Economy
When it opened in 1912, Oakland’s 16th Street Station was the end of the line for passengers traveling on the Transcontinental Railroad. On Saturday, BRIDGE Housing, the nonprofit affordable housing developer that owns the building, threw a party to celebrate the station’s 100th birthday.
The finish line is near for Alameda-Contra Costa County Transit’s proposed “Rapid Bus Transit” line, which would have its own new fleet of buses, new stations and a dedicated traffic lane running 9.5 miles between the Uptown Transit Center on 20th Street near Telegraph in downtown Oakland and the San Leandro Bart station, following International Boulevard most of the way.
The Oakland Housing Authority opened the first phase of a lottery for public housing and voucher program waitlists this week, receiving more than 10,000 applications in the first two days.
It’s close to 3 p.m., and Bakesale Betty sold out of its last sandwich a little over an hour ago. The shop’s co-owner, Alison Barakat, who also goes by “Betty” while she’s working, is not wearing the trademark blue wig that customers have come to recognize.
This weekend’s Oakland Underground Film Festival (OUFF) showcases local, independent films and new international works. The four-day festival begins Thursday at the Grand Lake Theater and continues at two other venues throughout the weekend. About 60 films will be screened, a mix of shorts, features and documentaries.
As BART accommodates more bicycles on its trains than ever before—more than 8,000 on weekdays in 2010—riders, bicyclists and transit planners are eyeing the transit system’s bike policy closely.
As Gov. Jerry Brown decides whether he will sign the California Domestic Workers Bill of Rights (AB 889), reactions to the bill and the prospect of monitoring and enforcing its stipulations —which include overtime pay, mandatory rest and meal breaks, and fair sleeping conditions for workers—remain mixed.
Should California end up following the guidelines used for the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights in New York, the only other state in the country to adopt such a law, then private employers of full-time babysitters and caretakers will need to follow some new rules.
A growing number of food stamp recipients are using their benefits at Oakland farmers’ markets. But profits from such transactions could decline if a proposed $16.5 billion cut to the federal food stamp program passes in Congress.