Community

Behind a small grey non-descript house near San Pablo Avenue and 60th Street in the Golden Gate neighborhood is a different kind of bicycle shop. As you walk down a path alongside the house, you pass chicken coops, Birds of Paradise and a vegetable garden full of beets, bok choy and broccoli. Past the garden, a door leads to a clean little studio full of tools and bikes. This is where Dan Woloz just opened a service-oriented bike shop called Bike Man Dan.

Breakfast and lunch hotspot Mama’s Royal Café is calling all doodlers, amateur and professional, young and old: The deadline for its 29th annual Napkin Art Contest is fast approaching. (Really fast, actually. Entries need to be in by March 31. You can either send them in by mail or drop them off at the café’s 4012 Broadway storefront).

Members of the Longfellow Community Association gathered on Saturday at the North Oakland Community Charter School to celebrate the first anniversary of their neighborhood group and look ahead to future projects.

Oakland residents John Morgan and John Boomer graduated from UC Berkeley in 2009. A few months later, they faced a decision: make some quick cash, or move back home. On a lark, Morgan wheeled a full-size piano out to Macarthur BART station, sat down, and played.

Facing a $21 million deficit, along with employee layoffs, service cuts and the probable closing of facilities, AC Transit doesn’t have a lot of breathing room. On Wednesday, the agency’s board of directors decided it can’t finance the estimated $625,000 it would cost to offer discount youth bus passes for Oakland Unified School District high school students over the age of 18.

The Oakland School Board meeting began last night with a cheer. Literally. The Sobrante Park Elementary cheerleaders have returned from a first place finish in the statewide competitive cheer competition in Los Angeles, and they saluted the board and meeting audience with kicks, twirls and pom-poms.

The Oakland Marathon will get off to a running start on Sunday, March 27 with a handful of other race events and activities on Saturday preceding the principal competition, as part of the second annual Oakland Running Festival.

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

In the 2011 season opener for the Oakland Outlaws, Oakland’s own roller derby team, the Outlaws face off against the Berkeley Resistance, the newest team to be added to the B.ay A.rea D.erby (B.A.D.) Girls Roller Derby league.