Community
May Day: Youth Prepare from Betty Bastidas on Vimeo. Watch as youth from Oakland prepare banners and other artwork for tomorrow’s May Day march and rally in to support workers’ and immigrant rights.
In easy view of crisscrossing highways and towering industrial parks, dozens of people marched through East Oakland’s flatlands wearing white surgical masks on Saturday. Families pushing strollers, men in suits, and kids with skateboards walked from Tassafaronga Recreation Center to Acorn Woodland Elementary School to celebrate ‘Love Yo Mama’ Earth Day and to call attention to environmental degradation in inner city neighborhoods.
Funded by various local organizations and staffed by local volunteers, Rebuilding Together Oakland (RTO) offers free home make-overs to the city’s elderly. Watch as volunteers rehabilitate 92-year-old Oakland resident Henry Buford’s home of 54 years.
At the intersection of Fruitvale Blvd. and the railway tracks, despite the traffic noise, there’s another noise that stands out —the barking of dogs in the big fenced back yard of the Oakland Animal Shelter. The dogs bark over the sounds of trucks, cars, and freeway, over the railway track’s light signals, and are an early, outside indication that the shelter is totally packed.
A few weeks ago I saw a great show at Café Van Kleef in Oakland featuring the Hot Pink Feathers – the music was provided by the gentlemen in Blue Bone Express. If you have a chance, check ’em out next time you are in the neighborhood. They have a show at least once a month. http://www.cafevankleef.com/ If you know of any great live shows coming up soon, let me know – leave the info in the comments section. I’ll…
Hawaiians struggle in their native islands against the forces of tourism and militarism, according to Ikaika Hussey, publisher of the Hawaii Independent, a Honolulu-based newspaper devoted to in-depth coverage of local issues. On Sunday, March 15, at the Eastside Cultural Center in downtown Oakland, Hussey, joined by Malia Connor, founder of the Malia Movement Company, presented “Hawaiian Native Lands: Seized, Not Ceded,” a combination dance performance and discussion focused on Native Hawaiian struggles.
By Casey Miner and Tasneem Paghdiwala Raja/Oakland North For twelve years, Oakland’s Parkway Speakeasy Theater was a community mainstay: a place to grab a beer, park yourself on a couch, watch a cheap movie and catch up with friends. But like many other small businesses, the Parkway has had a hard time weathering the recession. Last Wednesday, owners Kyle and Catherine Fischer announced that a combination of money troubles and landlord issues meant the theater had to close. Within 24…
Her water broke. They grabbed what they needed, scrambled out of the house and hit the road. The couple finally arrived, and it wasn’t a minute too soon. The husband jumped out of the car and rushed inside to the counter. “I’ll take two hot dogs please—to go!” he said. “I can’t tell you how many times that’s happened, how many pregnant women wanted Kasper’s hot dogs before they went to the hospital,” said a smiling Harry Yaglijian, third generation…
About a month ago, the North Oakland branch of the San Leandro-based chain Pet Food Express was hit by an armed robber. Two weeks later, it happened again, this time at the Pet Food Express Rockridge store, located in the Safeway shopping center at 51st and Broadway. According to employees, it was the same guy. It was then that the vice president of Pet Food Express, Mark Witirol, started hearing of other armed robberies at the Rockridge shopping center….