Environment
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.
The Asian Resource Center broke ground on a new solar installation project Wednesday. They are the site of the first community-funded project on the Solar Mosaic platform.
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.
The artists behind the Wonderarium, an eight-foot floating terrarium they hope will find a home on the waters of Lake Merritt, brought their project to the public plaza outside Oakland’s Christ the Light cathedral–where they invited passers-by to dig into dirt and plants to make their own mini-terrariums.
In a move that will in effect ban a chemical called bisphenol A (BPA) from being used in baby bottles and toddler cups manufactured or sold in California, a bill known as the Toxin-Free Infants and Toddlers Act (AB 1319) was signed into law Tuesday night by Governor Jerry Brown.
For roughly 320 days of the year, a 1.5-acre space in Joaquin Miller Park is used as a dog park—for the rest of the time, it is a parking lot.
Souley Vegan, located at Broadway and 3rd Street in downtown Oakland, conjures up a sense of Southern comfort with murals of jazz artists like Louis Armstrong and Big Mama Thornton covering the walls. The air is scented by the steaming gravy wafting off the top of one patron’s mashed potatoes. Blues tunes carry over the entire seating area and bar, as does the sizzling of something frying in a batter: tofu.
School communities around the world celebrated International Walk or Roll to School Day on Wednesday, which is meant to encourage kids to exercise by walking or biking to class, and to stay safe by traveling with their parents or groups.
Many Oakland urban farmers raise animals for a healthier, sustainable and cheaper source of food, and their backyard farms can foster positive relationships between neighbors, according to a recent report on urban livestock practices in the city.