Community

After 14-year study, Kaiser finds chickenpox vaccine highly effective

A rash followed by itchy, fluid-filled blisters all over a child’s body, usually tells parents their child has chickenpox. The illness was once a standard part of growing up—and many have the scars to prove it—but since a vaccination became common practice, fewer kids contract the virus. In 1995, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a group of medical and public health experts at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) who recommend which vaccines should be used routinely…

After the raid: The financial fallout for Oaksterdam and Oakland’s pot business

Following the federal raid on Oaksterdam University last April, Dale Sky Jones found herself with an incredible task: rebuilding the school from the ground up. Not only had Richard Lee, Oaksterdam’s founder and director, just stepped down—assigning Jones to take over his role—but during the raid, federal agents had gutted the university entirely. As Jones took on the responsibility of providing for the students, staff and volunteers who had already signed on for the spring semester, the rest of Oakland’s burgeoning pot industry was left wondering what lay ahead for their businesses and whether they, too, were vulnerable to raids or legal action from the federal government.

Adoptable animal of the week: Joey

Oakland North is continuing with our feature. Every week, Oakland Animal Services will spotlight an “Animal of the Week” that’s up for adoption at their facility. This week it’s a rabbit named Joey. Joey, an all-white boy, was rescued from a flea market with his brother and sister. His feet and tail were dyed pink and he’d been kept in poor living conditions, but that was more than one year ago (January 2012).  Now his fur has grown out and he is…

Civil rights complaint resolved at Skyline High School

In early March, Skyline High School and the Oakland Unified School District resolved a complaint filed by the high school’s Black Student Union nearly a year ago. The resolution could change how students file complaints, allow random audits of students’ class schedules, offer training for teachers on how to deal with complaints of racial discrimination, and require the school to provide annual logs of complaints to the US Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights. According to a statement from…

Adoptable animal of the week: Roscoe

Oakland North is continuing with our feature. Every week, Oakland Animal Services will spotlight an “Animal of the Week” that’s up for adoption at their facility. This week it’s a dog named Roscoe.