The Spot.Us community had a good week.

First we had an article on the front page of the Oakland Tribune. And now we have a story in the East Bay Express!!

Budget May Stall Effort to Reform Internal Affairs

Oakland’s huge deficit may derail a long-standing effort to “civilianize” investigations of police complaints.

By Andrew Stelzer

Looking for a silver lining in the Oscar Grant killing is tough. But for advocates of police accountability, the incident presented an opportunity.

The grassroots nonprofit group People United for a Better Oakland (PUEBLO) has been trying to strengthen Oakland’s Citizens Police Review Board (CPRB) for more than a decade. “We’ve been helped, sadly, through this tragedy of Oscar Grant,” said Rashidah Grinage, PUEBLO’s director. “The thirst and the call for independent oversight of BART has, I think, added credibility to our demand for the same thing in Oakland.”

Read the rest at the East Bay Express.

These are stories that were in part funded by Spot.Us community members and in part funded by the organizations. All money raised on Spot.Us goes directly to the freelancer so that they can continue covering a story with more depth, clarity and persistence to get to the bottom of things.

In fact, you can tell by Andrew’s pitch on Spot.Us that this Easy Bay Express article is just starting to scratch the surface of what he wants to examine. We are only $90 shy of our goal to fully fund Andrew so he can look at civilian oversight of the Oakland police alongside other examples from across the country.

It has been a GREAT week for our community. And while we celebrate in the success, and debrief reporter Sean Maher for insight, lets not forget the goal and purpose of it all.

Information is power. Information is the oxygen of democracies. Information can change laws, lives and culture. Let’s keep pushing forward!!!

In celebration of Sean Maher’s article published today in the Oakland Tribune, Maher will be featured on this week’s BlogTalk Radio show to discuss what went into this story and where the pothole issue stands now. Tune in tomorrow, Friday June 19, at 11am on our BlogTalkRadio page or call (347)945-5577 to join the conversation. See the show description below:

Pothole Provocation: Oakland’s Public Works Nightmare

Friday June 19, 11am-11:45am

Dial-in number: (347) 945-5577

Oakland’s infrastructure, already among the worst in the Bay Area, appears locked into further deterioration even as federal stimulus funds offer a chance to help. Oakland Tribune freelance writer and Spot.us reporter Sean Maher will join us to discuss his article just published in the Oakland Tribune about Oakland’s infrastructure woes and the great challenge Public Works faces to solve the problems. Listen to hear about Maher’s experience working on this story, the next steps for Public Works and the participatory journalism that helped make this article possible.

Sean Maher, freelancer with Spot.Us, had his pothole story published in the Oakland Tribune today.  Here is a short excerpt from it:

“Oakland streets, already among the most broken and heavily trafficked in the country, are in the midst of a slow but serious decline that hits the pocketbooks of the city, the state and every driver in town. It’s hard to drive around downtown, Fruitvale or East Oakland and not hit any of a seemingly countless number of potholes.

The city’s Public Works Agency recently completed its annual “Pothole Blitz,” struggling to maintain the current road quality as record traffic loads tear up city pavement.” To Read More =>

Did you see the video we did to organize a bike ride to report potholes?