Community
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.
The four-year legal clash over California’s Proposition 8 may be coming to an end—the US Supreme Court announced last week that it will hear the case on the state’s same-sex marriage ban, and make its first-ever ruling on the issue. To gay and lesbian rights advocates around the Bay Area, this will be a momentous decision.
Every week, Oakland North will publish a photo submitted by one of our readers. This week’s photo is by Mark Gartland.
This November, voters in Alameda County rejected a proposed parcel tax aimed at creating a stable source of income for the Oakland Zoo. Many of the measure’s opponents objected to the zoo’s multi-million dollar expansion plans, even though zoo officials said funding from the measure would be used for animal care, repairs of existing facilities, and the zoo’s veterinary hospital, not the expansion. Despite the failure of Measure A1, the zoo will go ahead with planned construction of the California Trails…
Barrels around Oakland are filling up with dolls, games, books, gloves, scarves, socks and other holiday gifts as residents continue to donate items to the Mayor’s Toy Drive. This annual community collection helps ensure that children in all Oakland neighborhoods will have presents to open come Christmas morning. “It’s a little daunting trying to fill every family’s requests,” said Al Lujan, supervisor of the Oaklanders Assistance Center, where low-income families can sign up to receive donations from the drive. “We’re really…
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 Honey.