Jeremiah O. Rhodes

Dozens gather at Lake Merritt to honor those killed at queer club in Colorado

About three dozen people gathered at the Lake Merritt amphitheater on a chilly Friday night to remember the five people who were killed last weekend in a mass shooting at a queer nightclub in Colorado Springs.  During the three-hour vigil, people, mostly wearing black, listened to music — some hugging, others crying, and many laughing together, as they tried to care for one another in the wake of continued brutality against queer people in the United States. “Being queer and…

One suspect dead, second suspect pleads not guilty in Oakland dentist’s murder

Hasheem Bason, 33, charged with murdering an Oakland dentist in August, pleaded not guilty last Tuesday.  Bason, of Stockton, also is charged with slaying while lying in wait, special circumstances of killing for financial gain and use of a firearm, among other offenses.  At 2 p.m, on Aug 21, Dr. Lili Xu was shot and killed when she and her boyfriend pulled up to a curb on the 1000 block of Fifth Ave. in Oakland’s Little Saigon neighborhood.  The Oakland…