Crime
Justin Samaniego is attending the Oakland Police Department’s Citizens Police Academy because he wants to become a police officer. Jan Gilbrecht signed up because she believes that citizens need to be aware of the OPD’s practices and make sure the department is following the rules. Gilbrecht and Samaniego were two of 45 people who attend the first night of OPD’s Citizens Police Academy, which is for Oakland residents and department applicants who are interested in learning more about OPD’s “policies and procedures” according to the course booklet that’s passed out to each of the students.
After a federal raid in early April on Oaksterdam University, an education center located in downtown Oakland that trains students to work in the marijuana industry, founder Richard Lee has decided to step down as head of the institution. His successor will be former executive chancellor Dale Sky Jones, which will officially be announced on Wednesday morning.
Until April 2, when a shooter killed seven and injured three students and staff members at Oikos University, few in Oakland had even heard of the school. Now, reports about the school’s future are mixed. University officials have signaled that they may begin holding classes off-campus, and state officials have raised concerns about Oikos students’ pass rate on a national nursing exam.
Trayvon Martin was killed more than six weeks ago, and Oakland and Sanford, Florida are nearly 3,000 miles apart. But that didn’t dim the outrage of a group of about 30 people gathered at the intersection of International Boulevard and 71st Avenue in East Oakland on Tuesday afternoon to “demand justice for Trayvon Martin.”
“It’s been six weeks since Trayvon was murdered and Zimmerman is still walking free. What kind of a system is this?” said D’andre Teeter of Berkeley, an organizer for the demonstration. “This is a system that protects this kind of racism.”
Oakland police announced Friday morning that they believe they have found the gun used in the shooting of ten Oikos university students and staffers on Monday in East Oakland. Seven of the shooting victims died. One Goh, a former nursing student at the school, was arrested in connection with the shooting shortly afterward. Goh was charged Wednesday in Alameda County Superior Court with seven counts of murder with special circumstances and three counts of attempted murder as well as other…
Medical marijuana dispensaries often strive to keep a low profile, but this has been even more the case after federal agents raided Oaksterdam University and the home of founder Richard Lee on Monday. Half a dozen East Bay dispensaries responded with “no comment” when asked about how their organization was reacting to the raid, and others ignored voicemails. To date, there are no known closures of dispensaries in the East Bay as a reaction to Monday’s raid, and for many dispensaries, such as Harborside Health Center and the Berkeley Patient’s Care Collective, it’s business as usual.
The Oakland City Council approved plans for a community benefit program for a half-mile area surrounding the Lake Merritt BART station, which includes Oakland’s Chinatown. The proposal suggests that all developments beyond a certain size include one or more community benefits, if it makes a reasonable rate of return and profit.
Over 800 people gathered Tuesday night at Allen Temple Baptist Church in East Oakland to commemorate the seven killed in Monday’s shooting at Oikos University. The diversity of the victims, who included immigrants from Korea, Nigeria and Nepal, was mirrored in the crowd, which represented all facets of the community. During the two-hour vigil several clergy members from different denominations and religions offered support and prayers for the victims, their family, and friends. They were joined by a number of…
When Dale Sky Jones, the executive chancellor of Oaksterdam University, walked into the school’s building at 1600 Broadway on Monday afternoon shortly after a raid by federal agents, one of the first things she saw was an Oaksterdam University banner, she said, “torn down and crumpled on the floor.” “They tried to demoralize us,” Jones said, “but they didn’t.”