Business
Public officials and maritime industry leaders met on Friday to urge Congress to release funds collected from the Harbor Maintenance Tax in order to improve California’s port infrastructure and help stimulate economic growth.
Oakland’s Community and Economic Development Agency (CEDA) announced a pilot program Thursday to convert parking spots or unused bus stops into public spaces called “parklets” where people can relax and hang out.
The Nightcap is a series that features a favorite Oakland drinking establishment every Friday afternoon. This week, it’s Make Westing, the newest bar to open in Uptown.
Over the past year, according to the Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom, 46 books have been “banned” in the United States—taken off school and main library shelves, removed as “inappropriate” from class reading lists, attacked by bloggers and family value organizations or re-edited to replace words deemed offensive. All of these books are being showcased this week for a library and bookstore event called Banned Book Week.
The California Healthy Food Financing Initiative (CHFFI) landed on Governor Jerry Brown’s desk last week, after the state Senate and Assembly both voted to approve it by a wide margin. If signed by the governor, the bill would help bring more grocery stores, farmers’ markets and other sources of produce to under-served communities throughout the state, including West and East Oakland.
Founded in October 2010 by Danny Rosen, Arthur Coulston and Billy Parish, Berkeley-based Solar Mosaic is using Oakland as a proving ground to test for the first time its model of this crowd-funded community solar, with plans to finance five to seven projects, of which the Asian Resource Center (ARC) project is the first.
On Sunday, 20 local businesses exhibited their products and services at Tilt—a contemporary wedding fair catering to, as the event’s website put it, “the creative, alternative-thinking bride or groom.”
You never know what to expect from the Oakland Underground Film Festival. From Kung fu and female wrestlers to hip-hop and community gardens, this film festival has got it all. The event is being held this week, from Thursday to Saturday, in East Oakland.
An estimated 21,000 healthcare workers joined picket lines, attended rallies or simply stayed home from work in protest of proposed employee benefit cuts at 40 hospitals across California.