Health
Two intrepid reporters at our sister site, Richmond Confidential, created an interactive tool to help people navigate the health care reform changes that affect them. You can click through to see what happens if you are uninsured, have a pre-existing condition, or want to extend coverage to children up to 26-years-old.
“I put love into this food,” said Lawana Wyatt, who has worked with food services in Oakland for the past 13 years, as she instructed a member of her staff on how much food to add to each plate when the students arrived. Although Wyatt is enthusiastic about school lunch on any given day, she knew that Thursday’s meal was really something special. “It’s not every day that we can get organic food,” she said. “I think it’s a good idea. I really hope the kids come.”
Nurses in multi-colored scrubs lined the streets in front of Children’s Hospital Oakland Tuesday, striking against what they say is a proposed cut in their health care benefits. Passing cars, BART trains and fire engines honked in support of the hospital’s nearly 800 registered nurses as they began a three-day strike led by the California Nurses Association (CNA). The hospital will continue operating with over 100 replacement nurses until the strike is scheduled to end Friday morning.
The Temescal location of Tara’s Organic Ice Cream, a New Mexico-born ice creamery serves all natural, locally made treats with unlikely flavors. Ever heard of garam marsala ice cream? How about basil? Or blueberry mint? You can try those and more at Tara’s. Check out these videos to learn more.
Oakland Unified School District officials believe that breakfast is the most important meal of the day—so important that they’re now serving it twice. In an effort to increase the number of students who eat breakfast at school, the district has begun implementing an additional breakfast option called “Second Chance Breakfast.”
Members of the public burst into applause at the Oakland City Council’s Tuesday meeting when council members unanimously agreed to allow use of eminent domain to bring a large grocery store to West Oakland. “I’m tired of Oakland residents continuing to subsidize the surrounding cities at our expense,” councilmember Larry Reid said.
Axis performed its unique style of modern dance last Thursday at Dance Access Day: A Day of Dance, Disability, Performance and Fun at the Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts in Oakland. Audience members included children as well as disabled adults and seniors. Watch the video of the local dance team performing and teaching people of all ages how to dance.
The sun was shining this weekend as Swim A Mile swimmers of all ages, colors, shapes, and sizes donned swimsuits, swim caps, and goggles in rainbow colors and dove into the sparkling blue water of the pool. At the Mills College Trefethen Aquatic Center, the event arena, the large outdoor pool was able to accommodate the 400-plus participants swimming throughout the weekend.
On October 15, the Howie Harp Multi-Service Center at San Pablo and 18th Street will close. For the last 21 years, Howie Harp has served homeless people diagnosed as mentally ill. The clients’ conditions run the gamut from schizophrenia and narcotics abuse to manic depression and diabetes, and Harp has provided such services as housing referrals, anger management, counseling, hygiene kits and meals. Watch the photo slideshow and hear from the people who have sought aid from the center for so many years.