Community

Seven-year-old Jose Hernandez swiped through images on his mother’s tablet device in Oakland’s Verdes Carter Park as they took their place in a swelling crowd of parents and other children waiting for events marking the National Missing Children’s Day to begin.

After years of planning, renovations to the Rockridge BART plaza’s exterior began last week. According to the Rockridge Community Planning Council’s website, the new configuration created by landscape designer Greer Alley was inspired by the community’s desire for improved seating and better lighting in the space. The goal of the renovation is to take a now-unusable area and create a community gathering space where community members may sit and talk or enjoy a cup of coffee.

The Senseless Bureau knows how to grip their audience with plays on gender, nuance and innuendo. Their improv show—filled with ad-lib, mime and intuition—is provocative and carefree.

I took a deep breath, slipped off my robe, stepped into the salty water, and closed the door behind me. I lay down and tried to be still. I closed my eyes. The sensation that I was surrounded by nothingness took over and I started to slip away.

Oakland North is continuing with our feature. Every week, we will publish a photo submitted by one of our readers. This week’s photo is by Christopher Voss.

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 Prim.

Bittersweet settles into its new location in downtown Oakland, as the café becomes one of the new businesses to enter the revitalized area of the East Bay.

For one of the first-time candidates running for public office, the first-ever Oakland Caucus on Thursday night seemed undoubtedly formal. Richard Raya is running for the District 1 council seat, which includes North Oakland, in November, and while his campaigning to this point has involved a lot of community meetings and house parties, this event featured most of the candidates for local political seats in full-on campaign mode as they mingled with voters.

Here is the fifth edition of Oakland North’s guessing game. This week you have eight photos to work with, and three clues to help get you started.