Health
The 1991 wildfire, which shot out of control on October 20 and lasted almost 72 hours, was so large and fast-moving that it challenged the capacity of Northern California’s fire departments and wreaked havoc on the hills community. OaklandNorth.net remembers the fire and examines what has changed in the past 20 years.
From a distance, standing on the windy ridge in Las Trampas Regional Park, the space-age contraption surrounded by a chain link fence looks out of place in the middle of swaying grass and a herd of grazing cows. But this array of sensors is playing an integral role in protecting this landscape. Remote Automated Weather Stations (RAWS) represent one of the biggest advancements in fire preparedness since the 1991 Oakland Hills Fire.
Last Wednesday, Temple Sinai kicked off their first Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, which supplies produce boxes of fresh, organic vegetables and fruits from nearby Eatwell Farms.
Dr. Brigid McCaw was diligently working her way through medical school while her sister was busy concealing a secret. Despite the summer heat in their Denver home, McCaw’s sister bundled up in high-necked layers. The bruises along her abdomen became difficult to conceal during pregnancy, but her own physician never questioned them. Immersed in her studies at the University of California, San Francisco almost 1,000 miles away, McCaw never even saw the black and blue marks.
Medical marijuana supporters and business people in Oakland reacted angrily last week to dual blows from the federal government—a prosecution warning and a massive tax bill—as they speculated on the possible consequences for patients and the local marijuana industry.
The firefighters put on their headphones, fastened their seatbelts, turned on their lights and sirens, and peeled out of the garage towards the narrow, steep road. With notepads and video cameras in tow, reporters were getting a feel for what it was like to ride in a fire truck during the massive fire that devastated the Oakland Hills 20 years ago.
While much of the country took Monday off in honor of Columbus’ expedition to the New World, Phat Beets Produce farmers’ market in North Oakland took an alternate approach on Saturday with its “Decolonize Your Diet: An Indigenous People’s Day” celebration.
Hundreds gathered on College Ave. this Sunday for the Out and About Festival, Rockridge’s annual celebration of food, music, crafts, community organizing, and good-natured neighborhood noise. The festival featured Bay Area musicians such as The Clifford Lamb Trio and The Blue Monday Jazz Jam. Young children had their faces painted, practiced hula hooping, painted small pumpkins, planted seeds, and tried to climb a gigantic rock wall…
“That day I felt like I was dying,” Mayra said in Spanish. “But I knew I had to get through it.” A day with a patient of UC San Francisco’s oncology center, and her English interpreter, as she seeks care for recurrent cancer.