Economy
It is easy to think of hackers as criminals. It’s intuitive, maybe because of Hollywood’s depiction of hackers as invasive, ninja-like evil geniuses, who can download all of your personal data in a few minutes and ruin your life.
On a recent Tuesday afternoon in Fruitvale, a group of people chatted nervously in a stark, white room as they waited for someone to look over their electricity bill or rental agreement in exchange for something many had never had: a clean, new identification card with their name and photo. Oakland began issuing municipal IDs on Feb. 19 to all city residents. The ID, which also has an optional debit function that works like a prepaid MasterCard, will allow undocumented…
“My last trip in the penitentiary, I had to make a decision on what I wanted to do with my life,” said Reggie Bailey, sitting in the swiveling barber chair in his small shop in the heart of downtown Oakland. “I just decided to go to barber college.”
Since California’s Homeowner Bill of Rights, a new law limiting the power of banks to foreclose, came into effect on January 1, homeowners in Richmond and Oakland have taken a more proactive stance in resisting foreclosures, protesting inside banking halls at Wells Fargo’s braches across the East Bay and forcing the bank to reschedule home sales.
Every holiday season Nancy DeWeese and her husband, Gary, host a Christmas party. But it’s not your average family gathering, because this is not your average family. At these parties, three dozen children from all walks of life, including the couple’s four biological kids, gather to share in a common experience: Each child has spent part of their lives growing up at the DeWeese family home in Moraga. “They see each other and they’re like, ‘Oh, we started out as…
Tuesday’s City Council took up issues including taxi medallion fees, the controversial Astro Park dog play area, and the recent shooting at February’s Art Murmur event, but all three issues were ultimately tabled.
For the first week of February, Oakland Unified School District is celebrating National School Counselor Week, but few remain in on-site school counselor positions.
The East Bay Economic Development Alliance celebrated creativity and innovation at its first annual awards ceremony Thursday. The event, held in Oakland at the Fox Theater, honored East Bay organizations that do work in the fields of clean technology, advanced manufacturing, food, information and communication technology, life sciences, engineering, design and education.
Judge Gordon Baranco donned his robes at the last minute, putting them on over a grey suit and a tie on which a reindeer tugged Santa in a sled. Baranco normally hears cases in the Alameda County Superior Court, but today he was presiding over a ragtag crowd in a well-used community center, where the homeless and formerly homeless defendants had gathered to have the fines associated with minor offenses waived. Baranco stood in front his makeshift bench, a rectangular…