Community

Oakland fashion impresario teaches modeling, pride

The First Friday art crowd packed the room, backing all the way up the stairs. This wasn’t a conventional event for one of Oakland’s downtown art walks. It was a youth fashion show, featuring local kids trained by Mario Benton, a San Francisco native who moved to East Oakland 16 years ago. “From childhood I wanted to be a fashion producer and have models,” Benton said. “That’s my first love.”

Ruffled feathers: The goose dispute at Lake Merritt

Every summer, from June into September, Lake Merritt is goose territory. The problem, some park visitors say, is what they leave behind – feathers and droppings, which cover the grass and smear the sidewalk, especially around Lakeside Park, during the summer months, when visits to the park peak.

Adoptable animal of the week: Betty Davis

Oakland North is continuing with our feature. Every Tuesday, Oakland Animal Services will spotlight an “Animal of the Week” that’s up for adoption at their facility. This week it’s Betty Davis.