Community

OUSD starts process of revoking three AIMS schools’ charters

American Indian Model Schools founder Ben Chavis said Tuesday that the Oakland Unified School District’s recent decision to start the process of revoking the three AIM Schools’ charters is unfair and based on biases. “OUSD is upset because I did my job right and they lost students to me,” Chavis said. “They just want their kids back so they can get more state and federal funding.”

At alternative court, homeless find second chances

Judge Gordon Baranco donned his robes at the last minute, putting them on over a grey suit and a tie on which a reindeer tugged Santa in a sled. Baranco normally hears cases in the Alameda County Superior Court, but today he was presiding over a ragtag crowd in a well-used community center, where the homeless and formerly homeless defendants had gathered to have the fines associated with minor offenses waived. Baranco stood in front his makeshift bench, a rectangular…

Adoptable animal of the week: Belle

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 Belle.

Clinics reach out to Oakland’s Asian community to prevent “silent killer” hepatitis B

The Bay Area has one of the largest Asian and Asian Pacific Islander (API) populations in the entire country; together the two groups make up almost 19 percent of Oakland’s population. This group is uniquely at risk for hepatitis B, a disease that is sometimes known as the “silent killer,” as an infected person can remain asymptomatic for long periods of time, leaving many unknowingly infected. Nationwide, nearly 1 in 12 people of Asian and API descent are infected. But here in Oakland, healthcare workers are drawing more attention to getting residents screened for the disease and vaccinated against it, specifically among the low-income and uninsured.

Beauty’s brings Montreal-style wood oven baked bagels to Oakland

Amy Remsen and Blake Joffe—she experienced in the restaurant business and he as a chef—opened Beauty’s Bagels in Oakland last August. For the past few months, the small Temescal shop on Telegraph Avenue has seen a steady flow of customers, with lines occasionally winding out the front door and spilling onto the sidewalk.