Economy

Historic deli faces closure from increased rent

The Genova Delicatessen, located at 5095 Telegraph Avenue, has been part of the famous Temescal Plaza since 1926. When it first opened it sold mostly just pastas and sauces but in the late 1960s the deli began to focus on making and selling sandwiches and has since become a staple place for many locals to get their lunches. This spring the deli will close due to an increase in rent from the landlords, Temescal Plaza, LLC.

Hundreds rally for Bernie Sanders in Oakland as Super Tuesday looms

As voters went to the polls in South Carolina, and with Super Tuesday looming on March 1, about 300 people rallied for Bernie Sanders in downtown Oakland on Saturday. Local group SambaFunk provided a pulsating drum soundtrack as Sanders supporters, many with children, rallied at Frank Ogawa Plaza before marching to a CitiBank branch to call attention to Hillary Clinton’s Wall Street donations. Held at the same location as the Occupy Oakland protests of 2011, Saturday’s rally also focused on…

Performance, charter school renewal are priorities at school board meeting

Wednesday night’s Oakland school board meeting started off sparsely populated; board president James Harris joked that it would be a short meeting. But within two and a half hours, it was standing room only, as parents filed in to attend a special meeting on charter schools’ performance measures and two charter renewals. The meeting began with a joint presentation made by representatives from the groups Latino Men and Boys (LMB) and African-American Female and African-American Male Achievement (AAMA). As part…

Tales of Two Cities #2: All about the Benjamins

Howdy Listeners, This week on Tales of Two Cities we take a look at four unique businesses and how they reflect what’s happening in Richmond and Oakland’s economies. From a legendary deli in the heart of Temescal on the brink of shutting down because of rising rents, to a local factory that hires an unexpected workforce; and from a man who depends on year-round love to sell his flowers, to a woman who makes fairy wings out of her house. Don’t…

BOSS and Albany High School students host homeless resource fair in Oakland

BOSS staffers joined hands with Albany High School students to help some 1,000 people address a variety of health and social needs at their first homeless resource fair held in Oakland. Based on an event the organization holds in San Francisco called the Homeless Project Connect, executive director Donald Frazier said he decided it was time to try the project in the East Bay.

High school students gain computer science skills at Oakland Hacks

Oakland Hacks, or OHacks for short, is the first hackathon run by high school students in Oakland. A hackathon is an event at which people come together to create something through computer programming, from apps to websites. Sometimes they have a theme, a specific topic like music or sports, or participants will create something to be used for their community or to help the environment. OHacks does not have a theme like this, but its workshop format, with many mentors supporting students, focuses on getting beginners interested in computer science. OHacks is scheduled from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m., but other hackathons can last for 24 or 36 hours, or even a whole weekend.