Housing
In advance of Occupy protesters’ coordinated attempt to forcibly close seaports along the West coast, a breakaway group of Oakland activists decided to “Aquapy” Lake Merritt. They built a large raft, loaded it with supplies, and secretly launched it from boat docks in the dead of night.
As the new year approaches, Oakland officials are preparing residents for a new ordinance that will require certain property owners to replace their leaking sewer pipes. The regional Private Sewer Lateral (PSL) program—already in effect in Emeryville, Piedmont, El Cerrito, Kensington and Richmond— will start in Oakland on January 16.
At least 100 people gathered outside the West Oakland BART on Tuesday afternoon to march to a vacant house in West Oakland to protest the foreclosure of a family’s home. The protest was organized by Occupy Oakland and Causa Justa, an organization that advocates for tenant and immigrant rights.
On Tuesday at the Community and Economic Development Committee meeting, Oakland City Council members and speakers from the audience criticized the city administrator’s office for not moving fast enough to fix systematic problems with the city’s much-criticized building services division.
INFOGRAPHIC: How much did Occupy Oakland cost the city? And was it worth it? Using information released by the City Administrator’s Office, city budget reports and our own reporting, Oakland North reporters have created an infographic that weighs the costs of Occupy Oakland.
With the site of what was once a camp teeming with people now not much more than a mud patch, more than 1,000 Occupy Oakland supporters marched down 14th Street and back into Frank Ogawa Plaza on Monday evening. On the minds of many: What happens next? The gathering was the first for Occupy Oakland supporters since protesters were evicted—and 33 people arrested—in a raid of the plaza early Monday morning by police. The raid was the second one since…
Bank Transfer Day was an initiative started by a Los Angeles art gallery owner that urged people to move their money from commercial banks to credit union accounts by Saturday, November 5. According to the Credit Union National Association (CUNA), a Washington D.C.-based coalition of state-chartered credit unions, 650,000 people have joined its member institutions since September 29, one week after the launch of the Occupy Wall Street protests.
Oakland city officials plan to reopen Frank Ogawa Plaza to the public this afternoon, Howard Jordan, the interim chief of police, said at a press conference in downtown Oakland Monday afternoon.
Police officers raided the Occupy Oakland encampment at Frank Ogawa Plaza early Monday morning, evicting scores of protesters, arresting 32 people and closing off the plaza. There were no injuries, according to police.