Community

Annual Lunar New Year Bazaar held in Oakland’s Chinatown

It was a rainy week, and people were itching to head outdoors by the time Saturday rolled around. Many found themselves drawn to the hubbub at the center of Oakland Chinatown, where the annual Lunar New Year Bazaar was held. Offered two weeks shy of Chinese New Year, the street fair is meant to usher in the popular holiday as Chinese American families began their preparations.

East Bay gears up for bike-sharing this fall

Hundreds of brightly colored bikes will appear in Oakland, Berkeley and Emeryville this fall, as bike-sharing rolls into the East Bay. San Francisco launched bike-sharing in 2013, when 350 blue-green bikes were placed in SoMa, the Financial District and along the Embarcadero. Since then, locals and tourists alike have checked out the bikes, taken them on short rides, and returned them to bike stations, paying by the day, month or year. According to Motivate, the company that runs Bay Area…

Oakland North’s 2015 year in review — our top stories

2015 brought another group of student reporters to Oakland North, and they covered the daily news of a changing city: The rising cost of rent and concerns about gentrification, the debate over raising the minimum wage, a controversial plan to ship coal through the Port of Oakland, efforts to stem crime and the lives of those lost to gun violence, the fate of refugees who have resettled here. But they also dug deep into stories about the people, places and ideas that…

Oakland’s Mongolian School enrolls 100th student

Founded in April 2009, the Ger Youth Center is a non-profit organization based in Oakland dedicated to preserving and promoting traditional Mongolian visual and performing arts, culture and language among Bay Area Mongolian and Mongolian-American youth. Its flagship program, the Bi Mongol — or “I am Mongolian” — School operates out of the Oakland Asian Cultural Center. The school offers biweekly classes in art, dancing, Mongolian language, chess, and more. The Ger Youth Center also coordinates a variety of cultural events open…