been the least victorious team in the NFL.

Over the last five-plus seasons, Oakland is a league-worst 20-62. That's six defeats more than the next two most futile franchises during that stretch: the 49ers and Lions.

It's not being a "hater" to point this out; it's stating the obvious.

The Raiders are awful. The way they do business is laughable. Their corporate culture is cancerous. And all of this can be traced to one man and his never-ending mission to show everyone who's boss.

This is not a new thing. Twelve years ago, I wrote an article for Sports Illustrated that detailed Davis' destructive leadership approach, right down to his practice of dropping a towel and making a team employee wipe his shoes.

How would you like to work in such an environment?

Bringing this back to the present: How would you like to be the head coach of an NFL team, having just completed your first season – one in which most of your players felt there had been signs of progress despite a 4-12 record – and one day you show up to work and, on your desk, there is a letter drafted by your boss: "I, Lane Kiffin, hereby resign … "

That's what happened to Kiffin back in January. He had two years left on his contract, and by resigning he would have forfeited $4 million. So he decided not to quit, figuring that if Davis wanted him gone that badly, the owner could cut him a check and move on to the next victim. He acted out by spending a week as the coach of the North team in the Senior Bowl without wearing any clothes containing the Raiders' logo and waited for the axe to fall.

At the time, I tried to give Davis the benefit of the doubt in terms of his evaluation of Kiffin. From my vantage point, things had improved considerably from the previous year, when Art Shell's second stint as the Raiders' coach proceeded in disastrous fashion. I also found it odd that Davis, the only person in the world who viewed Kiffin as a viable NFL head coaching candidate at the time the hire was made, had reversed his opinion so abruptly.

But hey, I figured, it's his team, and if he wants to cut his losses, so be it.

Sources said Davis blamed Kiffin for impelling him to trade wideout Randy Moss to the Patriots for a fourth-round draft pick, chafing as the Raider washout set an NFL record with 23 touchdown receptions. The owner groused about Kiffin's decision to start Josh McCown over Daunte Culpepper at quarterback. He was also angered by reports that Kiffin had sought the Arkansas job before it was filled in December.

The final sin came when Kiffin told Davis he wanted to replace defensive coordinator Rob Ryan. At that moment the owner apparently decided he'd rather replace Kiffin. Yet he didn't have the foresight or guts to do it the traditional way.

It was around that time that Kiffin got his predrafted resignation letter, as well as a directive from Davis stating that the owner would have control over Kiffin's staff and over all personnel decisions. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Kiffin was also informed that he and his closest ally in the organization, director of football development Mark Jackson, wouldn't be involved in the scouting, planning or selecting of players in the draft.

Shortly thereafter Davis hired James Lofton as receivers coach without having Kiffin speak to the former Hall of Fame wideout.

Yet Davis still wouldn't fire his coach. A source told me Kiffin could have been bought out for as little as $1.7 million. But even if he'd had to pay the full $4 million, that shouldn't have caused Davis to pause. Having sold 20 percent of the team to a group of venture capitalists a few months earlier, he had all the cash he needed.

This was obvious as Davis doled out serious helpings of guaranteed money to free agents Gibril Wilson ($16 million), Javon Walker ($16 million) and Tommy Kelly ($18.125 million) and trade acquisition DeAngelo Hall ($24.55 million), among others.

Of course, Davis' reluctance to fire Kiffin had nothing to do with money. It was about not giving the insolent employee the satisfaction of leaving on his own terms. It was about torturing him until he caved and reminding him and everyone else that Davis rules the Raider Universe.

In other words, it was about everything but winning football games

How did Davis suppose his franchise would perform under such an arrangement? The owner wanted to fire the coach, who wanted to fire the defensive coordinator – yet here they were after a toxic offseason, and everyone was supposed to pretend it was all good?

Apply this model to any business, and imagine what it might do to workplace morale. The players aren't stupid – if they know that the head coach has been emasculated, that the owner's pets will enjoy what amounts to unquestioned job security, some of them will have a very different reaction to the coach's authority (or lack thereof) than they would in a more conventional situation.

That's why Davis' bitterness over Moss' departure is so ludicrous, for the owner completely misses the point: In a dysfunctional situation like the one in Oakland, he would always have been a checked-out underachiever. Only in a stable situation like New England's, with a culture of professionalism and veteran leaders (and a strong head coach) to enforce it, could Moss maximize his potential.

The fact that Davis allowed a coach he wanted gone to stay on the job through September is absurd enough. Even worse, Davis and his minions are now hell-bent on undermining what's left of Kiffin's credibility – again, at the expense of the team's ability to prepare for those ancillary events that take place on Sundays.

