Business

Oakland council votes to support worker co-ops, 100 Cameras campaign

At the Oakland City Council meeting Tuesday night, the council voted to assist the development of worker cooperatives and voted unanimously to support the 100 Cameras campaign, which encourages the public to film police activity. Much of the meeting time was spent hearing public comments from a handful of activists from the civil rights coalition By Any Means Necessary (BAMN), who criticized the Oakland Police Department (OPD) for the number of officer-involved shootings of African American men in the city….

California considers a new law for cheerleader pay, in wake of three suits against Oakland Raiders

A state bill to grant professional cheerleaders a minimum wage, workers’ benefits and overtime compensation, sponsored by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, has passed the Assembly and is now in the state Senate for a vote. Among those watching the outcome are the Oakland Raiderettes. Gonzalez, a Democrat from San Diego, introduced AB 202, an amendment to the state’s Labor Code, in January after cheerleaders complained of unfair compensation and filed lawsuits against California-based professional sports teams and the National Football League….

At age 91, Army veteran Gene Goodin has a new gig as an oil painter

At the Oakland Cottage Industry Show at the Park Boulevard Presbyterian Church two weeks ago, more than 30 artisans gathered to show their home-made products. Among them was 91-year-old Gene Goodin, who sat quietly in front of his artwork wearing a hat that read “World War II, 1941-1945, Veteran.” To his right was an oil painting of an old train on a railway in the countryside, the brown train crossing a green landscape of hills. He sold it later in…

Children’s Hospital’s new center to focus on preventive healthcare programs

After almost two years of planning, on April 28, UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland announced that its Center for Community Health and Engagement had been born. What they call “The Center” will function within Children’s Hospital to coordinate programs focusing on preventive healthcare for children and their families. “The hospital has a huge community benefit portfolio,” said Dr. Barbara Staggers, chief of adolescent medicine at the hospital and executive director at the new center. “Since the Center is just getting off…

Oakland Cottage Industry Show brings craftspeople together to sell handmade art

On May 2, the Oakland Cottage Industry Show (OCIS) is hosting the first of their twice-annual shows where artists who work with wood, iron, paint and jewelry will come together at Park Boulevard Presbyterian Church in Oakland. The phrase “cottage industry” usually refers to a small-scale business carried on at home by a family or an individual using their own equipment and materials to produce a marketable product. This year at the OCIS, the show will have number of artisans…