Friday’s Briefing: Oakland councilmember hurts back after gunfire erupts; Barbara Lee praised at Democratic debate

Friday’s Briefing: Oakland councilmember hurts back after gunfire erupts; Barbara Lee praised at Democratic debate

FILE PHOTO

Oakland Councilmember Larry Reid was attending an annual holiday turkey and ham giveaway in East Oakland when shots rang out nearby.


Lateefah Simon named BART board president

News you don’t want to miss for Dec. 20:

1. Oakland Councilmember Larry Reid tweaked his back while falling to the ground after gunshot were fired near a holiday food giveaway event on Edes Avenue, KTVU reports. The gunfire was related to suspects chased to Oakland from a robbery in Fremont.

2. Seven Democratic presidential candidates met in a debate in Los Angeles Thursday night. During a question about endless wars, Sen. Bernie Sanders name-dropped the East Bay’s Rep. Barbara Lee and her famous lone vote in 2001 against authorizing war in Afghanistan, NBC News reports. South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg seconded his praise for Lee’s foresight nearly two decades ago.

3. Oakland Assemblymember Rob Bonta, Oakland City Council President Rebecca Kaplan, and Hayward Assemblymember Bill Quirk attended Thursday night’s Democratic Debate. The East Bay Citizen reports several of the presidential candidates have reached out recently to Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and Bonta for endorsements. Both had previous backed Sen. Kamala Harris, who dropped out of the race on Dec. 3.

4. BART appointed Director Lateefah Simon as its next board president, the East Bay Times reports. Simon, who represents Richmond and parts of Oakland and Berkeley, among other areas, is a full-time BART rider and rising star in East Bay politics. $$

5. In the aftermath of the Halloween night shooting at an AirBNB in Orinda that killed five people, the Orinda City Council voted Thursday night to extend a ban on non-hosted, short-term rentals, the East Bay Times reports.

6. A lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court accuses Corteva Agriscience, a chemical company in Pittsburg of improperly disposing of hazardous materials for five years, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. $$

7. The long-awaiting “Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker” opened in theaters last night. The early reviews are not good, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. In fact, they are the worst since the Jar-Jar Binks vehicle, “The Phantom Menace”. $$

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