These two data chunks from the Thao trial are just sitting there on the internet with no reportage. Andy Duong claims he has a "personal" OPD officer at his service and an OPD officer matching the timeline and A.'s claims is named on the witness list for his coms with A.

OO is posting the public court records that are the source of the "bombshell" revelations you've been reading about. Feel free to make up your own mind about whether media have accurately reported them

OO Special: Document Sources for Thao Trial Released This Week

Criminal court reporting is not OO's wheelhouse, and for the most part this publication has left the reporting of the Thao/Jones/Duong trial to others. Having read the source motions myself, my personal opinion is that no local news agency is doing justice to the claims and counter-

oakland-observer.ghost.io

I realize its a prosecution, but what anyone would reasonably assume is if a business trip you took, sponsored by a third party, ended up doubling as a sex party for the sponsor and another guest, you wouldn't want to be associated with the sponsor anymore if that got out.

Good faith question here, why hasn't this relationship been a focus of any reporting nor seeming IAB investigation? Do powerful business men in Oakland have their own "personal OPD"?

Wrapping up the legislative season with the last In the Details. We'll have focused reporting throughout the summer tho, so stay tuned

In the Details, Week Ending 7/26/2026 (2): Gallo Reverses Coliseum Sale Agreement Vote on 2nd Reading; CAO Pulls OPC Appointments

This is the last In the Details of the legislative cycle. There will be no Council meetings until mid September. OO will have direct reporting on several issues in the upcoming weeks, however, including a process at the Police Commission to create procedures for OPD's interaction with federal immigration

oakland-observer.ghost.io

So glad these tenants are moving forward on their own. They've been coming to City Council meetings for months and getting nowhere

Roaches, busted elevators, fraud allegations prompt Oakland Station tenants to sue

The 180-page lawsuit makes a slew of allegations about the East Oakland affordable housing that was initially designed for seniors.

oaklandside.org

Houston now has a big rep for doing this to those engaging with him in good faith as an elected official. His Council-mates cover for him, local media avoids the eye-popping stunts, things they'd absolutely feature if done by a left-of-center rep oaklandside.org/2026...

OPD complains about how understaffed it is, particularly in those areas that require long term investigations like theft rings and homicides, and this is what they spent your tax dollars doing [other than redirecting overtime luchre to their suburban mcmansion dreams] oaklandside.org/2026/07/24/m...

Mistah F.A.B., rapper and activist, charged for possession of illegal fireworks

Oakland police say they recovered fireworks and two guns after conducting a nearly three-week investigation.

oaklandside.org

I'm at a loss for how little reporting there's been on state of Oakland's Flock. Normatively, OPD promised surveillance lovers a full panopticon, w/city-owned PTZs and a resident cam network. That's never happened, despite being widely reported as approved

In the Details, Week Ending 7/19/2026 (4): Coliseum Deal Amendment Brings Deal Closer; OPD Bunts on Flock Expansion; CED Forwards $4.5 MM Loan Forgiveness with Little Commentary

1) OPD Bunts on ALPR Expansion At Public Safety Tuesday, OPD withdrew proposed changes to its Flock use policy embedded in its 2025 annual report. OPD generally presents all of the annual technology reports required by the City’s Surveillance Ordinance as a package to Council for block approval. During

oakland-observer.ghost.io

oaklandside.org/2026/07/23/o...

Oakland Councilmember Rowena Brown says she was assaulted, robbed

Brown is recovering from a violent crime, according to social media posts. OPD confirmed they made an arrest and are investigating.

oaklandside.org

By now evidence Ken Houston isn't a good fit for public office is pretty overwhelming, but this gets into other issues. Becker Boards recently received a sweetheart amendment to their billboard deal from Council. Houston's vote for it was key because three CMs voted against

Selection Panel has once again submitted Ricardo Garcia Acosta for appointment to OPC. Garcia Acosta has now prevailed over 50 candidates in at least 5 separate Panel votes. Open question how Council will face this after two visibly politicized rejections

City Council made up an excuse that there wasn't enough outreach for the Police Commission appointments to hide the fact they were doing the bidding of OPOA. So now, the City Admin attached tons of outreach documentation, and forgot the bios of the appointees

This week's In the Details covers the Coli sale & Houston's here-today-gone-tomorrow severance package for Johnson. But also startling loan forgiveness for an absentee developer in East Oakland, & OPD's bunt on a radical Flock expansion

In the Details, Week Ending 7/19/2026 (4): Coliseum Deal Amendment Brings Deal Closer; OPD Bunts on Flock Expansion; CED Forwards $4.5 MM Loan Forgiveness with Little Commentary

1) OPD Bunts on ALPR Expansion At Public Safety Tuesday, OPD withdrew proposed changes to its Flock use policy embedded in its 2025 annual report. OPD generally presents all of the annual technology reports required by the City’s Surveillance Ordinance as a package to Council for block approval. During

oakland-observer.ghost.io

I definitely get the feeling that there is more to the issues with Flock than we are hearing about, even from civil liberties advocates. LAPD's letting contract lapse comes as OPD is wary of executing contract

LAPD was one of Flock Safety's biggest government customers. Now it’s renegotiating its partnership over ‘serious concerns around civil liberties’ | Fortune

The department recently announced it would not renew its contract due to how Flock collects and shares data.

fortune.com

Rashidah Grinage points out that we know nothing of the person the OPD killed last week.

