North Oakland Now
The trial of Richard Lewis, a former Your Black Muslim Bakery leader, is underway. Lewis is charged with taking part in the kidnapping of two women, and the torture of one. The Chauncy Bailey Project has the story. At tonight’s meeting, the City Council will continue its discussion about the budget, and the potential cutting of more city jobs. Here’s a link to the agenda. The Community and Economic Development Committee meets this afternoon to consider a draft Central Estuary…
It looks like former Oakland mayor and current California attorney general Jerry Brown is finally going to announce one of California’s worst-kept secrets: He’s running for governor of California again. Brown is making a “major announcement” at 11 a.m. today. A day after high-ranking feds toured Oakland to see how stimulus money is being spent, the Oakland city council faces some painful budget cuts at its meeting tonight. A ferris wheel right next to the Bay Bridge in Oakland? A…
Tonight, Oakland’s Public Ethics Commission will hear two complaints about city resources being used to benefit the mayoral campaigns of Don Perata and Jean Quan, respectively. A Better Oakland has the background. Officials from the White House will be at Oakland City Hall at 9:30 this morning to talk about the benefits of the federal stimulus package. Then they will join Mayor Dellums, who has been touting the economic benefits of public infrastructure projects, for a 10:30 bus tour. The…
Oakland says it has ended its policy of unequal parking enforcement, the Chronicle reported today. Yesterday, the Chronicle reported on a leaked memo instructing parking officers to issue courtesy notices, rather than tickets, in two upscale neighborhoods. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke will appear in Oakland tonight for a White House Community Forum on Responsible Fatherhood and Economic Stability. The forum is from 6:30 to 7:45 p.m. at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center, 388 Ninth Street. Author and Nobel laureate Wole…
Oakland parking officers received instructions to loosen enforcement in two wealthy neighborhoods–Montclair and Broadway Terrace–while maintaining stricter policies in the rest of the story, according to a memo obtained by the Chronicle. In response, SEIU Local 1021, a union that represents parking officers, tells Oakland North it is holding a protest today at noon at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza. AC Transit wants to hear from bicyclists and pedestrians tonight about updates to its driver training program. It will have a…
The debate over whether to allow Nic Nak Liquors to re-open at 6400 Shattuck Ave reopens March 16, when the City Council takes up the question. Last October, Oakland North reported on the background behind this contentious issue. The Alameda County Budget Workgroup is holding a public workshop Thurs, Feb. 25 to “discuss the economy, the federal and state budgets and their possible impacts on Alameda County.” The workshop is at 9 a.m. at the Elihu Harris State Building Auditorium,…
This spring, Oakland North welcomes a new staff of 13 reporters, all students at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. Got story ideas? Questions? Complaints? Please drop us a line at staff@oaklandnorth.net Elise Craig Elise Craig is a native Northern Californian who started writing at her high school newspaper, The Octagon. After graduating from Georgetown University in 2006, she spent two years as a producer on the breaking news desk of the washingtonpost.com, then quit her job on the InterWebs…
The Coliseum Authority is undertaking a study to determine whether or not to build a new football stadium for the hometown Raiders. But they’re asking Al Davis to pay a price. Elaine Beale, Oakland’s resident author, is coming out with a new book. It’s fiction but the story is eerily similar to her own life. Warehouse 416 is putting on an art and music night Saturday. It’s a “5 for 5”–five East Bay bands for an admission fee of five…
The North Side Oakland gang is running amok and the city has asked the court to issue an injunction to crack down on the violence. Oakland and San Francisco traffic are costing commuters an average of over $2 billion/year due to extensive travel time and cost of excess fuel. Delays are long and wasted fuel is on the rise. New police chief Anthony Batts announces he will make Oakland one of California’s safest cities by 2015.