Economy
If there was one clear message at the West Coast Economic Summit in downtown Oakland last week, it was this: Latino businesses are booming.
This Thursday kicks off the American Dream Event, a free, five-day financial fair for homeowners who are looking for ways to lower their monthly mortgage payments and for homebuyers who want to take out a loan.
In the past year, the amount of illegally dumped junk has shot up by 34 percent, according to the Oakland Public Works Agency, which logged almost 18,000 incidents in 2012. San Francisco, which has twice the population of Oakland, had just 22,000 incidents.
Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) local 1555 announced on Twitter shortly after 10pm that there would be no strike on Wednesday.
BART talks will continue into Tuesday, despite union threats to strike at midnight Monday.
Fire stations throughout Oakland are shutting down for days at a time in response to a cost saving measure that came out of City Hall last year.
The Bay Area’s Monday commute won’t be affected by a BART strike, but workers make no promises about Tuesday.
Occupy Oakland marked its two-year anniversary Thursday with a celebratory gathering at Frank Ogawa Plaza in downtown Oakland.
A Friday morning BART strike was averted, but the possibility remains as talks between union leaders and BART management will continue through the weekend.