Month: July 2024
Oakland has officially sold its stake in the Coliseum, setting aside concerns that the city’s adopted budget relied too heavily on a deal that had not yet gone through. At a news conference on Tuesday, Mayor Sheng Thao, City Administrator Jestin Johnson and Ray Bobbitt, managing partner of African American Sports and Entertainment Group, signed an agreement that would finalize the $105 million sale. The deal, which was announced in May, will likely allow the city to scrap a contingency…
After spending a combined 62 years on death row, two men will likely have their sentences reduced because of alleged prosecutorial misconduct at the Alameda County District Attorney’s office. During a July 16 news conference, District Attorney Pamela Price, who campaigned on a promise to not seek the death penalty, announced that Ernest Dykes and Keith Thomas will be resentenced. The move is the first tangible outcome of a judge-ordered review of death penalty cases in the county. In April,…
Update: In May 2025, Alameda County District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson, who was appointed in January after voters recalled Pamela Price, dismissed the charges against Radius. A two-day toxic blaze that blanketed Oakland in smoke last summer has resulted in criminal indictments for Radius Recycling. “Under my leadership, this administration will not allow corporate criminals to poison our community recklessly, to create vulnerabilities for our community and for those who serve our community and just walk away having made a…
When photographer Malcolm Ryder first moved to Oakland, the place he saw through his camera lens was different from what he saw on the news. “I became super sensitive to the incredible disparity between what was actually in Oakland and how it is usually portrayed in mass media. The mass media portrayal is not just borderline hostile, it is outright hostile. It doesn’t even make room for the possibility that the city could be or can be a better place,”…
As the state expands its law enforcement presence in Alameda County, Gov. Gavin Newsom and District Attorney Pamela Price are expressing disappointment in each others’ handling of the partnership. Speaking at a news conference in Oakland Thursday, the governor announced that the state Attorney General’s Office would be stepping in to handle more cases originating in Alameda County. This will accompany a fourfold increase of California Highway Patrol personnel operating in the county. The shift comes on the heels of…
In the face of mounting political pressure, the Oakland City Council reversed course Tuesday and voted in favor of a November ballot measure that would beef up the Public Ethics Commission. Citing Oakland’s substantial budget shortfall, the council had previously turned down a proposal that includes a slate of reforms meant to modernize the city’s watchdog agency and give it more investigative muscle. Just under two weeks later, Councilmembers Carroll Fife and Rebecca Kaplan changed their minds. Fife, who called…
A century ago, in the shadow of a newly constructed Tribune Tower, a group of women met at Hotel Oakland to establish an organization that would reflect their nascent civic power. Over the ensuing 100 years, both landmarks would close, but the League of Women Voters of Oakland remains. Last month, on the shore of Lake Merritt, members of the Oakland League celebrated the organization’s centennial. Under strings of shimmering lights and a massive eucalyptus tree, generations of volunteers came…