Business
While Oakland’s Uptown residents search for a place to pretend to do work while chain-smoking and listening to obscure punk, John Mardikian is busy scrubbing, painting, fixing plumbing, and doing general repairs on the space where Mama Buzz—and before that, Papa Buzz—had been in some form or another for over a decade.
In light of recent financial difficulties, the Oakland Ballet Company’s board of directors decided to postpone this spring’s Diaghilev Imagery program until funding needs are met. The OBC faces fiscal troubles after selling fewer tickets for the 2011 performance of The Nutcracker and receiving less money than expected during fundraising efforts.
Purists, novices and everyone in between now have an option when deciding between “chili” or “chile” powder, or any of the other dozens of spices on hand at Oaktown Spice Shop, which opened the week before Christmas.
Jim Steele pretty much grew up in the dive shop he currently owns. He still spends most of his time either in the shop, or doing something related to diving, like guiding a class underwater to see the kelp forests and sea life in the Monterey Bay.
Oakland’s Chinatown has been hit hard by the recession. Fewer and fewer customers shop there, and job opportunities have been hurt. Food-related industries have suffered greatly, especially the small markets and restaurants.
About 75 Rockridge residents gathered for the monthly meeting of the Greater Rockridge Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council and to hear a presentation from an electronics company representative on video cameras the company makes for residents to place on their property, and in their neighborhood.
The owners of the Oakland Tribune have sent a cease and desist letter to the publisher of the “Occupied Oakland Tribune,” a newspaper and website devoted to coverage of the Occupy protests.
For Alameda County residents who own their homes, now is a particularly good time to invest in home energy upgrades, thanks to a number of federal and regional rebates offered by Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) and spearheaded by a statewide program called Energy Upgrade California.
About 40 people crowded the lobby of Oakland’s City Hall, demanding an impromptu audience with city councilmembers after a meeting of the council’s Community and Economic Development Committee was unexpectedly canceled Tuesday afternoon.