Over 1,000 people marched down International Boulevard on Monday in 81 degree heat as a crowd cheered. It was May Day, or International Workers’ Day, which commemorates the massive May 1, 1888, strike lead by the American Federation of Labor for an eight-hour workday. They passed the Native American Health Center near 31st Avenue and the cool breeze carried the scent of indigenous dancers’ burning sage across the crowd. The huge flatbed truck carrying a PA system and a dozen…
The family of Ghost Ship fire victim Edmond Lapine II files a wrongful death suit against the Ghost Ship building owner, neighbors, master tenant and promoters for the party where the blaze started.
The residential building at 2551 San Pablo Avenue caught fire in the early-morning hours of March 27, killing four people and displacing more than 100. That day Strauss started a crowdfunding page to collect donations for displaced residents. It wasn’t the first time he’d done this—as a founding member of the Oakland Warehouse Coalition, Jonah Strauss had collected donations for survivors of the Ghost Ship fire and their next of kin.
A Safe Spaces workshop, organized by the Intersection for the Arts and the San Francisco Bay Area Urban Planning and Research Association, was held in Oakland to discuss Ghost Ship’s aftermath.
Tail Sticks Casting’s call on February 1 read: “GHOST SHIP” — Seeking Men & Women 20s-30s to play rave party goers. Types can range from edgy/artsy to bohemian. The call was to film “Deathtrap,” an episode of Chicago Fire, an NBC drama from producer Dick Wolf of Law & Order fame. The episode, set to air on March 1 at 8:00 pm PST, is based on the December 2, 2016 Ghost Ship fire. The fire occurred at a dance party…
On Tuesday night, the council heard reports by working groups created by Mayor Libby Schaff’s Executive Order 2017-1 on January 11, calling for improving building and fire safety in non-permitted spaces while avoiding displacing their residents if code violations aren’t life-threatening. Should tenants have to be relocated, the order calls for the city to provide more relocation assistance. The order also calls for more notice for inspections; strengthening the Just Cause Ordinance, which prohibits landlords from evicting tenants except for specific reasons like failure to pay rent and illegal activities; as well as steps towards legalizing non-conforming spaces and reforming the city’s events permits system.
After weeks of rain, light from a clear blue sky filtered into the windows of the second-story ballroom at the Starline Social Club in Oakland on Sunday. Artists, musicians and community members walked slowly across the wooden dance floor, eyes fixed on the displays: bright watercolor and acrylic paintings, cassettes of albums by local musicians, ceramics with intricate natural patterns and textures, jewelry and leatherwork. At one end of the display, a rack held coats, dresses, hats and handbags. Near…
The city and the Federal Small Business Administration (SBA) are offering low-interest loans and technical assistance to business owners, nonprofits, homeowners and tenants in the vicinity of the fire. According to Economic Development Manager Aliza Gallo, anyone can apply but must show proof that the fire negatively impacted them physically or economically.
On a brisk Friday afternoon at around a quarter to 1 pm, a group of about 30 people gathered at Frank Ogawa Plaza in downtown Oakland to protest the $3.7 billion Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). Some came with their children. A few carried signs that said “Water is Life.” The Dakota Access Pipeline, which is set to be built by energy giant Energy Transfer Partners to carry crude oil extracted from North Dakota’s Bakken Shale fields to refineries in Texas,…
Over 60 community members including artists and performers affected by the December 2, 2016 Ghost Ship fire gathered at Oakland City Hall Monday night for a special meeting of the city council to discuss tenant issues in the wake of the tragedy.
Despite the gloomy weather, tens of thousands gathered at Madison Park near downtown Oakland on Saturday to participate in one of the three branches of Women’s March Bay Area, a demonstration to support women and human rights. The three Bay Area marches—in Oakland, San Francisco and San Jose—are among the more than 600 locally-organized “sister marches” of the Women’s March on Washington, which is now expected to draw as many as half a million participants. The marches are nonpartisan and…
After a day of marches, public speeches and rallies, as night fell and the rain came down, demonstrators gathered once again in downtown Oakland to march in protest of Donald Trump’s inauguration. Earlier in the day, a small group had gathered in front of the Ronald V. Dellums Federal building, and several marches and student gatherings had convened near Frank Ozawa Plaza, where people recited poetry and passed a microphone around to let people express their concerns about the new administration….
Demonstrators began gathering in Oakland early Friday morning to protest the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States. Protests are planned throughout the nation and the Bay Area Friday and Saturday; in the East Bay, walkouts are planned at several schools, a march is planned for downtown Oakland on Friday night, and Women’s March Bay Area has organized events in Oakland, San Francisco and San Jose for Saturday, in coordination with a larger march planned…