Community

Oakland’s Enkutatash festival is cancelled, but Ethiopians celebrate in other ways

Ethiopians in the Bay Area will be ushering in the new year a little differently this year. Oakland’s longtime iconic Enkutatash festival has been cancelled due to lack of funds, according to a letter distributed by Ethiopian Community Services (ECS). “For many years, this event has been graciously supported with a $25,000 grant from The Christensen Fund,” the ECS board of directors wrote in the letter. “Unfortunately the fund expired last year and is not available to ECS.” Tekeste Teclu,…

We’re off for the summer — see you in September!

Oakland North is a project of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, and now that it’s summer, our students are on break to work internships at other publications. We’ll be back to train a new class of student reporters in early September. If you’ve found us over the summer, here are a few highlights from the coverage done by the 2014-15 Oakland North news crew: A world of hope: Treating international patients with rare diseases at Children’s Hospital Oakland by Melina Tupa…

Lack of benefits and work continuity weighs heavily on temporary part-time city workers

For the last three years, Connor Crabb has been working as a recreation leader at Studio One, a city-run center in Oakland that offers afterschool and summer art classes to children. The 24-year-old Oakland native starts his day at the center around 1:30 pm, going from school to school, gathering students from different sites, then riding back to Studio One with a bus driver. He coaches elementary school students in flag football and basketball, and he helps make sure they…

Oakland City Attorney Barbara Parker named 2015 Public Lawyer of the Year

The California State Bar’s Public Law Section has named Oakland City Attorney Barbara Parker the 2015 Ronald M. George Public Lawyer of the Year (PLOY). The award is named after retired the California Supreme Court justice, and honors members of the State Bar who have demonstrated at least a five-year commitment to public law and have achieved exceptional accomplishments in the practice of public law. “It’s the highest recognition that I could receive, because it’s from your peers who know your…

Gritty City Repertory Theater creates a 1970’s-style Shakespeare for young Oakland performers

For Oakland’s artists, The Flight Deck, an arts and performance venue, is an open home. But for one theater group in particular, the space means much more than that. Tucked away in the back of The Flight Deck, Gritty City Repertory Theater prepares for their newest play, while its founder, Lindsay Krumbein, is preparing to play the role of company manager, ticket seller and costume designer. Krumbein founded the group in 2012 after an 11-year career as an English and…