Alameda County Sheriff Gregory Ahern’s plans to deploy unmanned aerial vehicles for law enforcement, for the collection of photographic evidence at crime scenes, and for aerial support of emergency response operations in the county have provoked debate and raised privacy concerns among residents. The sheriff’s plan, which is currently awaiting a decision from the Alameda County Board of Supervisors’ Public Protection Committee, continues to be a divisive subject in Oakland and Berkeley. “Traditional forms of aerial surveillance are very expensive…
Since California’s Homeowner Bill of Rights, a new law limiting the power of banks to foreclose, came into effect on January 1, homeowners in Richmond and Oakland have taken a more proactive stance in resisting foreclosures, protesting inside banking halls at Wells Fargo’s braches across the East Bay and forcing the bank to reschedule home sales.
Ever find yourself frustrated with the back and forth group messaging, conference calling and group emailing that often precede decision-making in small groups? An Oakland-based startup seeks to end that with a social decision making application they say is designed to deliver “social democracy” in group decision making, based on a concept they call dynamic voting. From small-group decisions about whether to watch the Oakland Raiders or the San Francisco 49ers to more complex political decisions about whether Barack Obama…
When Oakland resident Debi Mason set out to prevent mortgage associates from the Bank of America from foreclosing on her sister Patricia’s Maxwell Park home in 2007, she had only a few friends, neighbors and advocacy groups to help fend off the foreclosure. But last week, Mason, along with thousands of homeowners in Bay Area cities like Oakland and Richmond that have been profoundly effected by foreclosures and the ensuing blight, welcomed the new Homeowner Bill of Rights, a state…
This November, voters in Alameda County rejected a proposed parcel tax aimed at creating a stable source of income for the Oakland Zoo. Many of the measure’s opponents objected to the zoo’s multi-million dollar expansion plans, even though zoo officials said funding from the measure would be used for animal care, repairs of existing facilities, and the zoo’s veterinary hospital, not the expansion. Despite the failure of Measure A1, the zoo will go ahead with planned construction of the California Trails…
From Fruitvale to Rockridge, Oakland North reporters spoke recently to residents about the city council elections. We asked everyone the same question: If you could speak directly to the candidates, what would you like to know? We delivered the most frequent of the residents’ questions, in person to the seven candidates for the District 1 City Council seat. Their edited answers, one question at a time, will appear in Oakland North every week between now and Election Day.
From Fruitvale to Rockridge, Oakland North reporters spoke recently to residents about the city council elections. We asked everyone the same question: If you could speak directly to the candidates, what would you like to know? We delivered the most frequent of the residents’ questions, in person to the seven candidates for the District 1 City Council seat. Their edited answers, one question at a time, will appear in Oakland North every week between now and Election Day.
Barely one week after the Obama campaign office on Telegraph Avenue in downtown Oakland had one of its window panes shattered by Occupy protesters, at least 100 protesters calling for the release of jailed U.S. Army soldier Private First Class Bradley Manning invaded the campaign offices Thursday, occupying them for at least three hours and bringing business to a standstill before police forced them out.
On Tuesday Oakland residents celebrated a breakthrough in ongoing efforts to create thousands of jobs for local workers due to construction of the planned shipping, packaging and distribution facilities at the site of the old Oakland Army base.
Oakland residents converged Tuesday on an East Oakland street that has been blighted by foreclosures, calling for a freeze on foreclosures until the Homeowners Bill of Rights comes into effect in January, 2013. California Governor Jerry Brown signed the bill into law on July 2, which and will prevent banks from forcing families their homes while they are still negotiating mortgages settlements.
Forget about the London Olympics. Friday, the real Olympic fun was right here in Oakland at Soccer Without Borders’ Oakland Olympics, an annual event bringing together displaced refugee children between the ages of 5 and 19 years old from Bhutan, Iraq, Nepal, Gabon, the Ivory Coast and El Salvador, among other countries.
The Oakland Police Department has sent out an advisory urging residents of the North Oakland Hills to stay indoors and close all windows and doors and a large plume of smoke from Chevron’s Richmond Refinery headed towards the hills.
Kaiser Permanente this week awarded a $60,000 grant to Alameda County-based LifeLong Medical Care, a network of safety net clinics that provide low income communities in Oakland, Berkeley and Richmond with access to health and social services.
The Oakland Police Department has announced plans to adjust its operations and hire a full-time Information Technology manager after a recent audit of its technology department found that the city spent nearly $2 million on failed policing information technology projects with at least three Bay Area start-ups that have since gone out of business.
More than 126 pounds of expired drugs and at least seven pounds of controlled substances were collected from senior Oakland residents during the Healthy Living Festival, an annual festival hosted by the United Seniors of Oakland and Alameda County (USOAC). The coalition of Oakland residents hosted the Healthy Living Festival at the Oakland Zoo on July 19th.
On Saturday, animals at the Oakland Zoo will suspend their diet plans and indulge in what could easily be this year’s largest animal party, feasting on servings of produce donated by Oakland residents, many of whom will come and watch the animals eat their hearts out between 8 am and 6 pm.