Just The News

Some 15 Police Cars In Hot Pursuit

This just in… some police action to top off the year!  Over in the North Hills, there were Oakland police hotly pursuing robbers.  While this is par for the course in places like LA, we have learned about a chase that just took place on Rt 24 instead.

Hats off to Jim Dexter for this report:

A capture of armed robbers by overwhelming OPD force occurred starting at 1:20 p.m. today.  I was trying to travel to the Caldecott Tunnel, and had started to turn on the 13/24 east ramp when many OPD vehicles came rushing by.  At least 15 OPD vehicles arrived at the top of the ramp, officers exited their vehicles with guns drawn.  The east-bound traffic on 24 was completely halted.  I was told by one officer that the suspects were robbery related, and that there was at least one rifle in the vehicle.

When I looked around for more info or details, there’s nothing to be found yet.  I’m sure this news will garner a mention or two by the TV stations or press later.  Anyone else around to witness this underway?

Update:   Inside Bay Area posted Police stopping suspected robbery vehicle halt traffic on Highway 24.  According to staff reports, “at least three men were detained at gunpoint by police.”

Piedmont Wins Gold, Skyline Drops Out

Kudos to Piedmont High, which has been awarded a gold medal by US News and World Report – ranked #64 among all U.S. public schools.  Nearby Skyline High dropped out and was nowhere to be found.  You might jump to the conclusion that these rankings reflect the socio-economic mix at high schools, and you would be correct.

Piedmont High Ranking

The US News rankings are based on academics and college preparedness, and they valiantly attempt to factor in economically disadvantaged kids.  The calculations come from these sources:  proportion of kids taking Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate courses; actual scores from these college-credit tests; and participation levels by economically disadvantaged kids.

School Matters calculated all high schools for this report, and assembles all kinds of information on U.S. public schools as well.  So I pulled up a comparison between Piedmont and Skyline to see where they stand on general proficiencies.

Piedmont Skyline School Matters

While the data is a year old, the overall proficiencies tell a clear story:  97.5% for Piedmont and 75.5% for Skyline.  No matter how you slice the data, economically disadvantaged kids didn’t perform as well and pulled down the averages.  When you exclude that population, the numbers look a little better but there’s still a large gap.

Top Ranked lists are always interesting but can be twisted in so many ways.  Is a high school most successful when they focus on AP tests?  Are disadvantaged kids best measured by the sliver who do?  Well, there’s some validity to the new twist from US News and it’s terrific that Piedmont is a shining star.  But for the Skyline parents and kids who are college-bound, don’t worry too much about it.

First Time: No Home Fires Tonight

Keeping warm on this truly chilly evening?  Well, this better be due to your electricity or gas supplied heat only, because it’s now illegal to use your fireplace or wood-burning stove.  Welcome to the first Spare The Air Day, winter edition.

Today the air quality was reported as “102” for the Coast and Central Bay, which includes Oakland and the Oakland Hills.  This means it’s unhealthy for sensitive groups like active kids/adults and people with respiratory problems.

Air Quality Report

When the particulates get too high, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District Board declares a Spare The Air Day.  No wood, fake logs or pellets may be burned during the these bad days – which can occur from November through February.

This wood-smoke rule was passed last July, and I admit to ignoring the news back then:  “Regulation 6, Rule 3 makes it illegal to burn wood or fire logs in fireplaces, wood stoves, pellet stoves, outdoor fire pits, or any other wood-burning devices when the Air District issues a Winter Spare the Air Alert.”

Let this be fair warning, as you could become a scofflaw by tending the home fires.  Fines start at hundreds of dollars, so I have heard.  Yet enforcement can’t be a high priority for patrolling cops, so it’s not clear who will be driving around and sniffing chimneys.

Hey, I’m all for improving air quality and the Air District says that 2/3rd of the particulates come from this burning.  This seems like a form of pollution we can actively prevent!  Since we don’t live in Siberia, I have to believe that controlling or eliminating wood fires isn’t very tough for folks.

To stay tuned into the bad day alerts, you may check online, call 1-877-4NO-BURN, or sign up for your personal Air Alerts via email or cell.  Of course, local TV/Radio stations also report these declared days too.

The United Neighborhood Councils of Oakland Rises

By now, you are likely familiar with Montclair’s two neighborhood safety groups which cover residents living north of Thornhill (police beat 13Y) and south of Thornhill (beat 13Z) respectively.

Montclair Councils

Now there’s a brand-new effort to address issues among all 52 neighborhood councils scattered throughout Oakland. The United Neighborhood Councils of Oakland – dubbed “UNCO” – is putting its bylaws to a vote tomorrow.  Their mission aims to:

  • Promote coordination of effort and advocacy on issues of concern on behalf of the citizens of Oakland
  • Provide assistance, support, and resources to all Neighborhood Councils, including the exchange of best practices
  • Facilitate and promote the full implementation of Community Policing as delineated in City Council of Oakland Resolution 79235 CMS

Back in 2005, the City Council implemented Resolution 79235 “to provide a structured approach to community involvement.”  While the individual police-beats and groups have been developed since then, the UNCO is another way to communicate safety priorities at a more unified level with Oakland’s police and other departments.

What’s interesting is that UNCO could function as an escalation path for the neighborhood councils.  So when a specific council has some question, say about solicitors, the unified group seeks hyper-local and city-wide responses too.

The UNCO organizers invite everyone to attend their fifth organizing meeting and watch the bylaw approvals.  Delegates representing each of the 52 councils are eligible to vote.   The proceedings take place Tuesday from 7pm-9pm, at Eastmont Police Sub-Station, 2651 73rd Avenue (map).

More info:  Visit the United Neighborhood Councils of Oakland’s first online home, which includes an interactive map of all neighborhood councils.

Montclair Fifth Graders Pass Their Gym Tests

On this Thanksgiving Day, it seems like we are evolving into those gluttonous Wall-E humans who can no longer walk or propel themselves.  Yet we aren’t quite that bad, when you look at the physical fitness of our local kids.

Based on gym test results released this week, fifth graders from Montclair, Thornhill and Joaquin Miller elementary schools are performing relatively well when compared to their nearby peers.  However that’s not a very high bar, looking at the passing percentages below.

Healthy Fitness Percentages

How did we do overall?  Some 74% of Montclair and 67% of Thornhill kids passed at least five of six fitness criteria, beating county and state results.  However only 51% of Joaquin Miller kids passed five or more tests, which falls slightly below the Oakland results.

Interestingly, there’s tremendous variability by individual fitness test.  In aerobic capacity, the kids are asked to run a mile – and Montclair/Miller kids far exceeded the average results while Thornhill kids performed at average levels.  Yet Thornhill kids showed the best trunk strength and flexibility.  It’s hard to say why.

Years ago, I remember suffering through fitness tests that included long rope climbs and many pull-ups.  They seemed really hard, but I could run and bike around for hours.  While I’m sure our fifth graders are more sedentary than we all were growing up, it’s good to see they are still hanging in there.