October 16, 2009: Thank goodness it’s Friday.

Good afternoon Oakland, If you’ve been working as hard as we have this week, you’re going to need a weekend break. Here are a few goings-on in the Oakland/East Bay area that we think will tickle your fancy. Happy weekend! The Pacific Coast Brewing Co. is having their 21st anniversary party tonight from 5 pm to 11 pm on Washington Street between 9th and 10th streets. Head on down for what’s sure to be a fun “legal at last” evening….

October 14, 2009: Here comes the sun

Good morning Oakland, If you’re still drying out like we are, here are a few things to catch up with this morning: A new hyper-local website, Richmond Confidential, went live yesterday, part of the same initiative behind oaklandnorth.net and missionlocal.org. Oakland North is tweeting again, so check out our Twitter page! A 3.7 magnitude earthquake was reported near Sunol yesterday, so if you thought you felt the ground shaking last night at around 8:30, turns out you were not just…

Paddles up! Giant weekend dragon boat races on Bay

Dragon boats converged on the Bay this weekend from all over the Bay Area and way beyond. Teams from Texas and Canada, as well as the newcomer Oakland Renegades, were among the dozens racing in this year’s International Dragon Boat festival. Videos and story by Laurel Moorhead, Mario Furloni and Paige Ricks.

Bar loyalists bemoan the rise of the Internet jukebox

Old-fashioned mechanical jukeboxes, loaded with the records or CDs that reflect the soul of their home establishments, are vanishing fast. Their replacement: Internet jukeboxes, which direct users into the online vastness of “SEARCH ALL MUSIC.” They’re modern, they’re lucrative, and they fill some Bay Area bar patrons with despair. Story by Mario Furloni/Oakland North.

No massage parlor for the old Parkway

A neighbors’ uprising has helped kill any chance that that the old Parkway will be occupied by a woman who’d requested city permit to open a new business inside–a massage parlor. Story by Mario Furloni/Oakland North.

This year’s Labor Day picnic set amid tough times

Nearly ten percent of US workers were jobless this Labor Day. That’s a five percent increase in unemployment since December 2007, according to the Department of Labor. In the midst of global economic turmoil, the Alameda County Labor Council of the AFL-CIO held its annual barbeque at Shoreline Park in Oakland. Union officials, members and community groups gathered to celebrate and drum up support for what some say are major political battles to come: health care reform, passing a federal…

Attorney Burris: ‘This case is stunning to me’

In an exclusive interview, Oakland attorney John Burris speaks about the recent events surrounding the Hassani Campbell case. Earlier this week the missing child’s foster parents, Jennifer Campbell and Louis Ross, were released after three days in police custody.

A master of delicate and gruff

Dominic De Vincenzi remembers early mornings in the 1950s, when the intersection of 51st Street and Telegraph Avenue was the heart of Oakland’s Italian community. Long lines of customers formed as soon as 7 a.m. at Genova Deli—then a cramped, 600-square-foot store owned by his father-in-law—as workers poured in to buy their lunches or treat themselves after working the graveyard shift. Appetites were beastly and it was common for customers to bicker over their place in line, so in the…