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OAKLAND, Calif. - Shoppers at some Bay Area Safeway stores will no longer have the option to use self-checkout kiosks. The grocery chain confirmed to KTVU that it's getting rid of the self-checkout machines at several stores, although they wouldn't specify which ones. Safeway officials said they're removing the kiosks because of problems with theft – too many customers steal items when they go through the self-checkout. "Operational changes have been made at select stores throughout the Bay Area given the increasing amount of theft," according to Safeway's statement. "Self-checkout kiosks have been removed at a few stores. Like other...

A recall effort aimed at “progressive” Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao has gathered enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot, organizers say — though they are still collecting signatures to ensure that they survive a challenge. The San Francisco Chronicle reported Saturday: The campaign, Oakland United to Recall Sheng Thao, known as OUST, has until July 22 to submit its signatures. Election officials then must make sure enough signatures are valid to trigger a recall, a process that could take up to two months. OUST has obtained nearly 35,000 signatures since it began its effort in February, Brenda Harbin-Forte, a...

It’s no secret crime in California has gone out of control in many areas. One of the worst is Oakland where the city has been struggling with abandoned, stripped, stolen cars dumped on city streets, among other pervasive criminal activity. But the latest sign of this trend is the elimination of some traffic lights. According to a report from KPIX, residents near one street intersection which now has stop signs instead of traffic lights blames the whole thing on a nearby homeless encampment. They claim the city’s refusal to do something about the criminal activity centered in that encampment has...

The city of Oakland recently removed traffic lights from one busy intersection and replaced them with stop signs after the electrical boxes that controlled the traffic lights were repeatedly tampered with and copper from them was stolen. Local residents and those who own businesses in the area say the issue with the traffic lights stems from the nearby homeless encampment, which has grown over the years. The owner of a vehicle repair shop on the corner of the intersection, Tam Le, said the city is signaling that it is 'giving up on us,' by installing the stop signs. It is...

An Oakland man has been left heartbroken after his rare vintage Corvette was stolen from his garage just before his 80th birthday. Dave Lechthaler, 80, described how a mob of thieves broke into his home on April 15 before riding off with his $200,000 1959 Corvette, which has been his pride and joy for the past 18 years. Surveillance footage captured the brazen act, showing two suspects breaking into the garage, before running off in the Corvette within a matter of minutes. 'It's like a stab in the heart,' he told the Fox affiliate KTVU. He is now pointing fingers...

Oakland has removed the traffic lights from one intersection and replaced them with 4-way stop signs due to people stealing copper and then tampering with an electrical box. It's a sight that has made drivers do a double take: a stop sign hanging overhead where a traffic light would normally be, located above the intersection of E. 12th Street and 16th Avenue in Oakland. Neighbors said city workers removed the all the traffic lights in the last week and replaced them with four-way stop signs. The installation came after months of people stealing copper wires and tampering with the city...

OAKLAND — A 47-year-old man was shot and killed while using a sledgehammer to break up concrete chunks and hurl them at cars and property, and now the suspect is behind bars facing a murder charges. The strange sequence of events started around 4 p.m. March 28, when Greer was seen using a sledgehammer to break up chunks of concrete outside the abandoned home, then began hurling them at the property and cars parked nearby, police said. At some point while Greer was doing this, Dorn allegedly exited the abandoned residence, got on a green bicycle, rode a short distance...

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- Protesters are causing major traffic issues across the Bay Area, including in Oakland and on the Golden Gate Bridge, as part of a worldwide economic blockade in solidarity with Palestine. The first protest Monday morning happened on northbound I-880 in Oakland at 5th Ave., where Protesters brought barrels filled with concrete onto the highway and chained themselves to the barrels. Law enforcement had to cut through the barrels before they could arrest the protesters. Only one lane has been opened. Southbound I-880 has also closed as hundreds of protesters made their way onto the highway with...

The Athletics, as part of their efforts to relocate to Las Vegas in time for the 2028 season, will play their home games for the 2025-27 seasons at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento, California, the team announced on Thursday. The deal includes an option for a fourth season. The A's lease with the City of Oakland is set to expire at the end of this season, yet the A's rejected a five-year extension on the lease of Oakland Coliseum. That, plus an apparent desire to retain as much of their local broadcasting revenue as possible (a factor that my have...

