Economy
In light of recent financial difficulties, the Oakland Ballet Company’s board of directors decided to postpone this spring’s Diaghilev Imagery program until funding needs are met. The OBC faces fiscal troubles after selling fewer tickets for the 2011 performance of The Nutcracker and receiving less money than expected during fundraising efforts.
Purists, novices and everyone in between now have an option when deciding between “chili” or “chile” powder, or any of the other dozens of spices on hand at Oaktown Spice Shop, which opened the week before Christmas.
Jim Steele pretty much grew up in the dive shop he currently owns. He still spends most of his time either in the shop, or doing something related to diving, like guiding a class underwater to see the kelp forests and sea life in the Monterey Bay.
Every year, from early December till late January, the Oakland Unified School District has what it calls its “options enrollment window.” Parents of incoming kindergarten, sixth grade and ninth grade students can pick a school for their child outside their neighborhood. But it’s a more complicated process this year, because five elementary schools are scheduled to close this spring and an extra 1,000 students were thrown into the mix.
Oakland’s Chinatown has been hit hard by the recession. Fewer and fewer customers shop there, and job opportunities have been hurt. Food-related industries have suffered greatly, especially the small markets and restaurants.
The owners of the Oakland Tribune have sent a cease and desist letter to the publisher of the “Occupied Oakland Tribune,” a newspaper and website devoted to coverage of the Occupy protests.
Oakland will have a new charter school in the fall, but two schools that wanted to leave the Oakland Unified School District to become charters will have to stay. Meanwhile, two charter schools that already exist within the district will be around for at least five more years after the school board renewed their charters Wednesday night.
The City of Oakland will take over the Oakland Redevelopment Agency’s affordable and low income housing programs, assume responsibility for the agency’s enforceable obligations and oversee the dissolution of the agency this spring. In a tense city council meeting that unexpectedly went into closed session Tuesday night, Oakland city councilmembers unanimously elected the City of Oakland to serve as the successor agency, and successor housing agency, to the Oakland Redevelopment Agency. The agency will close its doors February 1, s…
About 40 people crowded the lobby of Oakland’s City Hall, demanding an impromptu audience with city councilmembers after a meeting of the council’s Community and Economic Development Committee was unexpectedly canceled Tuesday afternoon.