Business
Bay Area residents have the chance to be fairy godparents by opening their closets and hearts to help a young women attend their high school proms. The Princess Project, now in its eighth year, is a volunteer effort to give accessories and new and gently used prom dresses to teens who otherwise couldn’t afford them.
Coffee shops used to be the social hub of the community until laptops and wireless Internet turned them into libraries that serve food. In North Oakland, one coffee shop is trying to get the conversation started again. Shilanda Woolridge reports.
Many other Oaklanders have a feverish attachment to the famed Bakesale Betty’s fried chicken sandwich and to the cheerful Temescal corner where it is currently housed. But in April, Betty will have a new way to serve her faithful patrons, a second location on the corner of West Grand and Broadway.
It’s been almost a year since the Justice Department announced it would no longer go after medical marijuana providers who comply with state law. For Mickey Martin, whose Oakland shop distributed edibles laced with cannabis, the decision came a little too late. [This video report is no longer available.]
While corporations, lobbyists and special interest groups may have gloated over the Supreme Court’s ruling last month that decreed that the government has no power to ban corporate spending in political campaigns, if Californian voters pass Proposition 15 in the June 8th election, they may have another chance to set limits on corporate election spending.
In an effort to keep Actual Cafe an actual cafe, starting this weekend owner Sal Bednarz will embark upon a month-long social experiment to create the kind of social atmosphere that existed before wireless internet and mobile computers. Bednarz wants people to step away from their Facebook profiles and connect face-to-face.
On Thursday, Mayor Ron Dellums said that federal government officials will visit three cities, including Oakland, to learn about how the cities have used stimulus money. Dellums said that federal officials are planning to visit Oakland on March 1.
In Stanley Garcia’s experience, boxing breathed life, maturity, and hope into the lives of the East Oakland boys who frequented his boxing club. Garcia, founder of the East Oakland Boxing Association, died last Friday at the age of 69. At his recent memorial service at Lake Chalet on Lake Merritt, the tributes poured in.
A civil suit filed Thursday by the Oakland City Attorney’s Office against immigration consultancy American Legal Services alleges that the company made false promises to clients and damaged their cases.