Development
In these commentaries, Oakland North writers weigh in on 1) keeping Black Friday in perspective; 2) keeping certain kinds of humor in the back room, where maybe it ought to stay; and 3) how the new secretary of state selection looks through the eyes of a journalist raised in West Africa.
The Telegraph Avenue collective, part of this Friday’s Art Murmur, keeps re-inventing itself: gallery, school, champion of re-use. Click here for the story.
By MARTIN RICARD There’s an invisible line on West MacArthur Boulevard that divides it these days into two different worlds. On one side of Telegraph Avenue, in the up-and-coming Temescal district, the corridor is full of activity. Up near Broadway and Piedmont Avenue, a new Kaiser facility is being erected, which once built, will literally become a beacon of light for that part of North Oakland. On the other side, a lone church shares another two blocks with a dilapidated…
by HENRY JONES Nov. 13–Rockridge residents met for the fifth time in three months last night to discuss with Safeway representatives the supermarket’s planned reconstruction on College Avenue. It was not a cheerful evening.
By CLARE MAJOR Nov. 5 — A proposition to give additional funds to children’s hospitals passed with 54 percent of votes in favor and 45 percent against. Proposition 3 authorizes $980 million in general obligation bonds to fund grants for the construction, renovation, or related improvements of California children’s hospitals. The bonds will be repaid over 30 years, for a total estimated cost to the state of $2 billion, or $64 million per year.
While the presidential election and the same-sex marriage initiative rule California headlines, little-noticed Proposition 3 could have serious impact in North Oakland. Click here for the story.
by BAGASSI KOURA After its first approval 20 years ago, a local park development measure running out of money is back on the ballot this fall. The East Bay Regional Park District is asking residents of Alameda and Contra Costa counties to vote for Measure WW, which would raise up to $500 million through government bonds.
Neighbors of this Golden Gate neighborhood motel say they’re fed up with what seems to go on inside. Click here for the story.
By BAGASSI KOURA As the busy holiday season nears, North Oakland residents and business owners can expect an added hassle as Bay Area Rapid Transit officials embark on a yearlong earthquake retrofit project. Sometime between Thanksgiving and the New Year, construction workers will descend on the area around the Rockridge BART station and begin a makeover that will reconstruct it section by section. Noisy machines breaking concrete will drown out carolers and airborne dust will dim the twinkle of tree…