Oakland North TV
Meet The 21st Century, a a eight-piece indie pop band from Oakland, who released their first album “The City” earlier this month at The Red Devil Lounge in San Francisco. A fan-funded endeavor several years and $11,000 in the making, the album features catchy harmonies relating the challenges of youth, adulthood, dating and everyday hardship.
Though Mary Swift-Swan has traversed the Bay Area’s many estuaries and coastlines since she was 3 years old, she didn’t settle into the nonstop, unpredictable life of a sailor until she was well into her 30s. Now, as a licensed captain and the owner of Afterguard Sailing Academy, located near Oakland’s Brooklyn Basin, she spends almost every day on the water
Oakland singer/songwriter Alexa Weber-Morales sat down with Oakland North to discuss her new album, “I Wanna Work For You.” The album consists of 10 original songs which range from jazz to salsa and across multiple languages.
When Roger Kiel allowed his daughter Shanice, 19, to attend a tattoo party in San Leandro this October, he did not expect the early morning call telling him that his daughter had been killed after two gunmen opened fire on her vehicle. Three of the six passengers were killed, including Shanice, who died almost instantly from a gunshot wound to the heart. One suspect has yet to be identified but the other gunman was arrested in Oakland days after the shooting….
In the heart of Oakland’s Rockridge neighborhood is Yasai Market, a small, independently-owned produce store. The shop is located on College Avenue, directly across the street from a Safeway grocery store, but owner Bo Pak is not afraid of having a chain supermarket as her neighbor.
Oasis Food Market in Oakland is one of the largest halal (Islam-compliant) markets in the East Bay. The store sells a range of goods, from meat and produce to candy. There are a strict set of rules for slaughter that make meat halal in Islam. The animal must be facing downward and toward Mecca while a blessing is said, as dictated by the Koran. Then, a knife is drawn across the throat in one swift motion. These rituals are designed to give the animal the most humane death possible.
This year, the United States Post Office announced that they plan to close hundreds of post offices nationwide. While the list is still not final, many postal workers are wondering what will happen if post offices are closed.
On a bright stretch of Broadway in downtown Oakland, Sacred Tattoo’s blood red awning and boldly lettered windows beckon both the ink-obsessed and merely curious. “A lot of people come [to this neighborhood] to come to Chinatown,” said co-owner Allison Fudge. “We get a lot walk-ins.”
Oakland’s Children’s Hospital & Research Center is attempting to inspire parents and kids to create nutritious meals together with their recently launched “Mix & Match Brown Bag” healthy lunch plan.