Business
Oakland First Fridays, a monthly festival on Telegraph Avenue featuring food and crafts, will shut down through March because of financial constraints, organizers say, and may be different when it reopens. “This year, we’ve been losing money every month and we need to stop the bleeding,” said Shari Godinez, the executive director of Koreatown Northgate Community Benefit District, the nonprofit that runs First Fridays. On Dec. 1, residents enjoyed “Frosty Friday,” the last First Friday event of the year. They…
California and cities in the Bay Area have led the country against plastic pollution: A series of laws and ordinances have already banned Styrofoam and restricted plastic bags and plastic straws. The next items on the chopping block are single-use plastic foodware — things like cutlery, cups, lids, stirrers, plates, and doggie bags. On Dec. 19, Oakland City Council will vote on the Reusable Foodware and Litter Reduction Ordinance, which would ban these items from local eateries and large events. …
With its inviting grass-green storefront and sleek interior, Element 7 appears to fit in among the well-heeled boutiques lining Montclair Village’s business boulevard. But as the first cannabis dispensary in Montclair, Element 7 is generating controversy just days before its planned opening. Nestled in the Oakland Hills, Montclair Village is a green glade of suburban-style affluence within Oakland. Residents describe it as a good neighborhood and a safe place to raise a family. Some worry that a dispensary will spoil…
Small business owners say Oakland’s city officials are failing to address a serious crime wave. In September, the city did not submit a completed application that would have secured Oakland a portion of a $256 million state grant for police funding. Now, several small business owners in Oakland are asking whether city officials are doing their part. “I just want the people who are given the job to lead Oakland to look at themselves in the mirror and ask themselves…
The editors at Street Spirit, an East Bay newspaper focused on homelessness, are nearly halfway to meeting their fundraising goal to revive the shuttered newspaper. Bradley Penner, the newest editor of Street Spirit, and Alastair Boone, its outgoing editor, are working on a long-term funding plan for the paper once they secure enough money to relaunch in January. So far, they’ve raised $100,000 of their $250,000 goal through private donations. “Part of the work we’re doing now is developing a…
The Oakland Board of Port Commissioners on Thursday approved an agreement for construction of a sand and gravel facility. After reaching a settlement with the port last week, the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project has vowed to monitor the development. The resident-led environmental justice organization filed a lawsuit last year to block the 18-acre Eagle Rock Aggregates Terminal. The lawsuit argued the dust and pollution from the site, constructed less than a mile from West Oakland neighborhoods, would “expose an…
Dozens of Oaklanders shuttered their shops and businesses for two hours this week to protest what they say is the city’s failure to stem a growing crisis of street crime. Business owners and their supporters gathered outside the once-thriving downtown restaurant Le Cheval, now closing its doors after 38 years due to rising crime. A few minutes after a planned 10 a.m. start on Tuesday, Carl Chan, president of the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce and lead strike organizer, blamed…
Over 100 people gathered at Tamarack in downtown Oakland on Saturday for a “Comeback Party and Fundraiser” for Street Spirit, a newspaper that has focused on homelessness in the East Bay since 1995 and lost its funding in May. The loss was a major blow for about 40 vendors, many of them unhoused, who sell the paper in Berkeley and Oakland for $2, keeping 100% of what they collect, including donations beyond the paper’s cost. Editor-in-chief Alastair Boone is working…
It was quiet in Oakland Chinatown at 3 a.m. on Thursday, March 23. The last two eateries on Eighth Street — Lounge Chinatown and New Gold Medal Restaurant — were wrapping up business for the day. At a quarter past 3, workers at both restaurants locked glass doors and then iron gates. At Lounge Chinatown, wooden doors added to the security. But it wasn’t enough. Ten minutes later, as the street became darker and quieter, burglars broke into the two…