I'm not saying Kiffin has handled all of this in the best possible manner. After the Raiders' embarrassing, 41-14 defeat to the Broncos in their season opener, he probably shouldn't have answered a reporter's question about defensive strategy by saying, essentially, that such matters are between Ryan and Davis. But Kiffin is young, and he's clearly under a lot of day-to-day stress. And, most of all, he's a coach who probably wants to get fired as soon as possible, so he can cash out and get on with his coaching life.

Determined not to let Kiffin get his way, Davis is doing everything in his power to derail that plan.

First he reportedly ordered Ryan to rebut Kiffin's comments about the defensive strategy, which resulted in an 18-minute, profanity-laced tirade. (A source said Davis wasn't thrilled with Ryan's performance because the defensive coordinator forgot one of the key talking points: That a specific defense endorsed by Kiffin had been particularly ineffective against the Broncos. Incredible, and only in Raiderland.)

Then Davis, through his subordinates, floated media reports last week that Kiffin was about to be fired. The Raiders' 23-8 upset of the Chiefs in Kansas City on Sunday – and/or the owner's whims – staved off the inevitable.

On Wednesday, according to reports, senior executive John Herrera went around the press room at the team's Alameda training facility distributing copies of an espn.com column critical of Kiffin. A source says the team's public relations director, Mike Taylor, has also taken an active role in advocating for Davis' position, at the head coach's expense.

Think about how preposterous that is – at least two team officials are essentially engaged in a campaign to turn public opinion against a man who is theoretically the most important employee on the football side of the organization.

Gee, I wonder why this team loses so much.

If Davis can't get Kiffin to quit, sources say, he's trying to build a case against having to pay him the balance of his contract, on the grounds of insubordination. I suspect that at this point, the best Kiffin can hope for is that Davis will fire him and withhold the remainder of the cash he's owed. Kiffin can then file a grievance that probably won't get resolved, one way or another, for a year or more.

If Kiffin has to wait for his buyout – or if it never comes – Davis will undoubtedly feel a sick sense of satisfaction. It'll be another victory for a man who long ago started caring more about winning the petty wars he creates in his paranoid world than the games his fan base actually cares about, and Lofton or Ryan or Tom Rathman or Denny Green (if Davis is lucky) will be heralded as the next savior who'll help restore the greatness of the Raiders.

It's a sad state of affairs for a once-proud franchise, one which, I feel, deserves a new motto in line with the times. So I took the liberty of creating one.

It's not quite as snappy as the current, three-word staple, but it's a lot less disingenuous:

Just feel my power, and cave under the onslaught of pressure I unleash until you commit enough acts that my lawyers decree are insubordinate, baby.

That's a very strange way to run a business, but hey, he's the boss.

Motor City named nation's most dangerous

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071119/ap_on_re_us/dangerous_cities

Motor City named nation's most dangerous
By DAVID N. GOODMAN, Associated Press Writer
Mon Nov 19, 2007

In another blow to the Motor City's tarnished image, Detroit pushed past St. Louis to become the nation's most dangerous city, according to a private research group's controversial analysis, released Sunday, of annual FBI crime statistics.

The study drew harsh criticism even before it came out. The American Society of Criminology launched a pre-emptive strike Friday, issuing a statement attacking it as "an irresponsible misuse" of crime data.

The 14th annual "City Crime Rankings: Crime in Metropolitan America" was published by CQ Press, a unit of Congressional Quarterly Inc. It is based on the FBI's Sept. 24 crime statistics report.

The report looked at 378 cities with at least 75,000 people based on per-capita rates for homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and auto theft. Each crime category was considered separately and weighted based on its seriousness, CQ Press said.

Last year's crime leader, St. Louis, fell to No. 2. Another Michigan city, Flint, ranked third, followed by Oakland Calif.; Camden, N.J.; Birmingham, Ala.; North Charleston, S.C.; Memphis, Tenn.; Richmond, Calif.; and Cleveland.

The study ranked Mission Viejo, Calif., as the safest U.S. city, followed by Clarkstown, N.Y.; Brick Township, N.J.; Amherst, N.Y.; and Sugar Land, Texas.

CQ Press spokesman Ben Krasney said details of the weighting system were proprietary. It was compiled by Kathleen O'Leary Morgan and Scott Morgan, whose Morgan Quitno Press published it until its acquisition by CQ Press.

The study assigns a crime score to each city, with zero representing the national average. Detroit got a score of 407, while St. Louis followed at 406. The score for Mission Viejo, in affluent Orange County, was minus 82.

