Jun Stinson

Kuro mame, A Japanese delicacy for New Year’s

This Kuro mame (black beans) recipe comes from a program the Buddhist Church of Oakland (BCO) held 12 years ago, highlighting food for the Oshogatsu (New Year’s) celebration. New Year’s is an important time in Japanese culture. Many of the foods served on this occasion are symbolic and come from the Buddhist tradition. Mame translates to “beans,” but also means “health.” When the black beans are combined with chestnuts (kuri, symbolizing success) and kelp (kombu, symbolizing joy), the dish symbolizes…

UPDATE: BART train derailment in Oakland

A BART train derailed this morning in an underground tunnel traveling from Lake Merritt to 12th Street station. BART spokeperson Jim Allison says trains are delayed 15 minutes on the Freemont to Richmond Line. Allison also says that the wheels left the tracks a short distance from 12th Street station and that 2 people needed medical attention.   The cause of the derailment is still  unknown. Bart crew trying to derail the car. Hoping to do by afternoon commute.

12/9/09 Wednesday: schools and lunches

Good morning Oakland North, We have a couple of Oakland school stories to start your day off with lunches and discussions of school closure. First we suggest you begin with our exciting interactive feature that tells the story of an Oakland school lunch. Reporters Laurel Moorehead and Lillian Mongeau stake out the ingredients and kitchens that all take part in preparing our Oakland children’s lunches. Click on the picture below their stories and you can find out how the ingredients…

Great Western Power Company

At 9 a.m., the old industrial doors of the Great Western Power Company on 20th Street are shut; if it wasn’t for a laminated sign next to one of the doors with “Weekday hours 6:30 a.m. – 10 p.m.” printed on it, at first glance the place would look abandoned. But if you look up, rather than a typical grey smokestack you see one that resonates humor. Simple icons of people are painted in white all around the coal black…

11/13/09 Friday the 13th

Good Morning Oakland North, It’s Friday the 13th so be extra careful as you go about your day because as superstition holds – bad luck may prevail. Our third Fri-teen this year! The next year to have three will be 2012. I hope all of you can take a moment this morning while you sip your coffee or drink your tea, and check out Lillian Mongeau’s interactive feature on graphic novels created by Oakland International Highschool students. I guarantee you…

11/12/09: Happy Birthday Bay Bridge

Good Morning People of Oakland. Any locals been around long enough to remember this date in 1936? It was a special day in Bay Area history that’s made more poignant given recent news. For it was today, lo those 73 years ago, that the now much-maligned Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge opened to vehicular traffic. Happy Anniversary, Bay Bridge! Why is Oakland North the only one noticing it’s your b-day? Let’s riff on that a bit. The Trib reports this morning…

Oakland groups address sustainable agriculture

On Monday night people came out from around the East Bay to attend the Women’s Earth Alliance (WEA) event at the David Brower Center in Berkeley. The event showcased Oakland organizations like Planting Justice, Communitree, Art in Action, People’s Grocery, Something for your Soul catering service, Healthy Hoodz, and Ital Pinay Jewelry. Each addressed the importance of sustainable agriculture and featured the creative ways they are implementing it in their urban communities . “We’re trying to create health and wellness…

For all you zine lovers

Get ready all you zine readers! From Friday, a zine mart will be at the Berkeley Art Museum for only two weeks featuring over 2,000 zines from around the world. For those of you who aren’t zine savvy — “zines are basically self-published information with writing about everything and anything,” said Rock Paper Scissors volunteer Marella Pederson. She said that zines can teach you “how to write a book, make your own farm, about composting, how to get your music…

11/11/09

Today the country celebrates Veterans Day to recognize people who have served in the arm forces. Ceremonies will take place across the Bay Area this morning from Pittsburg to San Rafael. This afternoon, Shannon Service will bring us an interactive piece on a Veterans Day program that begins at 11 a.m. aboard the USS Hornet Aircraft Carrier in Alameda. Keep in mind that meters are not free in Oakland today, but they are in Berkeley. Banks, post offices, and city…

One of the newest Korean Restaurants in Temescal

Suk Lee opened Casserole House on Telegraph Avenue just over a year ago. It’s one of the newest Korean restaurants in Temescal and features home style Jeongol (Korean word for casserole). In this audio piece, she invites us into her kitchen and shows us one of her specialty Jeongol dishes.

11/10/09

Good Morning Oakland North, It looks like the early morning fog will burn off making way for a fairly warm Tuesday here with temperatures in the high 60s. Make sure you get a chance to step away from your computers and take a deep breath outside. But before you do that, take a look at Roller Derby in Oakland is only for the Rough and Tough – Shannon Service’s thrilling piece on an Oakland roller derby team. Also, check out…

California Roll world record broken at Cal

Over 350 lively people made up of fraternities, sororities, campus clubs, individual students, and community members registered for the event at UC Berkeley’s Sproul Plaza on Sunday afternoon. Each was hopeful that they would beat the Maui, Hawaii contingent that set the last record with a 300 foot-long California Roll in 2001.