Community
A coalition of tenants and concerned community members seeking to stave off the eviction a church and its programs from a historic West Oakland building held a press conference Tuesday morning at which speakers called the property an important neighborhood gathering point, and urged the city to help the Jack London Square Chapel Church and its media education and community outreach programs remain in the building.
Sarah Kirnon and her business associate were putting the finishing touches on their new restaurant in Old Oakland—Miss Ollie’s, specializing in Afro-Caribbean fare—days before it was scheduled to open. In the kitchen, spices were still in their packaging: cardamom, cumin, dried and smoked habanero peppers. Tables were stacked in front. The grill shone brand new. But Kirnon, 43, who has worked as a chef since she was 19, said she wasn’t nervous about the opening. This location, on Washington Street…
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 Rigby.
The area around Lake Merritt BART, including Chinatown and Laney College, could see taller buildings, new park area, and more pedestrian and bike-friendly streets in the next 25 years as part of a development effort presented on Saturday. The plan, four years in the making, was developed by the City of Oakland, BART, and the Peralta Community College District.
Oakland North has been up and running for about five years now, and in that time we’ve gotten to meet quite a few of our neighbors — and they’ve had some amazing personal stories to tell. Collected here are some of our very favorite profiles of the people who make the town what it is. Some of them are pretty famous, like comic artist Daniel Clowes and radio host Glynn Washington. Some of them are people you’ve probably run into on…
The Nutcracker Prince, the Grinch, Snowflake the Elf, Santa Claus and even a tap dancing Christmas tree will be joining the whimsical cast of characters at Children’s Fairyland this holiday season. For 10 days, the beloved Oakland theme park will be transformed with twinkling lights and decorations into a multi-cultural winter wonderland.
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…
The sounds of rhythmic drumbeats mixed with guitar, keyboard and bass notes, accompanied by the rustle and rattle of a beaded gourd filled downtown Oakland with the melody of African-inspired songs in recognition of Kwanzaa, a weeklong celebration of African-American heritage. The West African Highlife Band performed Wednesday afternoon in front of a tall Christmas tree in Oakland’s City Center, celebrating the holidays and the city’s diverse cultural heritage. Kwanzaa is usually observed at the end of the month, from…
Nine years after the Oakland Police Department was ordered to comply with a series of court orders or be put into receivership, a federal judge approved a settlement agreement Wednesday between city officials and civil rights attorneys that avoids a takeover of the department by a federal monitor.