Raccoons in the Prescott

Community members walking their dog early this morning in the Raimondi Park area was surprised by 3 raccoons, charging them and their dog. They stated the raccoons seem focused on their dog, which is an adult lab mix.

As the raccoons charged, the walkers screamed which caused two raccoons to stop and retreat. One raccoon seemed more aggressive than the others and retreated very slowly after coming within 5 feet. The raccoons were reported as watching the walkers as they made their way east on 18th street from Wood Street.

During the last couple of months there have been reports from community members living in all parts of the Prescott neighborhood of raccoons in their backyards, driveways and on the streets in the night or early a.m. with some folks reporting some aggressive behaviors from the raccoons.

Although raccoons look cute and cuddly, the can and do great harm with those retractable claws. Let's keep our children and pets safe and don’t engage the raccoons.

Raccoons carry diseases that can be spread to other animals including dogs such as raccoon rabies, roundworm and distemper just to name a few.

Remember don’t leave those water and food bowls out at night. Make sure the tops on garbage cans are closed and secure.

Chocolatier, Cacaofevier and Councilmembers

Oakland councilwoman moonlights as chocolatier
By Janis Mara

Oakland City Councilmember Nancy Nadel displays an array of chocolates she made with cacao beans...Trading bonbons for bombast and roasters for rhetoric, Oakland City Councilwoman Nancy Nadel spends most Sundays whipping up chocolates in her role as founder of the Oakland Chocolate Co.

"It's smooth and rich. Basically, it's fabulous," said Karin Mac Donald of Oakland, a neighbor of Nadel's and self-described chocoholic who has been purchasing the candy since early 2008. "Usually I get the solid dark chocolate, but a friend told me the chocolate with chipotle pepper was good. I tried it and, to my surprise, I liked it."

Web site: Oakland Chocolate Company

Phone: 510-654-6966

Eat Real Festival August 28-30, 2009

...a mostly free celebration of sustainably produced street food,

coming to Jack London Square, August 28-30.

Time: Fri, 4PM - 9PM, Sat, 10 AM - 9PM, Sun, 10AM - 5PM

Eat Real shares similar local, sustainable values with the slow food movement, but it also focuses on accessibility and affordability.

Eat Real will mix restaurant-driven, trendy food carts like the crème brulée truck and sexy soup lady with the traditional taco trucks and barbeque outposts that have been feeding city workers for years.

A comparable number of farmers and food artisans from nine Bay Area counties will set up stalls inside the Jack London Market where they will sell and sample products. There will also be 40 Northern California microbreweries in the beer shed.

Oakland restaurants participating in the event include Camino, Pizzaiolo, Brown Sugar Kitchen, Miss Pearl’s Jam House and Radio Africa.

Several new Jack London Square businesses, including Bocanova restaurant and Miette Patisserie, will open in conjunction with the festival.

Attendees must pay for beer and food, but vendors agreed to keep their food offerings under $5, and an eight-beer tasting costs $20 in advance.

Proceeds from the event will benefit La Cocina, People’s Grocery and Buy Fresh, Buy Local, three nonprofits that support food entrepreneurs.

How do I get there? It's easy to get to the square by ferry, train, bus, car, bike, or BART—the Lake Merritt BART stop is only six blocks away.

SF Business Times sduxbury@bizjournals.com / (415) 288-4963