Path2Math director Margena Wade-Green and six high school tutors gathered in a circle to prepare for the day of summer school ahead. Wade-Green led everyone in a deep breath and instructed them to leave everything outside the classroom behind and “prepare to welcome the babies.” When the babies — actually six second grade students — arrived, a few ran to hug their tutors. And then the tutors got to work at individual stations, each with a bag of practice worksheets…
Over 100 people gathered at Tamarack in downtown Oakland on Saturday for a “Comeback Party and Fundraiser” for Street Spirit, a newspaper that has focused on homelessness in the East Bay since 1995 and lost its funding in May. The loss was a major blow for about 40 vendors, many of them unhoused, who sell the paper in Berkeley and Oakland for $2, keeping 100% of what they collect, including donations beyond the paper’s cost. Editor-in-chief Alastair Boone is working…
Oakland City Council passed an ordinance Tuesday making it a crime to organize, facilitate or promote sideshows. The ordinance passed with six votes — councilmembers Kevin Jenkins and Janani Ramachandran were absent. Councilmember Noel Gallo originally proposed a stricter ordinance in December that would also have made it a crime to watch a sideshow, but that proposal was rejected and revised. The revisions remove any mention of spectators and “bystander participants.” The city has sought to deter people from participating…