Month: January 2011

Volunteers work to restore wetlands on National Bird Day

Wearing gloves and holding shovels, a group of volunteers knelt down along the Martin Luther King Jr. Shoreline on Wednesday afternoon near the Oakland International Airport. They were carefully planting seedlings in the soil surrounding a piece of marsh. “One Mississippi,” a lady in a straw hat counted to herself quickly—the verbal signal is a simple technique to avoid pouring too much water onto a new plant.

Where in Oakland can you recycle batteries and other hazardous waste?

Do you have old paint, batteries or fluorescent light bulbs sitting around the house? You know that you shouldn’t throw them away, yet you’re not sure how to properly get rid of them? Here’s a step-by-step guide to everything you need to know on disposing of and recycling your household hazardous waste.

Victoria Kolakowski sworn in as first openly transgender US trial judge

As prolonged applause broke out from the crowd, Victoria Kolakowski, the first openly transgender trial judge in the United States, took her oath of office on Tuesday evening at the Asian Cultural Center in downtown Oakland. The special session of the California Superior Court drew more than a hundred people, including some LGBT community leaders and council members from several cities within Alameda County.

Mayor Quan announces new staff appointments

As Mayor Jean Quan begins her term in office as Oakland’s 49th mayor, she announced yesterday who will be her staff. With nine appointments in the various city government departments, Quan picked people to work with her on the budget, in education, federal relations, public safety and more.

Video highlights from Jean Quan’s inauguration ceremony

Jean Quan became Oakland’s 49th mayor on Monday as she was sworn in during a ceremony at the Fox Theatre. In her 12-minute inauguration speech, Quan spoke about her priorities for her term and asked residents to “dream of a better Oakland.” Watch this video of the ceremony and Quan’s historical walk from earlier on Monday.

Mobile hamburgers hit the Oakland scene

Every morning Ronald Robles gets up and hand-grinds different kinds of fresh pepper—white, Sichuan and black. He also hand-makes three types of mayonnaise; there’s garlic-flavored, chili and regular. Robles is the owner and chef of Fiveten Burger, one of the newest food trucks to come out of Oakland, and he’s dishing out what he calls “America’s favorite food”—the burger.

Adoptable Animal of the Week: Belinda

Oakland North is continuing with our new feature. Every Tuesday, Oakland Animal Services will spotlight an “Animal of the Week” that’s up for adoption at their facility. This week it’s Belinda the cat.

Oakland memorializes the 94 homicides of 2010

Dozens of wooden crosses, painted white with a number and name hand-written across the front, stood in the front lawn of St. Columba Catholic Church on Friday. Behind, a big cement cross was hung with a pine wreath and a sign that read: “These crosses represent those killed by homicide in Oakland this year.” There were 94 crosses in total.