Blogs
Ten days from now, the calendar will change and usher in a new decade. The last time this happened, it was a slightly bigger deal, as we were changing centuries and millennia along with it. But still, a lot has happened in the past 10 years. Computers didn’t melt down during Y2K, but it wasn’t long before the United States was attacked on 9/11 and entered two wars that remain with us. Here in California, Arnold Schwarzenegger led a recall…
After a flurry of political developments (and snow) in Washington D.C. this weekend, Congress is on the verge of passing a health care bill that would provide coverage to 30 million uninsured Americans. Liberals bemoan the bill’s lack of a government-administered “public option” for health care, while conservatives complain it will create skyrocketing deficits and unprecedented federal intrusion. No one–not the suddenly famous Olympia Snowe, the hard-bargaining Joe Lieberman, or Barack Obama himself–is getting exactly what they want from health…
Residents of North Oakland gathered last night to discuss a November crime surge, including three shootings in Bushrod and Golden Gate. City Council Member Jane Brunner discussed the city’s response, including the possibility of a bound measure to fund Oakland’s police force during challenging budgetary times. Oakland North’s Richard Parks filed this report. Close to one year after one of BART’s police officers killed Oscar Grant in the Fruitvale station, the transit agency is searching for a new police chief….
After receiving a $242,500 grant to improve bicycle access around North Oakland’s MacArthur BART station, the city is moving ahead on a series of measures. New bicycle signs are being added to to 40th Street, 41st Street, West Street, Webster Street, and Shafter Avenue
In describing Oakland, or at least a part of it, the author Gertrude Stein once famously said, “There is no there there.” The quote has a checkered past. Scholars have pointed out that Stein meant she could not find her childhood home in Oakland when returning to the city in 1930s after decades of living in Paris. Yet it’s often been taken out of context since she said it, to mean Oakland is a place with no character. For the…
2009 is drawing to a close, but there’s still unfinished business in Oakland politics before year’s end. Oakland North’s Richard Parks is investigating the city’s parking permit renewal system, which has come under scrutiny for inefficiency and excessive cost. The City Council has promised action. Look for a story later in the week. The Oakland Unified School District may try to close its budget deficit by closing certain schools. If final decisions are made at OUSD’s meeting tomorrow, Oakland North’s…
UC Berkeley’s fall semester has reached an end, which means most of Oakland North’s reporters have scattered to the four corners of the globe. Well, scattered to Los Angeles, Texas, Wisconsin and Burma, at least. That feels like the four corners of the globe after close to four months we’ve spent between San Pablo, Claremont, Alcatraz and Grand Lake avenues. A reduced staff of two or three reporters will keep the site going during the next five weeks until we…
What are North Oakland’s bakeries cooking up for holidays?
We followed one meal served at a west Oakland elementary school from start to finish. Check out our special multimedia package: The Story of a School Lunch.