Environment
The East Bay College Fund awards up to forty sixteen-thousand dollar scholarships each year to low-income students from Oakland. Nearly all of these students are the first in their families to attend college, and nearly all have weathered the kind of personal challenges—such as violence, homelessness, or early parenthood—that could easily have blocked the way.
Just as its landfill and clerical workers were about to go on strike last December, Waste Management Alameda County set up meetings with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 6 to negotiate wage increases and working conditions. The strike was called off.
Now that one of the primary funders of Oakland’s Free Broadway Shuttle has decided to cut its contribution to the program by half, those who work with the shuttle say they’re optimistic it will continue, but they’ll need to make up the funding deficit to keep the free rides coming.
“How would you like to have husbands who have testicles that weigh 14 percent of their body weight?” asked Harry Santi to a handful of women at the Oakland Zoo on Friday.
He isn’t talking about any sort of terrifying medical anomaly here. Santi, 81, a docent at the Oakland Zoo, is referring to the tuberous bushcricket, a type of tiny katydid, and one of dozens of animals with unusual, peculiar, or fascinating sex lives that were highlighted at Oakland Zoo’s annual Animal Amore this Valentine’s Day.
On Thursday, City Slicker Farms broke ground on its latest project, the West Oakland Park and Urban Farm, a new community garden and open park space expected to serve more than 3,000 residents.
The East Bay Economic Development Alliance celebrated creativity and innovation at its first annual awards ceremony Thursday. The event, held in Oakland at the Fox Theater, honored East Bay organizations that do work in the fields of clean technology, advanced manufacturing, food, information and communication technology, life sciences, engineering, design and education.
Alameda County shoppers are adjusting, if reluctantly, to the single-use bag ban that went into effect January first. The Reusable Bag Ordinance, passed a year ago by Alameda County Waste Management Authority, is intended to abate waterway pollution by limiting the distribution of single-use carryout bags and coaxing people to opt for a reusable alternative.
Prehistoric animals with wingspans the length of automobiles will be arriving at the Oakland Zoo soon to receive treatment for the health effects of a chemical that continues to threaten their survival. The California condor, the largest flying land bird in North America, has been on the endangered species list since 1967, and now sick pairs of the bird are slated for arrival at the zoo’s new condor treatment center in March.
The East Bay Regional Parks Foundation has kicked off its 2013 Trail Challenge program designed to encourage hikers of all ages and skill levels to get out and experience the East Bay’s many hiking trails.