Lucas Guilkey

The battle over rent control in the East Bay

As rents and home prices continue to skyrocket across California, a major ballot fight is brewing between tenants and the real estate industry over the state rent control law Costa Hawkins. Watch the video to learn more.

Incarcerated people, parolees can’t vote in California, but people are trying to change that

Californians who are incarcerated in state prison or on state parole are prohibited from voting—which affects 162,000 people across the state. Taina Vargas-Edmond is seeking to change that with a grassroots initiative to put the issue before voters. Her partner in the campaign is her husband, Richard Vargas-Edmond, a prisoner organizing signature gathering from within prisons, even though he can’t sign the petitions himself. This May, they fell short of their signature goal, but pledge to try again in 2020….

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. 

Ganja Goddess “weed prom” comes to Oakland

It’s every high schooler’s prom dream: good music, hot dates, no parents, and weed. Tons of it. Hosted by Ganja Goddess, a cannabis collective that organizes “weed retreats” for women, the Ganja Goddess Gala was a chance to re-do prom the way the collective members wanted to. With a balloon arch, a photo booth, a DJ set, a dance floor, enough sparkly plastic crowns to go around (because “everyone’s royalty tonight,” one organizer said), and buffet tables piled high with…

Oaklanders voice opinion about new A’s stadium at Peralta College meeting

More than 100 community members attended a rare standing room-only meeting of the Peralta Community College Board of Trustees on Tuesday night. The unusually large crowd came out to share their opinions about the proposed construction of a new stadium for the Oakland A’s between 8th Street and the 880 freeway on land currently owned by the Peralta Community College District. Tuesday’s meeting was an opportunity for Peralta Community College Board of Trustees to hear public concerns about the project…