Community

The Oakland Police Department (OPD) was granted $1.875 million for creating and preserving 15 community-policing law enforcement jobs.

During his years of internment at Heart Mountain, Jimi Yamaichi mastered living in a frozen world. He insulated his barrack with ice. He substituted cold cow dung for cement. He grew summer vegetables in below-zero temperatures. He stood perfectly still when guards at the Heart Mountain War Relocation Camp ordered him to pack his belongings and prepare to be transferred to Tule Lake War Relocation Center. At least, he thought, it would be warmer. “I kept my street clothes on…

While the East Bay Municipal Utility District is suffering the worst drought since its founding in 1923, its 1.3 million users face no danger of going dry anytime soon. That was the message from EBMUD board members and operations staff at their Tuesday public meeting. Infrastructure investments, conservation, and transfers–buying water from the Sacramento River–together mean the East Bay is weathering this Stage 4 drought better than most of California. According to the state’s own data, the EBMUD staff are…

Looking to the future of the organization, newly opened East Oakland/Coliseum Planned Parenthood is expanding its services to include surgical abortions and possibly vasectomies.

On Saturday at Peralta Hacienda Historical Park, panels at least ten feet tall displayed pictures of Oakland immigrants, artists and business owners of different ethnic backgrounds. As Latin music played, visitors strolled by and read the biographies of those featured in the exhibit. “Alla en el Rancho Grande,” referring to a traditional Mexican song, was the first of a series of upcoming events related to the public programming initiative called Latino Americans: 500 Years of History. The National Endowment of…

In a brightly decorated room in the event space Oakstop, seven teenagers laugh with one another as they share anecdotes from the past week. A box of pizza balances on the table next to the entrance. The young people, ages 13 to 19, circle around an oblong table, some chatting, others writing or drawing in their notebooks. Colored pencils are scattered in a pile, like pick-up sticks, alongside a pencil bag with a Scrabble piece design. This group is attending…

Leah Goldstein is bobbing and weaving her way through a dozen girls poised to punch. Their tiny fists are held high, ready to strike. “Show me your fighting stance,” Goldstein says. “See how powerful you are? That’s enough to knock someone out if you hit them in the right spot.” The girls lunge at an invisible opponent. Sharp breaths cut through a chorus of giggles. Goldstein is leading a group of middle school girls in a self-defense course. The class…

According to the California Office of Traffic Safety, a government agency that provides grants to local and state public agencies for programs to help them enforce traffic laws, Oakland has consistently had the highest rate of hit-and-run crashes of any large city in the state. “In 2014, there were 7,000 traffic collisions, of which 4,000 were hit and runs,” said Officer Glenn Hara, who works in the traffic investigation unit at the Oakland Police Department. Out of those cases, which include incidents with injuries and fatalities as well as more minor cases, such as damage to a parked car, OPD has solved fewer than 2 percent.

EOYDC serves students in East Oakland with free after-school programming. It was founded in 1973, officially opening in 1978. The existing facilities recently underwent renovation as well as the construction of over 6,000 square feet of additional space including an art and ceramics studio, an Apple Mac lab, a rooftop deck and an exercise studio where dance, yoga and martial arts classes are held.