Business

Nieves Cinco de Mayo serves up corn, cactus and rose petal ice cream

Tucked away inside a little market in Fruitvale Village is a small counter-service-only ice cream shop called Nieves Cinco de Mayo. Draped on the wall is a Mexican flag and strings of colorful tissue paper cut into intricate patterns hang from the ceiling. A big chalkboard displays which ice cream flavors are on the menu for the day: corn, spearmint, lemon cream, eggnog, rose petal, cheese and more.

West Oakland’s only credit union tries to break even in a tough economy

More than two years after a recession-induced merger, People’s Federal Credit Union is striving to break even. To sustain the cost of providing financial services for West Oakland’s low income residents, People’s must revive its sluggish loan income, says Self-Help Federal Credit Union of North Carolina, the parent company helping West Oakland’s only thrift back to health.

Tombstone engravers carve memories into stone

On a hot spring afternoon, Javier Delgado Jimenez kneels on the grass in Mountain View Cemetery. He is poised over a flat gravestone wearing a gas mask, knee guards, long work gloves and a white hood with a clear plastic visor. With intense concentration, he aims a rod attached to a round metal canister at the face of the gravestone and plumes of red dust billow into the air.

Bay Area living: To rent or to own?

A house with a white picket fence has long been a quintessential part of the American Dream. While a majority of Bay Area residents live that as home owners, in recent years renting seems to be trending upward in popularity in almost every Bay Area county. Now with the collapse of the real estate market, will home ownership become a fading dream?

Jazz musicians gather in Oakland to protest changes to the Grammys

Sitting in front of the stage at Yoshi’s, musician Roger Glenn looked up at the portraits of famous players that lined the walls of the legendary downtown Oakland jazz club and was overcome with disappointment. A tear rolled down his cheek as he spoke. “I felt like my whole life, what I was doing, the history of all the people I’ve known, is meaningless,” said Glenn, as he looked out at 50 musicians, reporters and jazz aficionados assembled before him….

Children’s Hospital nurses begin five-day strike

Children’s Hospital nurses went on strike today after year-long contract negotiations broke down over health benefits. On the first day of a five-day strike, nurses on the picket line say spirits are high and representatives from a half-dozen other unions were on site to show support. Approximately forty nurses stood in clumps in front of the hospital on the corner of Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue and 52nd Street, waving signs at passing cars. Dozens of cars and even a passing BART train honked to show support for the nurses