SAY HIS NAME!

but we can't.

rashidahgrinage1.substack.com

This odd post from OakDOT Director was published yesterday, but nobody seems to have noticed. Despite the heading as a response to Oaklandside "hit piece" there appears to be no actual comment on the OS reporting. substack.com/@josh69...

Initially thought this was city sponsored legislation, but its speculative CM Houston, who has been claiming that Johnson's sexually charged comments about subordinate women workers isn't a big deal. Given anything goes at Rules under Jenkins, outcome is anyone's guess

Looks like incoming Police Chief Beere is set to become one of the lowest paid sworn members of OPD

I wish so many didn't fall for this! Thao barely got programs started when lies & innuendo got her recalled. Lee was smart enough to both cont those programs yet avoid drawing negative attention by citing Thao. So if they now credit the supposed incompetent earlier mayor, why'd they vote her out?

Jaime Omar Yassin [TNH]@hyphyrepublic.bsky.social · 3w ago

To rob Lee of credit continued crime reductions, Empower Oakland has to credit Thao for the reduction in homicides. Thao, the mayor they spent millions towards recalling, its fucking hilarious. They pretended the reductions didn't exist under Thao.

To rob Lee of credit continued crime reductions, Empower Oakland has to credit Thao for the reduction in homicides. Thao, the mayor they spent millions towards recalling, its fucking hilarious. They pretended the reductions didn't exist under Thao.

City's cramming as much drama, legislation, & troubling policies as possible in July, & that has OO publishing a novel's-worth of reporting a week. Tomorrow's big committee items: Flock policy change & $4.5 MM in loan forgiveness for Seminary Point lessee

At Committees This Week, 7/14/2026

Pressed for time on this preview, unfortunately, so I will keep it to the items of most importance tomorrow. I’ll observe all of the meetings [except for Life Enrichment] tomorrow and will have live reports. Community and Economic Development Committee Seminary Point Loan Forgiveness, Line of Credit Forgiveness, Rent

oakland-observer.ghost.io

Hard to believe is getting so little notice. Sunfield is under water on its loan from the city, loan from another firm, line of credit to service that other loan for city-owned Seminary Point. City lease gave 7 years free rent, to begin paying 1K/month in 2023. Never paid a cent.

OO's hard at work every weekend filling in gaps & filling in overlooked details; OO sifted thru the emails for a background timeline on Lake/Rowan/[+ city official] conflict; OO's reporting on today's consequential vote on the new AASEG/Loop/Oak View deal.

The Oakland Observer

Reporting the Town's News and Politics

oakland-observer.ghost.io

Interesting that City is leading w/Irving Azoff at this press conference, the basically famous owner of Oak View Group which is partnering w/AASEG and Loop Capital to separately purchase the arena. The Arena will basically be a plug and play element and live immediately on sale

Here's the Oakland Observer's rundown of the new Coliseum sale amendment. The City thinks it can close the deal now by December, clear 50 MM immediately, rid itself of 6 MM Coli upkeep annually, and clear another 60 MM over 7 years w/interest

Special Meeting on Coliseum/Arena Sale Amendment Monday 10:30am

The City and Council are fast-tracking authorization of a second amendment to the Coliseum sale to Oakland Acquisition Company [OAC], the collective corporation of financing behemoth Loop Capital and local developer AASEG at a special meeting Monday morning. The new amendment would bring the deal in line with the

oakland-observer.ghost.io

Several local propaganda sites raced to report on the deal before the report or term sheet were available. But the new amended deal puts the city in a more secure financial position, & rids taxpayers of a 6 MM dollar per year subsidy to the Coliseum.

One element of the Coliseum sale never appropriately captured is that the City pays 16.5K per day to keep it sitting there in disuse and decline, about 6 MM per year. If the sale goes through this year, that will stay in the city's revenues starting January.

Oaklandside broke the story, but the Oakland Observer will walk you through the timeline and details in the public record sources that reveal the conflict is even more unhinged than it seemed. Links to the PRAs, which reveal even more disfunction

As Some CMs Push Back on Lake Interim Appointment, Public Records Reveal OakDOT Director’s Month of Complaints Against Lake and Others

An unprecedented Council push back against an Interim City Administrator [CA] appointment Tuesday night appears to be only the beginning of a still unfolding saga, records released to the public last week now confirm. A Mayor’s appointment of an Interim CA is not unusual in times when the position

oakland-observer.ghost.io

I found a second tranche of documents concerning Rowan's disagreements with City. I was kind of floored at this one and surprised it has not made the reporting.