12/14/09 Keeping the Home Fires Burning

UC Berkeley’s fall semester has reached an end, which means most of Oakland North’s reporters have scattered to the four corners of the globe. Well, scattered to Los Angeles, Texas, Wisconsin and Burma, at least. That feels like the four corners of the globe after close to four months we’ve spent between San Pablo, Claremont, Alcatraz and Grand Lake avenues.

A reduced staff of two or three reporters will keep the site going during the next five weeks until we return to more full staff levels. Here’s a preview of what we’ll have this week:

• Jun Stinson has the story of the Buddhist Church of Oakland, one of the last remaining physical reminders of the Japanese-American community that thrived in Oakland’s Chinatown before World War II.
• Mario Furloni investigates a string of burglaries in North Oakland’s Golden Gate neighborhood.
• On Wednesday, the Oakland Unified School District meets to discuss its budget shortfall and the likely closure of a number of schools. Look for Oakland North’s story on Thursday afternoon.
• The BART Board of Directors meets on Thursday to discuss its search for a new police chief, close to one year after the Oscar Grant killing at the Fruitvale BART Station. Oakland North’s Tom Gorman is following the story.
• We’ll also soon be publishing our more in-depth reports on the potential impact of a health care reform bill on Oakland residents, urban gardens and land use issues in the city, and the Alameda County Family Justice Center.