Armistead Maupin was on hand today for the announcement of California’s first urban independent-living community for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) seniors—to open this fall in the historic landmarked Lake Merritt Hotel.

As of the originally announced end of the poll, Febrary 11 at 10 PM, a total of 390 self-identified Oakland voters voiced overall opposition online to a proposal for the Kwik Way drive-in restaurant to be replaced by a FatBurger. “No”s (48.5%) beat the “Yes”s (41.8%). Residents within a half mile of the site were even stronger in their opposition: 57.3% voted “No” vs. 32.5% “Yes.”

However, the deadline appeared this morning to have been extended a week. Subsequently, this extension was apparently reversed. The “Kwik Way Location” is now listed as a “Closed Issue,” and “The Decision” is “under review, February 11, 2007.”

Council member Pat Kernighan has launched an online poll to assess neighborhood opinion about the proposal for a FatBurger restaurant to open in the Kwik Way Building. The poll runs through Sunday, February 11, at 10 PM.

The owner of the Kwik Way is trying once again to replace the ailing, unprofitable business with a major hamburger chain. Some community members call for a previously planned mixed-use development instead.

Festivity reigned as the Hands Around the Lake inaugural event took place this morning on an unseasonably chilly, but beautifully crystal-clear, day on Lake Merritt.

A 3.5–magnitude earthquake rattled the Lake Merritt area at 9:21 AM this morning. This followed two other quakes—both magnitude 3.7—Wednesday and Friday evenings. All three quakes occurred on essentially the same spot on the Hayward fault and at the same depth.

Pat Kernighan handily beat challenger Aimee Allison in order to retain her District 2 City Council post. Challenger Courtney Ruby decisively beat incumbent Roland Smith to become Oakland’s new City Auditor. Instant Runoff Voting (Measure O) was approved by 68 percent in the face of no organized opposition. Measure N, the library bond measure, won a 63 percent majority, but failed to reach the two-thirds majority required for passage.