Community
On Friday, students from across the city competed in the 31st annual Martin Luther King Jr. Oratorical Fest, reciting speeches and poetry and performing dramatic skits in front of an audience of about one hundred people.
By 9 a.m. on Saturday, dozens of people were in line outside a warehouse in East Oakland, waiting for the people inside to lift the heavy metal door to the building. They had been there—in some cases for hours—waiting for the mother of all rummage sales: the Oakland Museum Women’s Board’s 51st White Elephant Sale.
The Street Style/Dream Seam School of Fashion gives Oakland teens a place to sketch, knit, sew and be around other creative people while learning about the ins and outs of the art and fashion scenes.
On March 4, students and educators throughout California will demonstrate against state budget cuts that have slashed finances at public schools and raised student fees throughout the UC system. Oakland North presents a special news package, with all-day, three-city coverage of the protests and the story behind them.
Students at Oakland Technical High School participated in a “disaster drill” to draw attention to the state of emergency of education as part of the March 4th Day of Action
At a quiet school board meeting on Wednesday night, Oakland’s school board renewed the charters for two local schools: North Oakland Community Charter School (NOCCS) and Lighthouse Community Charter.
Bay Area residents have the chance to be fairy godparents by opening their closets and hearts to help a young women attend their high school proms. The Princess Project, now in its eighth year, is a volunteer effort to give accessories and new and gently used prom dresses to teens who otherwise couldn’t afford them.
In the era of Proposition 8 — the state constitutional amendment that says marriage is only legal between a man and a woman — same-sex couples are doing what they can to express their commitment to each other. Lindsay Nelson and Chelley Putzer participated in a Valentines Day instant wedding hosted by UrbanDaddy.com and the W Hotel. The ten couples who were married throughout the day had everything provided for them. For Lindsay and Chelley, that meant everything but a marriage certificate.
Oakland residents filled the City Council chambers last night, pleading for a reprieve from an additional $15.3 million in city budget cuts to close the deficit for the 2009-10 fiscal year.