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Oakland North is happy to welcome 23 new reporters, as the school year resumes at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism. We’ll return from our summer hiatus this week, with coverage returning to normal production by mid-month as our students complete their introductory training and begin reporting out in the community. In the meantime, we’re looking for news tips, story ideas, and comments from our readers. Feel free to comment below, get in touch with us on Facebook or follow our @northoaklandnow…
Like many of its readers, the community news websites Oakland North and Richmond Confidential will be on vacation for the summer.
After serving for a year as interim police chief, Sean Whent, an 18-year veteran of the force, was named permanent chief of Oakland Police Department by Mayor Jean Quan at Oakland City Hall Wednesday. “As a no-nonsense chief, he has led the Department’s reorganization, built a strong leadership team and strengthened police collaboration with neighborhood leaders,” Quan said in making the appointment. “We’ve made significant progress in the last year, reducing crime and completing mandated federal reforms. We have much…
Antwan Wilson was unanimously approved as the Superintendent of the Oakland Unified School District by Oakland Board of Education, succeeding acting superintendent Gary Yee. Wilson previously served as Denver’s Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Education where he achieved success increasing both graduation rates and the number of students entering college. “Start[ing] as a teacher, he worked his way through the system and understands how to be an educator at every level,” director Jody London said. The new superintendent’s appointment, following a…
Volunteers rolled up their sleeves to clear trash, weed, plant, and restore creek beds at Oakland’s 20th Annual Earth Day event on Saturday. They joined more than a billion people worldwide in what environmentalists call the largest civic observance in the world.
Two U.S. Congresswomen stood shoulder-to-shoulder with sexual assault survivors on the U.C. Berkeley campus on Tuesday to call for federal legislation that would toughen laws on sexual harassment and violence on college campuses.
Banjoko once lived in Oakland and was a part of the ‘90s Bay Area Hip Hop music scene. Currently, he is teaching chess and life strategies to students at Encinal High School in Alameda through a partnership with his friend John Fuentes, who oversees the after school high school program for Bay Area Community Resources (BACR). From now to the end of this school year, Fuentes’ goal is to have Banjoko teach chess at several Oakland high schools as well.
Peer mediators serve as “Mr. Kyle” McClerkins’ eyes and ears around school. They listen to fellow students, help them take responsibility for their actions and decide on appropriate consequences. McClerkins’ peer mediator program is part of a larger framework called the Restorative Justice Whole School Model, implemented in Oakland since 2005, and existing in various forms around the country, from Chicago to New Orleans.
In a tightly-moderated discussion Thursday evening at Temple Sinai in Oakland, mayoral candidates took questions from journalists, querying one another and making closing statements. Many aimed shots at Mayor Jean Quan, but most refrained from taking jabs at one another.