Kate McLean

Nieves Cinco de Mayo serves up corn, cactus and rose petal ice cream

Tucked away inside a little market in Fruitvale Village is a small counter-service-only ice cream shop called Nieves Cinco de Mayo. Draped on the wall is a Mexican flag and strings of colorful tissue paper cut into intricate patterns hang from the ceiling. A big chalkboard displays which ice cream flavors are on the menu for the day: corn, spearmint, lemon cream, eggnog, rose petal, cheese and more.

Have you seen these men? OPD needs your help

The Oakland Police Department is looking for help finding two men who may have information about a 2009 murder case. The victim was  59-year-old Bounhom Manyvong, who was shot during his shift as a security guard at Auto Zone on 10111 International Blvd in Oakland. The men, whom OPD says are “people of interest,” are described as thin, African American, and in their twenties. One is approximately six feet tall, and was seen wearing a green fur-lined jacket, white t-shirt,…

Jazz musicians gather in Oakland to protest changes to the Grammys

Sitting in front of the stage at Yoshi’s, musician Roger Glenn looked up at the portraits of famous players that lined the walls of the legendary downtown Oakland jazz club and was overcome with disappointment. A tear rolled down his cheek as he spoke. “I felt like my whole life, what I was doing, the history of all the people I’ve known, is meaningless,” said Glenn, as he looked out at 50 musicians, reporters and jazz aficionados assembled before him….

KQED’s Forum seeks local characters for radio show

KQED radio producers need guests, and they want your suggestions. They’re looking for “leaders, unsung heroes, world-class innovators, and other notable characters” to be featured in a new segment called “First Person” on the weekday radio program Forum on 88.5 FM. “We wanted to carve out a place for locals to come in and tell their story, whether or not there is a ‘hook’ for it,” said Forum Senior Editor Dan Zoll in a statement. “Guests will include everyone from…

What’s in your wallet? Maybe lead, a toxic metal

Oakland’s Center for Environmental Health tests everyday objects for lead, a toxic heavy metal that is associated with impaired cognitive and behavioral development in children. It may be no further away than your closet.

Oakland teachers ask banks for “bailout”

About 30 teachers gathered Thursday to demonstrate in front of three banks at the Rockridge shopping center at 51st Street and Broadway. McClymonds Teacher Craig Gordon explained the group was there to “demand that schools and public services be bailed out” the same way that banks were bailed out during the mortgage crisis.

Residents ask city to review cost, effectiveness of gang injunctions

As activists and residents lined up to make dozens of complaints Tuesday, city leaders promised to schedule a review of Oakland’s gang injunctions. About 60 of people showed up at the city’s public safety committee meeting, many with signs that read “Stop the injunctions now” in English and Spanish. “We are here to ask Oakland to re-prioritize its efforts,” said Aurra Lopez, who called the gang injunctions “ineffective and actually counter-productive.”

Christmas beer spreads goodwill, intoxication

The Trappist was overflowing Friday as thirsty Oaklanders tossed one back in honor of KerstBier Fest—a two-day celebration of the rich brews of the season. On offer at the downtown pub that specializes in artisan and speciality brews were about 30 beer varieties from Belgium, Norway and the US.

Health care reform, and what it means for you

Two intrepid reporters at our sister site, Richmond Confidential, created an interactive tool to help people navigate the health care reform changes that affect them. You can click through to see what happens if you are uninsured, have a pre-existing condition, or want to extend coverage to children up to 26-years-old.

Remembering slain teen Desiree Davis one year later

On Labor Day in 2009, 17-year-old Desiree Davis was killed in a drive by shooting in North Oakland. After her death, a brand new Oakland North reporter named S. Howard Bransford spent time with Davis’ family and wrote movingly about the teenager’s life. His story, “Slain student, a taunted outsider, was fighting hard to grow up”, broke the news that Davis had fled New Orleans with her mother in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Recently, Bransford published a followup piece…

The saga of Ansel Adams and Uncle Earl continues

The art expert who helped to establish that a box of photo negatives from a Fresno garage sale was the lost work of Ansel Adams recently had a change of heart about the images. Robert Moeller III, a former curator at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, had initially said the negatives came from Adams, but recently told The Bay Citizen that the images are instead probably the work of an unknown photographer named Earl Brooks. Moeller’s reversal came…

Oakland Airport ranks fourth in “laser strikes”

What happens when you shine a high-powered laser pointer at a plane cruising through the sky? Well, you can disorient the pilot, and according to the San Jose Mercury News, it happens so often that there’s a name for it: “laser strikes.” In fact, Oakland Airport ranks fourth in the nation in incidents of laser strikes, and San Jose Airport comes in fifth. There haven’t been any crashes caused by laster strikes, but some incidents during landings have forced pilots…