After months of failed negotiations, Fruitvale resident D’Weena Coleman feared she’d be evicted from the house her grandparents built back in 1961. But with help from her neighbors — and some well placed media attention — US Bank suddenly modified her loan, allowing her to stay. Oakland North was there to see it happen.

While supporters and opponents of Proposition 8 wait for a decision in the Perry v. Schwarzenegger federal trial, volunteers with Equality California are going door-to-door in an attempt to change the minds of those who voted for the same-sex marriage ban.

A string of robberies in the Golden Gate neighborhood raises questions about the effectiveness of community policing five years after the passage of Oakland’s Measure Y.

Opponents of Proposition 8 Rally outside federal court on Monday. Oakland North asks same-sex marriage supporters about their hopes for the federal trial.

Testimony in Perry v. Schwarzenegger featured vivid personal testimony about struggles with discrimination based on sexual orientation. The team defending Proposition 8, meanwhile, argued that the state has a compelling interest to allow voters to define marriage.

In a San Francisco courtroom packed to overflowing, attorneys on both sides of Proposition 8 argued this morning about whether the same-sex marriage ban is discriminatory or a justifiable expression of California voters’ will.

With Oakland facing a projected $25 million deficit for 2010, the city’s Community Police Advisory Board voiced concern Wednesday that the 13 civilian staff members in the police department’s community policing program might be dismissed.

BART convened a public forum Thursday seeking feedback from riders regarding the next BART police chief.

In an effort to balance a budget facing an estimated $57 million deficit, the AC Transit Board of Directors last night approved an 8.4 percent cut in bus services throughout Alameda and Contra Costa counties.

After three hours of public comment and discussion yesterday, the BART Board of Directors voted 7 to 1 to approve the $492 million Oakland Airport Connector (OAC) elevated rail line. Construction is scheduled begin in mid-2010 and be completed by 2013.

BART has announced a new online survey asking the public to weigh-in on what characteristics they want to see in the next BART Police Chief and to suggest the most important tasks on the incoming chief’s agenda. Chief Gary Gee retires at the end of a difficult year for the transit agency – beginning with the New Years Day shooting death of Oscar Grant in Fruitvale and the controversial glass-shattering arrest in West Oakland on November 21. Both of these…

Happy Wednesday, Oakland Sad news to start: An Amtrak train on its way to Sacramento to San Jose struck a car Tuesday evening near the intersection of Fruitvale Avenue and E10th Street, killing the man driving. December is a busy month for the Alameda County Community Food Bank and this year, more than ever, the need is great. The food bank accepts nonperishable food donations year round but for those of us short on time but with a few dollars…

Members of the BART Police Department Review Committee raised questions Wednesday about the police practices at the West Oakland BART station on Nov 21 that resulted in the arrest and injury of an intoxicated train passenger.

Felony charges were dropped against Michael Joseph Gibson today in connection with an altercation with a BART Police Officer Saturday evening.