Development
On Thursday night, Oakland community members met at the Think College Now campus to discuss the “Blueprint for Quality Schools,” the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD)’s plan to refurbish old school buildings and use school resources more effectively. The “community dialogue” was one of four planned for this week, and attracted about 30 people.
During an Oakland school board meeting that lasted until a little after 11 p.m. Wednesday night, a new plan for school facilities and a proposal for an additional charter school were major topics of discussion.
California assembly members finally struck a deal late Thursday night, passing a series of bills to fund affordable housing across the state, which Oakland city leaders and housing advocates hope will pay to build and protect affordable housing in the city.
Oakland’s new LGBTQ community center opened on September 7 on Lakeshore Avenue. There, people can find services such as help finding housing, mental health and substance abuse counseling, workplace discrimination support and mentoring.
On a warm Saturday morning, people began to slowly stroll into the Memorial Tabernacle in Oakland’s Bushrod neighborhood. They were gathered not for a morning service, but for a special kind of lawn party. Trail mix, cookies, apples, and fresh-cut pieces of banana were laid out on colorful bowls on a table, but nothing smelled more fresh than the two 4-foot piles of compost and wood mulch laid out on the road in front of the church.
StopWaste, a public agency dedicated to reducing waste in Alameda County, hosted the lawn party to revitalize the Memorial Tabernacle’s community garden, using this hands-on project to educate volunteers on how to convert a water-thirsty lawn into a fruitful garden.
Brandon Peacock is now captain of a ship. That ship is actually a restaurant—Eve’s Waterfront, the newest establishment to inhabit the waterfront property on the edge of Jack London Square. Peacock isn’t known for any particular style of food—whatever he does, he does well, whether it’s ramen from scratch, decadent mac and cheese, short ribs or rotisserie chicken. “The entire menu is new,” said Peacock. “I try to change as much as possible and take a new approach is on…
Oakland was once home to three professional sports teams, but only one has plans to stay in the city. On March 27, the NFL officially approved the Oakland Raiders’ relocation to Las Vegas, and the Golden State Warriors are currently constructing a new arena across the bay in San Francisco. The A’s, on the other hand, have announced a commitment to remaining in Oakland. But while the team will stay, there will be some changes. Team President Dave Kaval has announced…
A new city-county collaboration has been put forward by Oakland City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan, along with Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley, in an effort to grapple with the East Bay’s increasing homelessness crisis.
Long before the 2016 election, there was a civil rights culture that was created by Americans of color. Many of today’s political demonstrations are influenced by historical figures like Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and the Black Panthers, all who fought in the long battle against racism. Even protests like the recent Women’s March, some would argue, derived from previous demonstrations of people of color. In 1997, in Philadelphia, for example, activist Phile Chionesu formed the Million Woman March,…