Development

Protesters rally against Wells Fargo, close their accounts

Holding banners and large withdrawal request forms, about 30 customers gathered on Wednesday in front of Wells Fargo’s main branch in downtown Oakland to announce that they would close their Wells Fargo bank accounts to protest the bank’s foreclosure practices.

Volunteers gather this weekend to clean up Oakland

All over town on Saturday, volunteers will head out to community gardens, dog parks, senior centers and schools to spend the day trying to improve Oakland. The Throwdown for the Town is an event organized by The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, a community organizing nonprofit. More than 200 volunteers are signed up to work at one of the 25 service projects that will include working in community and school gardens, restoring vacant parking lots and helping out in…

Art Deco in Uptown

Click through the slideshow above to find out more information about Uptown buildings designed in the Art Deco style in the 1930s.

Developers plan to revive historic West Oakland train station

Opened in 1912 at 16th Street and Wood Street, the Southern Pacific Train Station in West Oakland used to be one of the three original train stations serving Oakland at the beginning of the 20th Century, bringing goods and people—from coastal workers to jazz musicians—to the region from all over the country.

New Parkway Theater operator considers Auto Row, Temescal sites

If and when the Parkway Speakeasy Theater reopens, it won’t be at its former location east of Lake Merritt on Park Boulevard. Negotiations between a potential new operator and the building’s owners ended earlier this month, but two new possible locations, in the Auto Row and Temescal areas, remain in play.

Judge denies restraining order to halt zoo expansion

An Alameda County Superior Court judge today denied the request to issue a temporary restraining order to halt the Oakland Zoo’s expansion project. The request, filed jointly by Friends of Knowland Park and the California Native Plants Society (CNPS), called for a three-week suspension of the zoo’s project, which the groups say will damage the natural habitat for endangered native species living in the city-owned Knowland Park.