Today's oakland tribune article on first friday capture the politics
coming to a head this week surrounding art murmur, the police, etc..
Here's a snippet and a link below.
For a more comprehensive view of the situation - see Oakland Local
coverage @
http://oaklandlocal.com/tags/art-murmur.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_22682101/first-friday-returns-amid-talk-cha…
OAKLAND -- First Fridays were an unabashed bonanza for bars, restaurants
and Oakland pride until a teenager was fatally shot at the most recent
event.
With the monthly festival scheduled to return this week, excitement is
tinged with anxiety as doubts remain over whether organizers can handle
another massive crowd.
"I crossed my fingers that it might rain and everyone could catch their
breath and figure out how to handle this in a better way," said John
Mardikian, whose Telegraph Avenue restaurant and beer garden counts on
the festivals for about one-quarter of total sales.
Adding to concerns, an offshoot of Occupy Oakland has called for an
anti-police march through downtown Oakland from 7 to 10 p.m. that night.
...