Oakland North Radio
The blender roared to life, shredding kale, mint, strawberries, bananas and ice into a delicious concoction. Anthony Forrest, the smoothie maker, handed cups of the nutritious potion to the students surrounding him in the school garden at Fremont High School in East Oakland. Forrest and his colleague Vernon Ray Dailey both work for Planting Justice, a nonprofit advocating for locally grown food, food education, jobs and shared green spaces. Forrest and Dailey are not secretive about their past: Between the…
Oakland artists strive to improve working conditions for public art creators in the city.
Oakland mayor Libby Schaaf delivered her first State of the City address on October 28th, outlining the four key issues she aims to address: improving community safety, providing equitable jobs and housing, creating a sustainable infrastructure, and ensuring responsive, trustworthy government.
East Bay residents are joining with demonstrators across the state to protest against what advocates call “solitary confinement” on the 23rd of each month. The first joint protest was on held in downtown Oakland on March 23, and demonstrators will continue to meet monthly. The date was chosen “to signify the 23 hours a day that these men spend in these tiny cages when they’re subject to solitary confinement” said Laura Magnani, program director at Healing Justice, and the director at…
California is very, very dry these days. And with fire season around the corner, some property owners in the East Bay are turning to an unusual fire prevention technique: goats. Thousands of rented goats roam the hills about Berkeley and Oakland, working through the days and nights to prevent the spread of wildfires. Rachel Hiles has their story; click the audio player below to listen.
Many of us wanted to be an astronaut as a kid, but this dream comes true for only a few. It would be a journey into the unknown filled with unforgettable experiences. But there is a hook: If you want to be one of the first explorers to reach Mars, you have to leave everyone behind—forever. The Dutch foundation Mars One received more than 200,000 applications for exactly this, a one-way trip to Mars. The global application elimination process started in 2013…
Chronic absence is down in Oakland public schools to 11%. But for students missing school, the impact on their achievement is significant.
The Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America, a non-profit organization, travels to a hundred different cities around the country each year offering free foreclosure counseling.
Bob Schleicher has been repairing Hammond organs and Leslie speakers in Oakland for nearly five decades–and he’s one of the best at what he does. Something magical happens when you plug in a Leslie speaker to a Hammond organ, he says.