Neighborhoods
by BAGASSI KOURA After its first approval 20 years ago, a local park development measure running out of money is back on the ballot this fall. The East Bay Regional Park District is asking residents of Alameda and Contra Costa counties to vote for Measure WW, which would raise up to $500 million through government bonds.
Kerry Hamill and Rebecca Kaplan, the candidates dueling for the At-Large City Council seat, describe their vision for Oakland–citing the Temescal Pool and Piedmont Avenue as examples to emulate. Click here for the story.
By ISABEL ESTERMAN OCT. 28 –Thirteen juveniles have been taken into custody in the Bay Area and 123 adults have been arrested as part of Operation Cross Country II, a nationwide effort to combat the sex trafficking of children, law enforcement officials announced this morning. Bay Area operations are responsible for almost 25 percent the juveniles apprehended, and a fifth of nearly 650 arrests nationwide, said FBI spokesman Joe Schadler. “A bulk of the national work was done in…
17 years after the Oakland firestorm, one of the first firefighters on the ground comes back to remember. Click here for photos and his audio interview with reporter Linnea Edmeier, herself a veteran fire fighter.
Story by MAGGIE FAZELI FARD, slide gallery by SAMSON REINY Oct. 31 — They come from the hills and they come from the east. Every year on Halloween, children from all over Oakland descend in the hundreds on Rockridge’s Lawton Street. Spare in its decorations — just days before the holiday only a handful of homes had adorned their homes with plastic ghosts, skeletons and cobwebs, with most opting to forgo the traditional macabre regalia — Lawton is not an…
There’s only one store in Oakland that might carry embalming fluid, doll parts, and toilet paper rolls–and economic hard times have landed here, too. Click here for the story and audio slides.
From garden furniture to potted plants, North Oakland residents have noticed mysterious disappearances from their yards and porches. Click here for the story.
By BAGASSI KOURA At first it looked like a great Sunday for Samuel Lunes. Just after 9am, when the Temescal Farmers Market opened, customers lined up by the dozen before his produce stand. For hours, working with his son and his son’s friend, Lunes was busy selling organic fruits and vegetables. But by the end of the day, Lunes said the sales could have been better.
Business is actually brisk in one corner of American retail: Obama gear. McCain gear? In North Oakland, not so much. Click here for the story.