Becky Palmstrom

Cal Protests

A helicopter whirs and circles overhead. The din of chants, shouts and screams echo all the way up Telegraph and, as I get nearer, I can see energy ripple through the gathering crowd like ripples in a bowl of water. Signs and banners wave and bob with the undulation of some 5000 people. Everything is in the Technicolor of the midday sun and accompanied by yelling, drums and occasional rounds of protest songs. Overhead the sky is a perfect blinding…

Flu season already? North Oakland’s pharmacies get their shots in

Walk into the Walgreens at 30th Street and Telegraph and it will not take long to realize that this is a pharmacy on a mission.  Every two minutes, a peppy voice cajoles customers into making the most of the 10-til-4 daily seasonal flu shot available at all stores, nationwide. Outside, signs remind customers that the flu jab costs just $24.99. Inside, they’re immediately informed that both Medicare and Medical can foot the bill, and on a recent weekday afternoon a…

Schools urge calm, planning for swine flu

As tens of thousands of children in North Oakland returned to school this week, local health officials and school districts were already bracing for the upcoming flu season, said Alameda County Public Health Department spokesperson Sherri Willis. “For the first time ever, we have two strains of flu and two vaccines to deal with. That would be a tall order even if one of those wasn’t a pandemic,” Willis said, referring to the swine flu virus, which since the school…