The struggle over the proposed North Oakland gang injunction continues. Yesterday the ACLU of Northern California, along with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, filed papers opposing the injunction with the Alameda County Superior Court. Among their complaints, the advocacy groups note: "There is no way out of the injunction. The injunction does not include an opt-out provision for people who are misidentified or who have turned their lives around. If community members are wrongfully labeled as gang members, they would be bound indefinitely by the restrictions of the injunction."

Councilmember Jean Quan's e-newsletter observes this week that Oakland fell below the national average of a 56 percent participation rate of census questionaires. The city-wide rate is just 46 percent returned. (Wisconsin and Iowa, on the other hand, seem to be kicking butt!)

As our friends at EBASE remind us, California is facing a $20 billion shortfall. Oakland is in a $15 million mid-year budget deficit, predicted to double in the new fiscal year.

Oakland Rising has officially kicked off our “Yes We Count” Census program this month and we want you to be counted, too.