Wildlife calls on the rise in Alameda County

Over the past year, Alameda County residents have called in a rising number of complaints about opossums, skunks, raccoons and other small animals invading their backyards—all signs that human clashes with wildlife might be on the rise.

Admit it… you need a sandwich

Ebbett’s Good to Go is one of the newest food trucks cruising the East Bay to hawk gourmet fare. Its chefs focus on specialty sandwiches made from organic and local ingredients.

EBMUD turns food scraps into electricity

Five days a week, a long chrome truck pulls up to EBMUD’s wastewater treatment plant. It lifts its hydraulic-powered trailer bed and proceeds to dump 40,000 pounds of what looks like thick sewage into a giant underground mixer. Strangely, it smells … good. Not what you’d typically imagine for a sewage plant.

Oakland’s neighbor, Emeryville, cracks down on food trucks

Many of the food trucks we see cruising around Oakland, like Jon’s Street Eats and Seoul on Wheels, post up in Emeryville during the lunch rush. In addition to being full of office parks with lots of hungry customers, Emeryville also has a streamlined permitting process that makes it easier for these mobile restaurants to park, cook and serve. But this may all change. According to an article in SF Weekly’s SFoodie blog, the Emeryville City Council is looking at…

The Proposition 19 campaign switches into high gear

Oakland City Attorney John Russo joined other law enforcement officials in front of Oakland City Hall today to declare support for the marijuana legalization initiative Proposition 19, which Russo argued would give Californians “a chance to take drugs off the street corners and out of the hands of children.”

Taking a surreal walking tour down Telegraph Avenue

Dozens of people participated in a different type of art walk along Telegraph Avenue on Friday. It was the launch of Invisible City Audio Tours, which has the goal of showing an alternative way of looking at Telegraph Avenue by bringing together Bay Area authors, visual artists and a composer to guide walkers on a tour from MacArthur Bart Station to the central hub of Art Murmur.

Lake Merritt’s Nature Center continues on despite budget cuts

Stephanie Benavidez has worked at the Rotary Nature Center for over 35 years, but now thanks to city budget cuts she is its only full time staff member. With only one full-time person on the job, and five part-time employees, it’s harder for the center to keep up with all of its work.

Extreme Biking: dangerous, dirty and tons of fun

Cutting your gas bill, your carbon footprint, or your waistline: these are some of the reasons to bike more. But how about extreme bicycling only for bikers in-the-know? That’s the goal of one Bay Area group that organizes secret, competitive rides covering varied terrain.

Gang leaders orchestrate crimes from prison using cell phones

A coalition of law enforcement agencies has arrested four Nuestra Familia gang leaders and 30 gang members. Several of those caught were allegedly given orders to commit murder and other violent crimes by imprisoned gang leaders who sent them encrypted messages via cell phones.

In the midst of a national recall, Eat Real festival promotes “good eggs”

With nearly 550 million eggs being pulled off grocery shelves nationwide during one of the largest egg recalls ever, and with thousands of people infected with salmonella after eating contaminated eggs, the idea of eating eggs can seem a little daunting. Organizers of this weekend’s Eat Real Festival hope to show people that eating local eggs is different.

Too many bunnies at the Oakland Animal Services shelter

Two rabbits share one of the cages at the Oakland Animal Services shelter–hopping around, sniffing, stretching out their hind legs and paws, and wagging their little tails. They are just two of the 31 rabbits up for adoption at the maxed-out shelter.

The same-sex marriage seesaw

When Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker ruled to strike down Proposition 8 on August 4, saying that the same-sex marriage ban was discriminatory and unconstitutional, gay couple Teresa Rowe and Kristin Orbin were elated. But, on August 16, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals imposed a stay on same-sex marriage that will last until at least the end of the year–and now their marriage must wait.