Business
In a low-fuss meeting on Tuesday, the Oakland City Council voted to match a federal grant with city money to fund a study about developing the Oakland Army Base. With a unanimous vote, the council committed over $3 million to the study, to be matched by $1.6 million out of a larger grant from the federal government.
Bringing together antique-hunters and hipsters, there’s a new monthly event in Oakland where you can find all the vintage gear you need–the Find.
Cherrie Tan, a high school senior, has been going to Oakland’s Lakeview library every week for the last year, but she’s not there to check out books, surf the Internet or read—she’s there to knit. Part social, part class, this library knitting circle, called “All Knit,” is one of several knitting groups to have popped up in the East Bay over the last few years.
Goodbye to the cured pork tacos served with mint, cabbage and diakon radishes. Goodbye to the creamy mac-and-cheese cake topped with panko breadcrumbs and Gremolata cheese. Goodbye to the butterscotch pudding. One of Oakland’s first mobile food trucks, Jon’s Street Eats, is shutting up shop.
Students at Oakland’s ARISE High School will soon have all the equipment they need to access the Internet at home; on Monday they received a donation of 220 wireless routers from Cisco. They’re also eligible to get free computers from Oakland Technology Exchange West (OTX West), a non-profit that offers refurnished PCs and computer training to all Oakland students in grades 6 to 12.
Meet Forest—or more formally, Gingerbread Black Forest Tradition—and his handler Christine Ghimenti of Paw Prints Boxers, as they compete in the Golden Gate Kennel Club Dog Show, and get a peek into the Bay Area’s dog show scene.
The immense hotel that has been a symbol of luxury in the Bay Area for nearly a century filed for bankruptcy on Tuesday. Despite speculation that its days were numbered, the hotel’s owners said that staff, management and operations were not going to change.
Oakland launched a new energy efficiency program called Oakland Shines Wednesday, with the goal of reducing energy costs for business owners in the downtown area. “The goal is to get 80 percent of the 4,000 businesses to participate, and to reduce their energy consumption by 20 percent, ” said Derrick Rebello, the CEO of Quantum Energy Services and Technology, at the program’s kick-off event. Berkeley-based QuEST and PG&E are the city’s main partners in Oakland Shines, which is funded by a $5 million grant from the California Energy Commission.
Blade, 29, describes Sight School as a studio with multiple platforms for supporting Bay Area artists. ”I’m trying to build this as an art space for learning how to see together as a community,” she said, noting the limitless possibilities for how she can use her space. Starting next month, Blade is introducing Café Sunday, a weekly brunch in the studio prepared by guest chefs for neighbors.