Economy
Caltrans crews worked through the night to begin repairing a section of the Bay Bridge that collapsed onto the upper deck last night. The upper and lower levels have both been closed to traffic and a construction team is currently working on the bridge.
When the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Alameda County opened its doors in 1979, it consisted of a few small entrepreneurs trying to create a Latino voice in the Bay Area business community. Three decades later, HCCAC members sit on the boards of major local companies and have a direct line to the region’s elected officials.
On Friday night, businesses around Oakland participated in an open house in honor of “the return of free evening parking.”
The Piedmont Avenue patch is back, even if it’s harder to find than it used to be, and it’s still got the goods: the tongues, the eyeballs, the photos of wicked bulging-eyed children, and Oopy the daschund, who’s in costume too.
More than forty people gathered in a conference room this morning to listen to physicians– from La Clinica de la Raza, Asian Health Services from Oakland’s Chinatown, and LifeLong Medical Care from Berkeley–talk about the need for health care reform. “They made a choice to pay college for their daughter, rather than health insurance,” one physician said of his own aunt and uncle. “So they’re making a gamble on their life.”
The East Bay Community Foundation released a report Tuesday that outlines the employment hurdles facing many immigrants with limited English proficiency, individuals previously imprisoned, and former foster care recipients in Oakland and recommends ways community groups and private employers can help remove the barriers.
Police Chief Anthony Batts was sworn in at last night’s Oakland City Council meeting, then council members advanced plans for a municipal ID card program, eased enforcement rules for wrong-way parking, and sentenced to death two redwood trees on the site of a controversial development.
This Friday, U.C. Berkeley’s Marchant Building in North Oakland will be cleared of tables, drawers, wooden chairs, a futon frame, sofas and office supplies. They’d like you to take it. As much as you want. Free. But bring a truck.
State Attorney General Jerry Brown announced this morning that California is suing the State Street Bank of Boston to recover more than $56 million. Brown says the bank has overcharged California pension funds.