Economy
Since 1989, Mike Schulman has run Slumberland Records. His label specializes in fusing pop, like 60s girl groups and The Byrds, with “horrible noise.” The label was founded in Washington, D.C., but Schulman brought it with him when he moved to the East Bay.
The Linden Street Brewery is small and unpretentious, but its owners are proud of their brewing tradition, which goes back to the early 1800’s, when settlers from Germany first made Oakland their home.
The West Coast tradition of brewing, or the California lager, is a steam-brewed ale that is made at a temperature closer to that of lagers. This method creates a “hoppy, more bitter taste”, says Andrew Ritter, lead brewer at Linden Street.
Among the answers: an airport tower, police officer salaries, and a lot of repaved roads. This end-of-year roundup by reporter Aaron Mendelson examines the trail of the federal stimulus money that arrived three years ago in Oakland–recipient of the tenth largest stimulus grant in the country.
The Rockridge Safeway expansion, and inclusion of a dog park in Lake Merritt, are two highly-contested issues that were taken on by the City Council Tuesday night, when three of the longest-standing councilmembers cast their last vote as local elected officials.
Sarah Kirnon and her business associate were putting the finishing touches on their new restaurant in Old Oakland—Miss Ollie’s, specializing in Afro-Caribbean fare—days before it was scheduled to open. In the kitchen, spices were still in their packaging: cardamom, cumin, dried and smoked habanero peppers. Tables were stacked in front. The grill shone brand new. But Kirnon, 43, who has worked as a chef since she was 19, said she wasn’t nervous about the opening. This location, on Washington Street…
The area around Lake Merritt BART, including Chinatown and Laney College, could see taller buildings, new park area, and more pedestrian and bike-friendly streets in the next 25 years as part of a development effort presented on Saturday. The plan, four years in the making, was developed by the City of Oakland, BART, and the Peralta Community College District.
Barrels around Oakland are filling up with dolls, games, books, gloves, scarves, socks and other holiday gifts as residents continue to donate items to the Mayor’s Toy Drive. This annual community collection helps ensure that children in all Oakland neighborhoods will have presents to open come Christmas morning. “It’s a little daunting trying to fill every family’s requests,” said Al Lujan, supervisor of the Oaklanders Assistance Center, where low-income families can sign up to receive donations from the drive. “We’re really…
Oakland is offering $160,000 to help fund a new day labor program for 2013. Various organizations are vying for the funds, and day laborers say the center will be essential to helping them get jobs.
On a rainy Friday afternoon, Andrew Lewis is patrolling the crammed, dark aisles of his warehouse. “In this business,” he says, stopping in front of a few faux-phonebooths, “you just acquire stuff.” In close quarters with the booths, under the orange sodium lights hung high from the dark wood rafters, are street signs from The Matrix sequels, a hollow jukebox from Milk, plaster radiators from RENT, and stacks of fake lobster traps from the recent Clive Owen and Nicole Kidman…