Crime

Oakland businesses strike for better police protection: ‘We are all suffering.’

Dozens of Oaklanders shuttered their shops and businesses for two hours this week to protest what they say is the city’s failure to stem a growing crisis of street crime.  Business owners and their supporters gathered outside the once-thriving downtown restaurant Le Cheval, now closing its doors after 38 years due to rising crime. A few minutes after a planned 10 a.m. start on Tuesday, Carl Chan, president of the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce and lead strike organizer, blamed…

Oakland City Council commits to funding 24 prevention programs to address violent crime

Oakland’s Department of Violence Prevention narrowly avoided a multi-million dollar budget cut in an 11th-hour reprieve by the City Council. Because of a looming $360 million budget shortfall, the cityhad proposed cutting an estimated $5.7 million from the DVP in its 2023-2024 budget. This reduction would have forced the DVP to cut funding from several violence prevention organizations that offer community-building strategies, including juvenile justice reform, youth leadership training, legal literacy training, and voter awareness. With a unanimous vote Sept….

Skyline High School closed Wednesday after shooting on campus

Shots were fired Tuesday morning on the Skyline High School campus, prompting a lockdown and leading to two arrests. No one was injured in the shooting, which happened around 11:20 a.m. Skyline will be closed Wednesday while police investigate the shooting. At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, Oakland police Capt. Jake Bassett said police recovered a handgun and other evidence on campus. He would not say where on campus the shooting occurred, how many shots were fired or if any…

Break-ins set Oakland Chinatown businesses back: ‘Things were slowly getting better, then all of a sudden the doom arrived.’

It was quiet in Oakland Chinatown at 3 a.m. on Thursday, March 23. The last two eateries on Eighth Street — Lounge Chinatown and New Gold Medal Restaurant — were wrapping up business for the day. At a quarter past 3, workers at both restaurants locked glass doors and then iron gates. At Lounge Chinatown, wooden doors added to the security. But it wasn’t enough. Ten minutes later, as the street became darker and quieter, burglars broke into the two…

My Oakland Agenda: Oaklanders share their visions for the town

In between bites from a chicken and veggie sandwich, Oakland resident Connor Hunter, 9, read aloud from a poster he had just signed at Lincoln Summer Nights, a community event hosted by a coalition of local organizations. The prompt: “If you were an elected official in Oakland, what would your first act be?” “I wrote that if I was elected mayor, I would give $500,000 to businesses in Oakland because it would help the community and businesses grow. I could…

‘Voters have decided it’s time to try something different’: Pamela Price’s election signals reform in district attorney’s office

When Pamela Price takes office next month, she is expected to usher in an era of change and reform in Alameda County, where retiring district attorney Nancy O’Malley held the post for 13 years.  The election was historic even before a winner emerged, as both candidates were African American, marking the first time the county would elect a Black district attorney.   Price won roughly 53% of the vote, getting about 27,000 more votes than Chief Assistant DA Terry Wiley. “We…

Dozens gather at Lake Merritt to honor those killed at queer club in Colorado

About three dozen people gathered at the Lake Merritt amphitheater on a chilly Friday night to remember the five people who were killed last weekend in a mass shooting at a queer nightclub in Colorado Springs.  During the three-hour vigil, people, mostly wearing black, listened to music — some hugging, others crying, and many laughing together, as they tried to care for one another in the wake of continued brutality against queer people in the United States. “Being queer and…

One suspect dead, second suspect pleads not guilty in Oakland dentist’s murder

Hasheem Bason, 33, charged with murdering an Oakland dentist in August, pleaded not guilty last Tuesday.  Bason, of Stockton, also is charged with slaying while lying in wait, special circumstances of killing for financial gain and use of a firearm, among other offenses.  At 2 p.m, on Aug 21, Dr. Lili Xu was shot and killed when she and her boyfriend pulled up to a curb on the 1000 block of Fifth Ave. in Oakland’s Little Saigon neighborhood.  The Oakland…

Oakland offering grants for programs that help in wake of violence: ‘Healing growth happens best when community leads the way.’

When Oakland resident LeJon Loggins lost his cousin to gun violence in 2006, he designed the obituary as he would a piece of artwork. It was an eight-page, double-sided pamphlet full of colors, images, quotes, and memories. “Kind of like a school yearbook,” Loggins said.  “I wanted people in the community to know that his life was more than a number discussed on the news. When you look at the obituary and start smiling and remembering, you start the healing…