Detroit was pegged the nation's murder capital in the 1980s and has lost nearly 1 million people since 1950, according to the Census Bureau. Downtown sports stadiums and corporate headquarters — along with the redevelopment of the riverfront of this city of 919,000 — have slowed but not reversed the decline. Officials have said crime reports don't help.

Detroit police officials released a statement Sunday night disputing the report, saying it fails to put crime information into proper context.

"Every year this organization sends out a press release with big, bold lettering that labels a certain city as Most Dangerous, USA," Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings said in the release.

"It really makes you wonder if the organization is truly concerned with evaluating crime or increasing their profit," said Bully-Cummings, who noted the complete report is available only by purchase. "With crime experts across the country routinely denouncing the findings, I believe the answer is clear."

The mayor of 30th-ranked Rochester, N.Y. — an ex-police chief himself — said the study's authors should consider the harm that the report causes.

"What I take exception to is the use of these statistics and the damage they inflict on a number of these cities," said Mayor Robert Duffy, chairman of the Criminal and Social Justice Committee for the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

The rankings "do groundless harm to many communities," said Michael Tonry, president of the American Society of Criminology.

"They also work against a key goal of our society, which is a better understanding of crime-related issues by both scientists and the public," Tonry said.

Critics also complain that numbers don't tell the whole story because of differences among cities.

"You're not comparing apples and oranges; you're comparing watermelons and grapes," said Rob Casey, who heads the FBI section that puts out the Uniform Crime Report that provides the data for the Quitno report.

The FBI posted a statement on its Web site criticizing such use of its statistics.

"These rough rankings provide no insight into the numerous variables that mold crime in a particular town, city, county, state, or region," the FBI said. "Consequently, they lead to simplistic and/or incomplete analyses that often create misleading perceptions adversely affecting communities and their residents."

Doug Goldenberg-Hart, acquisitions editor at CQ Press, said that the rankings are imperfect, but that the numbers are straightforward. Cities at the top of the list would not be there unless they ranked poorly in all six crime categories, he said.

"The idea that people oppose it, it's kind of blaming the messenger," Goldenberg-Hart said. "It's not coming to terms with the idea that crime is a persistent problem in our society."

The report "helps concerned Americans learn how their communities fare in the fight against crime," CQ Press said in a statement. "The first step in making our cities and states safer is to understand the true magnitude of their crime problems. This will only be achieved through straightforward data that all of us can use and understand."

The study excluded Chicago, Minneapolis, and other Illinois and Minnesota cities because of incomplete data.
___

Associated Press writer Jim Salter in St. Louis contributed to this report.
___

On the Net:

CQ Press: http://www.cqpress.com/
American Society of Criminology: http://www.asc41.com/

L.A. has worst traffic; drivers lose 72 hrs a year

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070918/us_nm/traffic_usa_study_dc_1

L.A. has worst traffic; drivers lose 72 hrs a year
By Joan Gralla
Tue Sep 18, 2007

The Los Angeles metropolitan area led the nation in traffic jams in 2005, with rush-hour drivers spending an extra 72 hours a year on average stuck in traffic, according to a study released on Tuesday.

The metropolitan areas of San Francisco-0akland, Washington, D.C.-Virginia-Maryland, and Atlanta were tied for the second most gridlocked areas, according to the study by the Texas Transportation Institute.

Drivers in those three areas spent an extra 60 hours on average during peak periods, defined as 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., the study found.

But drivers in other regions around the country were not much luckier. The report (http://mobility.tamu.edu) found traffic gridlock worsened in all 437 large, medium and small urban centers in 2005.

"What causes congestion? In a word, 'you.' Most of the Mojave Desert is not congested," wrote report authors David Schrank, associate research scientist, and Tim Lomax, research engineer.

The Texas Transportation Institute is an arm of the Texas A&M University System in College Station, Texas.

In the last 20 years, travel has increased by 105 percent in metropolitan areas but road capacity -- measured by freeways and major thoroughfares -- has only risen 45 percent.

Travel by public transportation in 85 urban areas climbed 30 percent in the past two decades.

The study found that drivers in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas, area had average delays of 58 hours.

San Diego drivers faced an average delay of 57 hours, and Houston drivers had an average delay of 56 hours. Detroit was in a three-way tie with San Jose, California, and Orlando, with average delays of 54 hours, according to the report.

Traffic forced U.S. urban dwellers to travel 4.2 billion hours more and buy an extra 2.9 billion gallons of fuel in 2005, for a total cost of $78 billion, the study said.

That worked out to 220 million more hours and 140 million more gallons of fuel than in 2004, with the total cost rising $5 billion.

Solving the problem not only includes focusing on "critical" corridors and easing choke points but making work schedules more flexible and building more areas where people can walk to work, the study said.