Culture

J school dean discusses $5m Bay Area News Project

The Bay Area News Project, a nonprofit media venture that will start with a $5 million grant from Bay Area financier Warren Hellman,  will bridge gaps in coverage of local news issues while guiding reporters through an era of shrinking job opportunities and technological change, a leader of the project said Tuesday. Neil Henry, dean of U.C. Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism, made the remarks about the recently-announced endeavor at an afternoon meeting held on the UC Berkeley campus.  The plan,…

Sister Spit on stage in Oakland tomorrow

Sister Spit: The Next Generation, a collaboration of spoken-word performances by local “queer” writers, poets, artists, and a comedienne kicked off their 2009 national tour at the Lab Wednesday night. The closest they get to the Bay Area again is Oct. 7 at the Oakland Metro Operahouse in downtown Oakland. Presented by local literary nonprofit Radar Productions, it was a return to roots for many of the performers including local celebrity Michelle Tea, founder of Sister Spit. Tea made her…

Meet Serina Elliott, future kitchen champion

In this video, we follow Serina Elliott, a Kitchen of Champions student from North Oakland’s Golden Gate neighborhood. Just four weeks into her program, Elliot aspires to one day become “a Food Network star.”

Hometown hero Henderson honored by alma mater

Recently-minted Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson, the former Oakland Tech Bulldog and Oakland Athletic, returned to his old neighborhood on Saturday afternoon for a ceremony renaming a North Oakland baseball field in his honor. Story by Sam Laird/Oakland North

Four cities jointly launch new 510arts.com website

The mayors of Emeryville, Berkeley and Richmond, along with Oakland city council member Rebecca Kaplan, together cut a virtual ribbon with the click of a mouse this morning to launch 510arts.com, a collaborative website for the four cities to promote the East Bay arts. The website features regional arts events and news and serves as a portal to each city’s own arts-related site. 510arts.com positions the East Bay’s diversity at the forefront of the campaign with its “World Culture in…