Community

BART shifts weekday morning service one hour later

Last Monday, the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) service moved its morning service one hour later in order to conduct a seismic retrofit on the Transbay Tube that will allow it to withstand major earthquakes in the future. BART shifted its systemwide service from 4 to 5 a.m., allowing work crews to have an extra hour each morning. The retrofit and service shift will last for the next 3.5 years in order to complete a “waterproofing project” to protect the…

A Lunar New Year museum experience

Kids ran around relentlessly, and parents did their best to keep up. This was the scene at the Oakland Museum of California’s Lunar New Year Celebration, an annual event that drew residents from across the Bay Area. A line of traffic formed on Oak St. just for museum parking. As attendees continuously flooded through the museum entrance, the sight of walls adorned with red decorations and multi-colored lanterns welcomed them. The festivities focused on how members of the Asian diaspora…

Bicycle shops in the county are closing for business

Local bicycle shops are dying off in the East Bay. In the last two months, five of them have closed their doors in Alameda County. One of them is Oakland’s Manifesto Bicycles. Owners Sam Cunningham and Mackay Gibbs explain how a decline in bicycle commuting and competition from online retailers affected their business and led to them having to shut it down. 

Coming soon to Oakland: the Black Choreographers Festival

Dance professor Julia Hughes is finishing a rehearsal in a big circle in the center of a studio. “Breathe in, breathe out,” she says. “Let’s leave all our bad energies and refresh by saying something we are thankful for!” This is the first time that her group, Tô Aí: We Are One People, will be performing as part of the Black Choreographers Festival, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary this February during the month dedicated to black history. The festival,…

Online music company Bandcamp opens shop in Oakland

Last Friday, online music company Bandcamp hosted the grand opening of a new record store and performance space in downtown Oakland. Local artists Sol Development, Queens D. Light, Jazz on the Sidewalk, and MJ’s Brass Boppers performed in front of a packed house. Attendees chatted away while browsing through the store’s diverse music selection. For the record store’s general manager, Sarah Sexton, this new space is all about bringing together musicians that “really showcased the diversity and range of the…

Oakland City Council backs teachers; doesn’t vote on rent protections

The Oakland City Council meeting ended in confusion and shouts of anger Tuesday night after a legal issue delayed a vote on an ordinance that would have extended rent control protections to tenants living in own-occupied duplexes and triplexes.   “What’s the issue?” shouted attendee Reisa Jaffe at new Council President Rebecca Kaplan (at-large). “I’d like to know what happened?” demanded another atttendee, standing up with his hands in the air.  “These issues were just brought to our attention tonight,” said…