Community
Oakland’s new city council members, who were inaugurated at a ceremony at City Hall Monday, set the stage for the elected body’s biggest policy focus of the next four years—public safety. While it’s no secret that crime is Oakland’s number one problem, with the city’s homicide rate reaching 131 on the last day of 2012, councilmembers old and new declared Monday that the council should formally proclaim that combating crime the city’s first priority. That means more than just acknowledging…
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 cat named Jacques.
When Oakland resident Debi Mason set out to prevent mortgage associates from the Bank of America from foreclosing on her sister Patricia’s Maxwell Park home in 2007, she had only a few friends, neighbors and advocacy groups to help fend off the foreclosure. But last week, Mason, along with thousands of homeowners in Bay Area cities like Oakland and Richmond that have been profoundly effected by foreclosures and the ensuing blight, welcomed the new Homeowner Bill of Rights, a state…
Through the windows of 4030 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Kevin Clarke can be seen lounging in a chair, typing away at his laptop with his full-sized bed in full view. Clarke’s bed and lounge chairs sit near the front window of a 2,000 square foot warehouse space, where everything from the vintage stove in his kitchen to his niece’s scribbled drawing tacked on his work space wall are all part of the gallery experience. “I like that it’s a little…
Many of the reporters at Oakland North are new to the Bay Area, and one of the first things we noticed while touring the city was its beautiful and sometimes unusual architecture. On the reporting team for this series, one of us is from Brazil and one is from Southern California. We decided it would be great to learn more about some of the structures that represent Oakland’s beautiful landscape. With a great deal of assistance from the representatives at…
Every week, Oakland North will publish a photo submitted by one of our readers. This week’s photo is by James T’eo. He writes, “Coming home fighting holiday traffic, I bust my iPhone 5 out with one hand on the wheel and the other trying to get a shot … lucky shot!” If you’d like to contribute to “community photo of the week,” just send a favorite photograph taken in Oakland to staff@oaklandnorth.net with the subject: PHOTO. Please make all photographs…
Nearly 200 people gathered at a North Oakland church Monday to remember Oakland’s homicide victims in 2012. On New Year’s Eve, the last day of the year, the number of killings had reached 131—a five-year high.
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 Cheddar.
2012 was a year of big changes for Oakland, as the city dealt with its struggling finances, a possible federal takeover of its police department, multiple petitions to recall the mayor and the closure of several elementary schools.