Business

Supporters, detractors split on Proposition 32

Should voters approve Proposition 32, or the “Paycheck Protection Initiative,” it would change the law by prohibiting corporations, labor unions, government contractors and government employers from using employee payroll deductions for political purposes. It would also prohibit contributions from government contractors to officials on committees, which have the power to decide which companies receive government contracts.

If approved, Measure B1 could raise billions for transportation

Nearly $8 billion over the next three decades could flow to Alameda County roads, sidewalks, highways, buses and trains, if voters approve Measure B1 on November 6. The measure would double the existing half-cent sales tax for transportation, to one cent. Measure B1 requires approval from two-thirds of voters to take effect.

City Attorney files lawsuit against illegal auto repair business

The Oakland City Attorney has filed a nuisance lawsuit over a residential property in West Oakland claiming that the residents there have been illegally operating an auto repair business out of a three-story home in a residential area. The suit asks the court to prohibit the residents from making auto repairs and to clean up related blight. It also asks that the court impose a $1,000 per day fine on the property owners and managers for each ongoing violation if…

Zoo celebrates opening of new veterinary hospital, California Trail project expansion in planning stages

The veterinary facility at Oakland Zoo was once so small and cramped that during one surgery, senior veterinary technician Maria Trenary had to crawl under an operating table, navigating beneath the dangling limbs of an anesthetized tiger, just to get to the other side of the room and continue working.

Now, at the zoo’s new veterinary hospital, which celebrated its grand opening Thursday afternoon, a camel, a bison or even a juvenile giraffe can be easily accommodated in one of the hospital’s revamped surgery suites.

On the job with Oakland’s garbage collectors, one of the most dangerous jobs in the country

But every morning that the drivers motor out of the yard, they’re embarking on a job fraught with potential dangers that extend far beyond simply navigating a truck throughout rush hour traffic. In 2011, there were 34 fatal work injuries within the profession, a study released several weeks ago by the Bureau of Labor Statistics found. After fishing and logging workers, aircraft pilots and flight engineers, the bureau ranks refuse and recyclable collection as having the fourth highest fatal work injury rate in the entire country.