In 2023, Oakland, California was the site of 14,554 motor vehicle thefts, an all-time high for the city. With increases in burglaries and robberies as well, violent and property crimes are higher in Oakland than they have been since the early 1990s.The California city of Oakland has approved a plan to install 480 surveillance cameras equipped with automatic license plate readers in an effort to fight rising crime in the city. Most of the cameras, 290, will be deployed inside the city while the remaining 180 will be placed on freeways. The cameras will provide law enforcement with the ability...

Several neighborhoods in San Francisco and Oakland had the most postal worker robberies in California in 2023, according to data from the U.S. Postal Service. According to the data analyzed by ABC7, about 61% of the 145 reported postal robberies across the state last year happened in the Bay Area. Robberies of postal carriers and drivers have increased across the country in recent years. Thieves, often armed with guns or other weapons, have stolen mail carriers’ master keys to gain access to large groups of mailboxes. The robberies have become an increasing concern since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic...

Four of Oakland’s biggest employers are funding a $10 million security plan for the downtown area amid growing crime concerns. Blue Shield of California, The Clorox Company, Kaiser Permanente and PG&E, all headquartered in Oakland, announced Thursday in a joint news release that they're working together on the program. It includes an increased security presence downtown, safety training for employees and subsidized transportation and escorts for workers walking in the area. In the district that includes downtown Oakland, violent crime increased by 49% between 2022 and 2023, according to statistics from the Oakland Police Department. Robberies and aggravated assaults also...

OAKLAND, Calif. - Runaway graffiti, sometimes called urban art, has often been cited as a major sign of urban decay and disrespect for private and public property. While there are rules against graffiti, enforcing it sometimes causes more trouble than it might be worth.

Oakland, California, is threatening to punish this victim of crime, instead of punishing the serial criminals who keep targeting him again and again and again: https://ktvu.com/news/102-year-old-oakland-man-ordered-to-clean-up-graffiti-on-fence-or-pay-thousands #OaklandCA #Oakland #Woke #News #Politics #Democrats #Liberals #VictorSilvaSr #VictorSilva

Oakland City Council approved funding to hire more tow companies and use the state DOT’s vacant lots.Oakland, California is struggling to deal with a deluge of abandoned vehicles across the city. According to the Oakland Department of Transportation, 13,856 cars were reported abandoned over a six-month period in 2023. The city ran out of space in its storage lots and is renting even more room to hold the excess. In total, Oakland is spending $1 million on storage. Anecdotally, car theft is the root of this problem. ABC7 Bay Area reports the Oakland Police Department will not respond to...

For years now, Oakland has been battling an onslaught of burned, stripped and abandoned vehicles that have made certain parts of the city feel like a scene from a John Carpenter sci-fi epic — and new data presented at an Oakland Public Works and Transportation Committee meeting on March 12 indicates that this pervasive issue is only getting worse. The city received more than 11,000 requests to clear out abandoned vehicles from June 1 to Nov. 30, 2023, which was a “staggering increase,” according to Michael Ford, parking and mobility manager at Oakland’s Department of Transportation, who spoke during the...

In-N-Out Burger will go ahead with plans to close its Oakland restaurant this weekend, the Irvine-based fast food chain confirmed in an email Thursday. The drive-thru’s last day will be Sunday, March 24, as the company announced in late January, citing crime in the area as endangering customers and employees. Statistics show the crime situation is starting to improve, city leaders have said recently. The announcement made national news In-N-Out’s “first time ever” permanent closure, as CNN put it. In-N-Out was founded in Baldwin Park in 1948 by Harry and Esther Snyder and in the following 75 years grew to...

Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser and Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao are both defending their cities amid a surge in crime that has caused a backlash with business owners and local residents. Bowser told Axios in an interview that while Washington "had a tough year last year" in terms of crime, she still urged onlookers not to be harsh on the nation's capital. "Don't be so down on DC," Bowser told the outlet, despite homicides having jumped up 36% and carjackings having almost doubled last year, "when many other major cities saw declines in violent crime." Bowser pointed to crime data...

Oakland police see rise in smash-and-grab suspects targeting people sitting in their cars

aco Bell customers can no longer dine inside multiple Oakland locations. KRON4 visited two Taco Bell restaurants on Sunday and confirmed the dining rooms at two locations, 3535 35th Ave. and 630 Hegenberger Road, have been shut down. KRON4 asked one Taco Bell employee in Oakland why the dining room is now closed. “It’s closed because some people sometimes make trouble,” he said. One customer on foot appears to try and order from the Taco Bell drive-thru. That now seems to be the only way vehicle-less customers can place an order at these locations