Oakland North Radio
There are a number of free or discounted health clinics across Oakland — like La Clinica de la Raza in the Fruitvale, or Asian Health Services in Chinatown. Now, West Oakland has its own reproductive health clinic. Reporter Madeleine Thomas has the story of Planned Parenthood Mar Monte’s new location on Seventh Street.
Maybe it’s their charming, upbeat sound. Maybe it’s because they’re tiny, portable and cheaper than guitars. Whatever the reason, ukuleles are all the rage these days — from Eddie Vedder albums to Oakland cafes. Every month, local musician Madeline Tasquin, also known as Mana Maddy, hosts the “Ukulele Love-In” at Actual Cafe. Dozens of die-hard ukulele enthusiasts gather for a ukulele lesson, a featured ukulele performance, and a ukulele sing-a-long. You can catch the next event on May 11th. After…
People in the Bay Area are turning to creative alternatives to buying new. Clothes swaps have been around for a long time, but they’re more popular than ever. Some swaps charge an entrance fee — Like SwapSF, a San Francisco exchange that draws over three hundred people. Swap-O-Rama-Rama, a swap and DIY workshop in a hundred cities around the world, is donation based.
Old Oakland’s downtown business district is getting a facelift. Brick and mortar stores are making a comeback. New establishments are showing up in neighborhoods where there were once empty storefronts. One company has found a way to invest in people and add a little pop to the community.
In neighborhoods like West and East Oakland, you can drive for miles without passing even one grocery store. To fight food scarcity, a lot of neighborhoods have started to claim vacant lots and turn them into thriving vegetable gardens. But city gardeners should be aware of a hidden danger lurking in their dirt.
Every weekend there’s a sign posted on some telephone pole for an estate sale. Maybe you’re someone who follows the signs, but if you’re not, you might be surprised by what people can get out of these sales. Listen to the audio piece to hear more about fans of Oakland’s estate sales and the people who make them happen.
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.
With its new series, “In-the-Mix: Music Tour,” the Oakland Museum of California is offering a new way for lovers of the arts to experience the works of visual arts, masters and musicians. Each part of the series is the musical tour of the museum’s galleries given by musicians who will stroll through them and interpret the objects and the experience for themselves.
Many of the reporters at Oakland North are new to the Bay Area, and one of the first things we noticed while touring the city was its beautiful and sometimes unusual architecture. On the reporting team for this series, one of us is from Brazil and one is from Southern California. We decided it would be great to learn more about some of the structures that represent Oakland’s beautiful landscape. With a great deal of assistance from the representatives at…