Economy
Despite plans to close eight early childhood development centers Monday, Oakland schools’ Superintendent Tony Smith said Friday that funds had been found to keep six of those centers open. However, North Oakland’s Golden Gate Childhood Development Center is still slated for closure. In response, members the local group By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) began what they called an all-night occupation of the center in the early afternoon. “I believe that the only success is if we keep fighting,” Mark Airgood…
Oakland drivers may want to take a closer look at their owner’s manuals this week. The city’s first biofuels vending station opened Tuesday, offering fillups for any engine that can run using renewable alternatives to gasoline.
Despite many heartfelt pleas to keep arts programs and continue running early childhood development centers, Superintendent Tony Smith told the audience at Wednesday night’s school board meeting that there just isn’t enough money for all the programs people care about. “If we can’t pay for it,” he said, “we can’t have it.”
With nearly 550 million eggs being pulled off grocery shelves nationwide during one of the largest egg recalls ever, and with thousands of people infected with salmonella after eating contaminated eggs, the idea of eating eggs can seem a little daunting. Organizers of this weekend’s Eat Real Festival hope to show people that eating local eggs is different.
Three new cafes in three blocks of College Avenue. Are they too close for comfort?
Two rabbits share one of the cages at the Oakland Animal Services shelter–hopping around, sniffing, stretching out their hind legs and paws, and wagging their little tails. They are just two of the 31 rabbits up for adoption at the maxed-out shelter.
Placard fraud costs the city income in meters and parking tickets. Furthermore, because cars bearing placards have unlimited time and don’t need to be moved every hour or two, fraud prevents parking turnover; that can severely limit parking options for everyone, disabled or not.
Looking up into the small ordering window of Tacos Sinaloa’s bright orange and chrome taco truck, Ernesto Vilchis asks for a serving of marinated tongue, crispy tripe and cow’s cheek tacos. Tacos Sinaloa is one of the most popular taco trucks in East Oakland; and not only does it serve up traditional Mexican tacos like tripe and cow’s cheek, it also has items for the less faint-of-heart, such as barbecue pork and carne asada.
Deep in West Oakland, behind a big gray façade, is one of the most lauded soymilk, tofu and yuba factories in the Bay Area—Hodo Soy Beanery. Inside, Minh Tsai, tofu master and co-founder of Hodo, runs around wearing tall white rubber boots and a striped railroad hat while checking on each steaming batch of soy milk.