Economy

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.

“Steep Jeep” is bringing a modern take on tea

Revamping an ice cream truck into a mobile tea business is just one part of Molly Gaylord and Karina Vlastnik’s vision for Steep Tea Company, based in West Oakland. They are renovating the “Steep Jeep,” a 1967 Jeep named Belle, so they can use it to serve hot tea, iced tea, tea lattes, tea soda, tea flavored soft-serve ice cream, as well as loose tea to take home. Fueled by a Kickstarter campaign, Gaylord and Vlastnik reached their fundraising goal…

Valentine’s Day Special at Oakland Animal Services encourages cat and dog adoption

OAS is an open admission shelter that takes in all animals brought in by the public or an animal control officer. “We’ve seen a significant uptake in the number of owner surrenders,” said Rebecca Katz, director of the shelter. “Gentrification has been good for Oakland’s economy, but there are people who are impacted by it negatively and there are people losing their homes.”

Clergy coalition continues to fight coal shipping plan

More than a dozen Oakland clergy members held signs that read “No Coal” and “Faith Against Coal” outside the city council meeting on Tuesday to demand that the council immediately stop a plan to ship coal through the city. Before the meeting, some leaders from the Christian and Jewish communities spoke enthusiastically to an audience about why they believe coal should be banned due to possible environmental and health risks.

Oakland workers and students protest proposed Hampton Inn construction

On Thursday evening, high school students from the Oakland youth organization Asian/Pacific Islander Youth Promoting Advocacy and Leadership (AYPAL) wrote their visions for the vacant lot at 11th Street and Franklin on a poster. Some ideas were a skate park, garden, vegan restaurant or a dog park, but none of them included the current proposed development, a Hampton Inn hotel. Members from AYPAL and UNITE HERE Local 2850, a union that represents East Bay and North Bay hotel and food…

OUSD Board of Education approves expansion of KIPP Bridge Charter School

Few members of the public attended the beginning of Wednesday night’s meeting for the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) Board of Education. In a relatively empty room, the board heard a presentation from schools police chief Jeff Godown on arrests within OUSD schools and discussed budget priorities for the coming school year.