Lisa Hornak

Looking back at the 2018 Women’s March Oakland

Over 40,000 women and their allies spent Saturday, January 20, marching in Oakland to support the cause of women. Women’s March Oakland organizers will focus on registering voters throughout the year leading up to midterm elections in November as well as helping more women run for public office.  Around the rest of the country, protests drew more than a million people. 

With Love Never Fails, Vanessa Russell reaches out to sex trafficking survivors

According to the State of California Department of Justice, human trafficking is the world’s fastest-growing criminal enterprise, bringing in $32 billion dollars a year globally. Vanessa Russell founded Love Never Fails in 2011 to fight human trafficking in the Bay Area. She was inspired to start the organization after she found out that a student of hers was being sex-trafficked throughout California.

Oakland’s firefighters help contain massive Napa wildfires

As the strike team drove into the Sonoma valley early Monday morning, the glow of fires surrounded them on both sides of Highway 12. Oakland Battalion Chiefs James Bowron and Nicholas Luby headed a team of engines from Oakland, Hayward, Fremont and Alameda County, and they listened to radio traffic describing the rapid spread of fire through the wine country and people needing immediate rescue.

Dogs learn more than just tricks at Canine Circus School

A bygone world of whimsy and magic lies beyond the gate to Oakland’s Canine Circus School for dogs. The Metcalfs, masterminds behind the school, have curated their backyard with unusual trinkets, archeological artifacts and colorful collectibles, turning the space into part sculpture garden, part creative playground for man’s best friend.

Oakland rescue crews join hurricane recovery efforts in Texas and Florida

Oakland’s Urban Search and Rescue team hadn’t deployed in nine years. But three weeks ago, when Oakland Fire Battalion Chief Robert Lipp answered the call to respond to Hurricane Harvey, they mobilized a team in under four hours. Immediately following their deployment to Texas, they were re-tasked to assist with rescue efforts in Florida.