Dara Kerr

Manifesto celebrates three years of Bike Church

Manifesto’s Bike Church isn’t your typical Sunday morning of sitting inside a stained-glass structure, listening to scripture and quietly reciting prayers. But there are some similarities. People with similar beliefs do congregate, listen to music and socialize — however, they’re surrounded by bicycles.

Thousands roll out for Bike-to-Work Day

Taking the podium at Oakland City Hall during the Bike-to-Work Day celebration on Thursday morning, city councilmember Libby Schaaf of District 4 started a chant. “When I say ‘bike,’ you say ‘Oakland,’” say announced. “Bike!” she yelled. “Oakland!” the crowd chanted back. It was Oakland’s 18th annual Bike-to-Work Day and record numbers of people hopped on their bikes and commuted to work.

Tombstone engravers carve memories into stone

On a hot spring afternoon, Javier Delgado Jimenez kneels on the grass in Mountain View Cemetery. He is poised over a flat gravestone wearing a gas mask, knee guards, long work gloves and a white hood with a clear plastic visor. With intense concentration, he aims a rod attached to a round metal canister at the face of the gravestone and plumes of red dust billow into the air.

Oakland apartment building opens doors to low-income families

Open up your daily newspaper and there’s no doubt you’ll find a story about a greedy bank, home foreclosure or some aspect of the financial crisis that has left people reeling. But this isn’t one of those stories. It’s a story about banks supporting a project even though they wouldn’t necessarily earn a profit from it, about a community organization helping those in need, and about people coming together and making what seemed like an impossible project succeed.

Judge listens to final arguments in Fruitvale gang injunction hearing

A hearing about whether to impose a preliminary gang injunction against 40 alleged Norteño gang members in the Fruitvale neighborhood began nearly three months ago. On Friday afternoon, after weeks of exhibiting evidence and bringing forth witnesses, lawyers from both sides presented their final arguments to Judge Robert Freedman.

And North Oakland’s worst pothole is…

After a week of voting on the 16 top offenders, 198 votes have been tallied. You decided which pothole was the best of the worst, the most unholy of the holey — and it won by a landslide.

Is Oakland ready for its next big earthquake?

Oakland is overdue for a major earthquake. The Hayward Fault, which runs along Highway 13 at the foot of the Oakland hills and streams through the Oakland Zoo and Mills College, has produced a significant earthquake on average every 140 years for nearly the past millennium. The last substantial earthquake caused by this fault was in 1868 … that was 143 years ago.

Oakland Museum raises $1.6 Million from White Elephant sale

This year’s White Elephant sale topped the charts by earning $1.6 million from its annual event in March. For the 52nd year in a row, the Oakland Museum Women’s Board organized this gigantic rummage sale where people can find anything from picnic baskets to record players to wedding dresses. All proceeds from the sale benefit the Oakland Museum of California.

Oakland food truck debate rages at City Hall

During a contentious meeting Tuesday afternoon, the Oakland City Council’s Committee on Community and Economic Development debated whether or not to expand the boundaries where food trucks can do business throughout the city, as well as loosen some of the restrictions that govern where food trucks can park.

Oakland’s pothole repair blitz begins

The City of Oakland kicked off its annual month-long pothole overhaul on Tuesday. Workers in florescent-orange jackets set down cones on Telegraph Avenue at 56th Street in North Oakland, then sprayed a sticky black substance called asphalt emulsion to delineate the culprit area, which contained several wide, shallow potholes.

Jon’s Street Eats rolls again

One of the all-time favorites dishes at the old Jon’s Street Eats was the ahi tuna roll. Chef Jon Kosorek would lightly sear rare tuna encrusted with black sesame seeds, top it with Asian-inspired slaw and wasabi aioli, then layer it all into a grilled soft white roll. When Kosorek shuttered Jon’s Street Eats in February, moving onto an executive chef job in Calistoga, his customers lamented the loss.

Broadway closure to night traffic extended

Over the past seven weeks, the stretch of Broadway between MacArthur Boulevard and Piedmont Avenue was closed on weeknights because of construction for the Kaiser Permanente Hospital replacement project. The closures were expected to last through April 15. However, due to weather delays construction activities have been extended.

CVS superstore to stay open a little while longer

Much to many Oakland’s residents’ chagrin, over the past few months the CVS superstore on Broadway and Pleasant Valley has been packing up its wares. This colossal neighborhood general store, which has been around since the 1960s, carries everything from motor oil to shoe racks to extensive gardening equipment. The shopping center’s master leaseholder, Safeway, notified CVS in 2009 that it would not renew its lease in order to make way for a shopping center redesign. The mega-drugstore was initially slated to close this June.

If California no longer has a drought, what does that mean?

If you go to the California Department of Water Resources’ drought Web page, you’ll only find this message: “The DWR Drought Web site has been shutdown due to no longer being in an official drought.” Water supply has always been a tough issue in California and residents have long been warned to conserve. But this year has been one of the biggest years of precipitation since 1970, according to the Department of Water Resources.

Michael McMillen retrospective opens at the Oakland Museum

As you walk into the main gallery at the Oakland Museum of California you might hear a faint flicking noise—it’s the sound of tiny pieces of dried alphabet-shaped macaroni flying through the air and hitting the ground. Periodically spewing out of a delicate wooden structure that looks like an old train bridge mounted on the wall, these dried noodles are beginning to pile up. In a few months, 500 pounds of macaroni will be heaped onto the floor.

Proposed Fruitvale gang injunction hearing wraps up testimony

Testimony about the proposed Fruitvale gang injunction hearing concluded on Monday after two months of witness appearances by alleged Norteño gang members, gang experts, and police officers. Probation Officer Dalen H. Randa, who testified on Monday, was the last witness to be called to the stand.