Economy
Volunteers from all over the Bay Area kicked off Earth Day weekend by participating in a Habitat for Humanity East Bay Build-a-thon. By the end of the four-day event, eight new homes in the Tassafaronga Village on 81st Avenue in East Oakland will be framed.
On an early evening, the city of Oakland is brimming with the hustle and bustle of the 9 to 5 work group. Runners, bikers, and families hug the perimeter of Lake Merritt as they squeeze in time for fitness and relaxation. The sounds of rush hour traffic fill the air but on the lakefront, all is still. “It’s peaceful out here,” said Angelino Sandri, owner and gondolier for Gondola Servizio in Oakland. He smiles as he skims across the surface…
The Oakland Film Office and Oakland Film Center, groups responsible for attracting filmmakers to Oakland and supporting them when they’re in town, are facing separate challenges that together put the future of movies made in Oakland in doubt.
Since last July, Oakland clubs have been able to apply for permits to extend their hours from 2 am to 4 am. However, only three such permits have been issued, said city councilmember Nancy Nadel during a crime prevention meeting of the Jack London District Association last night.
Lacy Lefkowitz teaches ancient history at Claremont Middle School, but last night she gave her students a lesson in current affairs. Six of Lefkowitz’s sixth graders stood before the board to read their letters about what they thought ought to be cut, and what ought to be saved, at their school next year.
There will be no budget-based layoffs of elementary school teachers in Oakland next fall, Deputy Superintendent Maria Santos announced at Wednesday night’s school board meeting. About 230 teachers had received lay-off warning notices in March.
Local businesses, bands and teachers are using social networks and online communities for more than just keeping up with friends.
Oakland residents Kim Di Giacomo and Michele Senitzer co-founded Found Fruit as a way of connecting with other neighborhoods who have produce and foraging skills to share. Flowering trees will soon start to produce fruit such as plums, peaches, nectarines and apricots and will ripen starting in June. Foundfruit.com lists where to find wild plum trees in public areas.
Mayor Jean Quan said that closing the budget gap by only making cuts would require 80 percent reductions in discretionary spending from the general purpose fund.