Community
Former Warriors players gathered at City Hall last week to honor the head coach who helped them win the Oakland team’s first championship. The event, hosted by the city, honored Al Attles for his innovation and being one of five Black coaches in the NBA. Attles, who spent his entire career as an NBA player with the Warriors in the 1960s before becoming the team’s coach from 1970 to 1983, died in August at age 87. “We had two great…
Chase Toler walked with his family through Jack London Square on Saturday under a clear blue sky and through a crowd of wagging tails and soft paws For his mother, Colleen Toler, it’s quite the sight. Despite there being loud music, lots of people and barking dogs, Chase, 15, is walking with confidence — something she once thought she’d never get to see. Typically, Chase finds crowds like this unsettling. “Chase becomes very overwhelmed, especially out in public,” Colleen said….
Over 250 people made their way to San Antonio Park in East Oakland Friday evening. Among the bright, inviting murals and delicious smells of popcorn and spaghetti launched Family Friday, a new program to give families a safe space to get to know each other and build community. The program, started by Trybe, a nonprofit serving youth and families, is a continuation of Town Nights, a program by the city’s Department of Violence Prevention that hosts events in parks around…
When photographer Malcolm Ryder first moved to Oakland, the place he saw through his camera lens was different from what he saw on the news. “I became super sensitive to the incredible disparity between what was actually in Oakland and how it is usually portrayed in mass media. The mass media portrayal is not just borderline hostile, it is outright hostile. It doesn’t even make room for the possibility that the city could be or can be a better place,”…
A century ago, in the shadow of a newly constructed Tribune Tower, a group of women met at Hotel Oakland to establish an organization that would reflect their nascent civic power. Over the ensuing 100 years, both landmarks would close, but the League of Women Voters of Oakland remains. Last month, on the shore of Lake Merritt, members of the Oakland League celebrated the organization’s centennial. Under strings of shimmering lights and a massive eucalyptus tree, generations of volunteers came…
When Alameda County voters go to the polls in November, they may be asked to decide how affordable housing is financed for decades to come. At Tuesday’s Oakland City Council meeting, local and regional housing experts stressed the importance of an upcoming $20 billion regional bond measure that could bring as much as $765 million to Oakland. “It really is the most ambitious affordable housing program that we have ever embarked upon in the region and even in the state…
Oakland has agreed to sell its stake in the Coliseum, ending decades of ownership at the storied East Bay event complex, Mayor Sheng Thao said at a news conference Wednesday. Following years of negotiations, Oakland and the African American Sports and Entertainment Group have reached an $105 million agreement for the city’s 50% ownership stake in the stadium site. The deal comes as city officials scramble to address a significant budget deficit while dealing with the loss of the city’s…
On a recent Friday at the Old Oakland Farmers’ Market, one stall kept people lingering for longer than usual among the rows of vendors offering produce and food. At a table decorated with a large zoning map and a wooden outline of Oakland’s skyscrapers, those who stopped weren’t there to buy but to share their opinion about the state of downtown. The Oaklandside is partnering with Oakland North and Oakland Lowdown to examine what’s working well and what isn’t for…
On a rainy Saturday morning in February, Josh Gunter organized the cleanup equipment for the day ahead — buckets and trash-pickers, elastic gloves and trash bags, coffee and water. Then he waited for volunteers from Friends of Raimondi Park to arrive for the monthly cleanup event. Gunter was among more than a dozen residents who braved the weather that morning to pick up trash, rake and sweep. Friends of Raimondi Park, one of the many groups participating in Oakland’s “Adopt…